Issue 074

April 2011

Say what you will about Bob Sapp, ‘The Beast’ has made a hefty dent in the fight game. Success, after all, isn’t always measured in the ‘win’ column

Bob Sapp might be the most successful and best-known mixed martial artist to have never won a title belt. Boasting enormous superstardom in the Orient, the Colorado-born ‘Beast’ thrills the masses in Asia (and has a cult Western following) with a hyper-aggressive and reckless fight style that’s cued unlikely and triumphant wins as many times as wince-inducing beat-down losses. Those wild punches have drawn the ire of fight purists for years, although Sapp reminds: “If you look ugly and you win, it really looks bad on the guy who’s throwing crisp punches.”

Japan has fallen hardest for Sapp-mania, although much of the Far East’s fanatical and merchandise-hungry public have lapped up Sapp’s larger-than-life mannerisms and immense physical characteristics (6’ 4”, muscular and well over 300lbs). Naturally the 36-year-old’s appearance has lent itself to a plethora of collectables and paraphernalia. “At the last time they checked there were roughly 400-plus products,” reveals Bob of an occasionally shocking Sapp-themed product list comparative to that of Krusty the Clown. “They have Bob Sapp slot machines, they’ve got Bob Sapp action figures, Bob Sapp video games, they’ve got a Bob Sapp sex toy, Bob Sapp underwear, Bob Sapp cell phone stuff. It’s crazy.” Many see Sapp’s career as a novelty, but the man’s ventures have been massively lucrative all the same. “The most money I’ve made has probably been in commercials, the second would be fighting, the third would be in professional wrestling. But, they’ve all been at a minimum of $1 million or more.” That same value also goes for his pro football contract, Hollywood film work and a dabble in music. “With Bob Sapp Sapp Time [2003 rap single that reached number 18 on the Japanese charts] and the DVDs [Sapp Time The Movie], and things I released in Korea, they’ve sold enough for me to make a hell of an amount of cash.”

It’s an unlikely story for a man who started his working life as an ordinary, if unusually monstrous, NFL lineman. Drafted 69th overall to the Chicago Bears in 1997 from the University of Washington, Sapp drifted between three other teams, only making it onto the field once for a regular-season game. By 2000 his football career was over. Struggling, Sapp ventured into pro wrestling and found a spot on the development roster of WCW (World Championship Wrestling) – although the company went bust before he made it to TV. However, the seed of a profitable future was sown soon after. He appeared in a freakish celebrity boxing television special for the FX channel were he TKO’d fellow former football player William ‘The Refridgerator’ Perry with soon-to-be-trademark vigor. It was the founding of Bob’s ‘Beast’ alter-ego. Told “just do like you would do in wrestling” by the show’s producers, he channeled the intense and overtly physical personality he’d honed while working for WCW. His brash aggression curried interest from the Japanese public who saw the show, and in 2001 intrigued Japanese talent scouts contacted Sapp with an invitation to meet them at a K-1 kickboxing event in Las Vegas where he was treated to an expensive dinner and a $5,000 cash incentive. “I literally had to take my wallet – it was one of those cheap Velcro wallets – fold it, step on it and compress it underneath a chair to get the money to fold; but it wouldn’t fold. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is crazy.’” A contract to compete in K-1 was signed soon after.

In 2002 Sapp debuted in Japan, Beast gimmick in tow. His first MMA win came by TKO at Pride 20, during a period where K-1 and the former were sharing talent. The same year saw Bob take a 3-1 K-1 record, and notch a 3-1 line under Pride’s MMA restrictions. Despite Sapp’s inexperience his opponents were often legends within their disciplines: ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira and Ernesto Hoost came within the first year. “Right off the bat I was fighting harder guys, and they just kept throwing them at me,” says Sapp, reminding that he was so green he was none the wiser about the skills of his rivals. Meanwhile, the K-1 machine made a massive Bob Sapp promotional push, helped from 2004 onward by stints in Japanese pro wrestling. With The Beast’s pre-fight interview antics – such as eating photos of his opponents, exaggerating his imposing physique and bellowing his hallmark deep and dramatic laugh – he was a hit with the Asian fans. His ‘bullrush’ technique of charging opponents with untamed strikes excited massive crowds and made for a stadium-filling spectacle. “A lot of people have grasped onto the whole Bob Sapp thing because they know: ‘He’s going to go in there, and whether we are extremely disappointed or extremely happy, all of it is going to take us on a rollercoaster,’” says Bob.

To date he has acquired an 11-6-1 MMA record taking on fighters such as Bobby Lashley, Minowaman and Kazuyuki Fujita. Bob classifies his spirited and hard-fought 2002 armbar loss to ‘Big Nog’ at the first-ever Dynamite!! event, in front of a reported 90,000 people, as his favorite. Through the next eight years, Bob would eventually go 10-10 in kickboxing against competition ranging from inexperienced (Seth Petruzelli, Yoshihiro Nakao) to world beating (Mirko ‘Cro Cop’, Remy Bonjasky) – although cynical K-1 hardcores would argue an amount of organizational favoritism helped secure wins between ’02 and ’04.

Today Bob, near fluent in Japanese, has an eye on “settling down” as he refers to it, noting that working with animals is something he’s always loved. The Beast continues to be in demand for promotional work in Japan, Korea and China, and still remains active in the ring – whether kickboxing, MMA or professional wrestling. “Most people are just happy to play pro football for three years and be done, or to just fight and be done, or pro wrestling and be finished… I’ve done them all.”

CAREER SNAPSHOT

2002

Despite having very little training in any combat discipline Sapp debuts in MMA at Pride 20, winning by TKO. He fights three more times under MMA rules within the year, even facing first Pride heavyweight champion ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira.

2005

Against all odds he becomes the K-1 Japanese Grand Prix champion, despite Sapp only being the token foreign participant in the event. By defeating his three opponents in the one-night tournament he became only the second non-Japanese national to become K-1 Japan champion.

2007

At K-1 Premium Dynamite!! ‘The Beast’ engages in a freak show fight with Bobby Ologun, a popular Nigerian comedian in Japan with rudimentary fighting skills. Sapp wins the bout by TKO in the first round.

2008

Loses to Jan Nortje by TKO in 55 seconds at Strikeforce: At The Dome. It’s his first ever MMA fight in his home country.

2009

Through 2009, Sapp faces Minowaman and Soukoudjou in Dream, and Bobby Lashley in Ultimate Chaos. Sapp loses to all three after through a combination of strikes and submissions despite outweighing each man by at least 70lbs.