At CFFC 45, An MMA Pioneer Comes Home

NEW JERSEY

Yuichirou Tsuchida was a tall, stoic karate champ whose sensei father thought it’d be a good idea if his son was tested in an MMA bout. So in November of 2005, the two flew from their home in Japan to Atlantic City, N.J., and soon Tsuchida was standing proudly in a ring erected in the arena at the Trump Taj Mahal. Then the referee said “Go!” and for the next 31 seconds, the karate man got the shit beat out of him. Violently. Furiously. Convincingly. And when it was all over – courtesy of a referee who didn’t want to become an accessory to murder – all Tsuchida could do was wonder just who it was who had so soundly thrashed him.

It was Joe Agostini.