Message Boards

Very unfortunate news today folks.

An MMA pioneer, with a legacy that spans across a UFC tournament final, the legedary Pride days, to an appearence in the most pretigous tournament in all of sports, The K-1 World Grand Prix, Gary "Big Daddy" Goodrige is no stranger to head trauma. In his MMA and Kickboxing careers he has suffered a combined 24 KO/TKO losses, many of them in brutal fashion.

This isn't much of a shocker, as this is merely concrete evidence of what his slurred speech over the last few years has shown.

Gary is a true legend in MMA, and I for one am horribly sad to hear this news.

Gary retired from fighting in 2003, on the heels of a KO victory over Don "The Predator" Frye. Financial difficulties and the need to supplement his income led him back into competition, and since that retirement he has suffered another 16 losses via KO or TKO in MMA and Kickboxing.

Gary has left an indelible mark on the sport with his combination of raw power, technique, and incredible charisma. He entered into the sport as little more than a powerful street fighter in a time when the UFC was fading toward more well rounded athletes, and competed as a Kuk Sool Won representative basically because they gave him a fee gi and black belt to wear during the event. He made it to the finals of UFC 9 before being halted by Don Frye.

He eventually jumped ship to the higher paying Pride, and delivered one of the most crushing KO's of all time to Oleg Taktarov during the inaugural Pride Event. He became a fan favorite in Japan, highly regarded for his terrfic charisma. Who whom has seen the Amir Rahnavardi fight can forget him shouting "Hit Me!!" while on top, shortly before pinning Amir's arm behind his back in a hammerlock from guard, and putting him to sleep with huge punches on the unprotected side.

Or how about when he found himself physically outmatched by Tom Erickson, who sought to take him down and control him for a decision, a tactic which bored Gary as much as the fans, as he shouted "Come on, hit me!", and "How about a kiss?". And as a true student of the game he recognized the holes in his game and shortly thereafter became a longtime training partner of Erickson.

After being a great draw for Pride for years, he sought to retire in 2003 after a career defining head kick KO over Don Frye, but as mentioned before, he made his way back into the ring time after time in search of paychecks the paychecks he needed. Perhaps the best example of this was when he stepped in to face then top 3 Lightheavyweight Gegard Mousasi on extremely short notice, suffering a TKO loss in the first round to the Dream Catcher.


1) What do you guys think of this news?

2)How does it speak, if at all, to the dangers of head trauma to MMA fighters? Bear in mind that Gary has said that the vast majority of his head trauma was suffered in K-1, and many of his MMA fights were conducted at a time when there were effectively no rules.

3) What place in the annals of MMA lure does Gary hold for you? To me he was a terrifically exciting journeyman, who always came to win fights, and always gave his best in his defeats in his prime.