This MMA fight took place in 2004 at K-1 World MAX 2004 World Tournament Open and featured Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto taking on kung fu practitioner and kickboxer Tony Valente.

Prior to this fight, Valente made a name for himself in kickboxing for wearing Bruce Lee’s iconic yellow jumpsuit during the fight as well as attempting to emulate his style. Needless to say it did not go too well for him as stuff that looks cool in movies seldom works in real life.

This fight didn’t go any better for Tony and really was a total mismatch looking back on it. This was when Kid Yamamoto was starting his tear and was proclaimed the next big thing in MMA. Though Valente had quite a bit of size and reach over Kid in this one, he didn’t have any skill and really shouldn’t have been in there against someone of Kid’s caliber.

Japan loved the freak show matches though and Valente certainly had the look and style that intrigued fans at the time. This was really just a flawless performance from Yamamoto here though. He takes down his taller opponent and submits him effortlessly in under 1 minute.

Yamamoto went on to be known as one of the pound for pound best in the best. Now in the twilight of his MMA career, he is currently signed to the UFC but hasn’t really performed like he did here against Valente.

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ABOUT NORIFUMI ‘KID’ YAMAMOTO:
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto (山本徳郁 Yamamoto Norifumi?, born March 15, 1977) is a Japanese mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competes in the Bantamweight division of the UFC. He quickly gained popularity in the Shooto organization due to his aggressive, well-rounded style and controversial persona. He moved on to K-1 HERO’S, where he became the K-1 HERO’s 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion in December, 2005 after defeating Genki Sudo via a controversial TKO due to punches. [Source: Wiki]