I fought in first-ever UFC fight – now I’m an actor after starring in Hawaii 5-0

IT’S been over thirty years since the Ultimate Fighting Championship introduced the world to mixed martial arts.

MMA was very much an underground sport from the 1920s to the 1990s – a period in which it was known as Vale Tudo.

GETTY

Sumo wrestler Teila Tuli faced Gerard Gordeau in the first-ever UFC fight[/caption]

UFC

The Hawaiian suffered a brutal KO loss in a mere 26 seconds into the fight[/caption]

GETTY

The man mountain lost a tooth as a result of the brutal kick[/caption]

But that changed on November 12, 1993 with UFC 1, which took place at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver.

The historic event pitted eight of the toughest martial artists on the planet against one other to find out which discipline was the most effective.

The no-holds-barred tournament – which had no judges and time limits – was kicked off by Dutch kickboxer Gerard Gordeau and American sumo wrestler Teila Tuli.

And in a fashion fitting of the hundreds of knockouts to come in the following years, Gordeau kicked off the UFC with a brutal head kick KO of Tuli in a mere 26 seconds.

Tuli found himself against the octagon fence after recklessly rushing in to close the distance and ate a vicious right kick and follow-up punch square to the jaw before the ref waved off the contest.

That fight proved to be the only MMA bout of the sumo star’s life, which would change forever in the early 2000s when he dipped his toes into the acting world.

Tuli – who is better known by his stage name Taylor Wily – bagged his first acting gig in 2004 when he starred in American TV show ‘North Shore’.

But he’d land the biggest role of his career four years later when he starred in the hit Hollywood movie ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ with Mila Kunis, Jason Segel and Kristen Bell.

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Tuli is now a full-time actor and starred in 2008 Hollywood film Forgetting Sarah Marshall[/caption]

CBS

Tuli is a long-time cast member of Hawaii Five-0[/caption]

The Hawaiian played the role of Kemo in the Nicholas Stoller-directed comedy.

Tuli is perhaps best known for his role as Kamekona Tupuola in American police drama ‘Hawaii Five-0’, which he starred in from 2010 until 2020.

Tuli has also starred in the reboots of MacGuyver and Magnum PI – the latter of which he still features in.

Tuli’s brief octagon career ended up costing him a tooth, which flew out of his mouth the moment Gordeau’s right foot connected with his jaw.

But he has absolutely no regrets about taking part in what proved to be a seminal moment for the fastest-growing sport in the world.

He told The New York Post in 2018: “There was a different feeling when you walked through that octagon.

“I was scared. I ain’t lying, I was scared.

“Now when I look back on it, now that I’m more mature, I’m just grateful to God to just have the opportunity to risk it.

“Because how many times are you going to have the opportunity to risk something that nobody else did before?”

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Tuli has no regrets about his brief foray into the world of mixed martial arts[/caption]