How a Skinny Kid From Rio Changed Fighting Forever

In 1993, the smallest man in the first UFC beat everyone. He had learned a Japanese art that his family had turned into something new in Rio de Janeiro. A Japanese wanderer in the Amazon, a skinny kid watching from the side of the mat, open challenges in the newspapers, a fight in the Maracanã and a garage in California. CHAPTERS 0:00 The smallest man 0:22 A wanderer from Japan 1:33 The skinny kid 2:26 Anyone, any size 2:54 The Maracanã 3:30 California 3:58 The first UFC 4:44 Everywhere 5:17 Japanese or Brazilian? 5:37 Your turn SOURCES Judo in Brazil (encyclopaedia articles) Hélio Gracie interviews Masahiko Kimura, autobiography UFC history: UFC 1, Denver, 12 Nov 1993 IBJJF graduation rules