Willie Williams (April 14, 1951 – June 8, 2019) was an American

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

ka,

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

Career

In 1975, Willie Williams participated in

Mas Oyama , more commonly known as Mas Oyama, was a karate master who founded Kyokushin Karate, considered the first and most influential style of full contact karate. A Zainichi Korean, he spent most of his life living in Japan and acquired Japanese ...

's 1st World Full-Contact Karate Open Championships tournament as part of the U.S. team coached by Tadashi Nakamura and

Shigeru Oyama was a karate practitioner and instructor who operated a dojo in New York for half a century. He taught Kyokushin karate for many years before forming his own organization World Oyama Karate in 1985. He was hand-picked by Mas Oyama, karate mas ...

. He lost to Howard Collins of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in the third round by decision. Four years later, in 1979, he took part in the 2nd World Open Championships. That year, around 160 fighters from all over the world entered this open weight class tournament. Williams was able to battle his way through to the semifinals, where he was defeated by Keiji Sanpei. He made his third appearance at the 3rd World Open Championships in 1984, making it to the final 32. In 1980, Williams fought Japan's top pro-wrestling star Antonio Inoki for the World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship in Tokyo. The bout ended in a draw after both competitors repeatedly fell out of the ring. Although the match was worked, it is seen as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. William's fight against Inoki was voted as the top professional fighting match in Japan in the 20th century in 2003 by professional Japanese fight analysts. Williams debuted in March 1992 in the combat sport promotion Fighting Network RINGS in Japan. He worked with the organization until 1996. On January 4, 1997, nearly 17 years after his first match against Antonio Inoki, the two would have a rematch with Inoki as the winner. From 1999 to 2000, Williams worked for

Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their f ...

. He retired from professional wrestling in 2000. Williams died on June 8, 2019, at the age of 68.

Titles

* 3rd World Open Karate Tournament 1984 (IKO) - Final 32 * 2nd World Open Karate Tournament 1979 (IKO) - 3rd Place

Mixed martial arts record

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Masayuki Naruse (born March 15, 1973) is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, competing in the light heavyweight division who fought most of his career in Fighting Network RINGS (RINGS). As a professional wrestler, he notably competed in ...

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Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

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Dick Vrij Dick Vrij is a retired Dutch professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1995 until 2003, he competed in the Heavyweight division for RINGS and It's Showtime. Professional wrestling career A former bodybuilde ...

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Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

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Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

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Volk Han Magomedkhan Amanulayevich Gamzatkhanov (russian: Магомедха́н Аманула́евич Гамзатха́нов; born April 15, 1961), is a Russian retired mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, sambo wrestler and former military ...

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Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

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Mitsuya Nagai , better known as , is a Japanese mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and former kickboxer. He is known for his work in Fighting Network RINGS and later in professional wrestling companies like Battlarts and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJ ...

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Peter Smit '' Peter "The Hurricane" Smit (December 24, 1961 – August 15, 2005) was a Dutch martial artist, Retrieved 2013-06-03 who mastered such different fight disciplines as kyokushin karate, kickboxing and Muay Thai., Retrieved 2013-06-04. Peter Sm ...

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Yokohama, Japan is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

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Karate record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Willie American male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists American male karateka Mixed martial artists utilizing Kyokushin kaikan 1951 births 2019 deaths People from Washington, North Carolina Mixed martial artists from North Carolina