Benny Urquidez

Benny Urquidez (born June 20, 1952) is an American former professional kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor.

Nicknamed "The Jet", Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the United States.

Benny began competing in 1958, at the age of five, in "peewee" boxing and wrestling in Los Angeles.

His martial arts instruction started when he was seven years old; his first formal teacher was Bill Ryusaki.

Urquidez received his black belt at the age of 14, a highly unusual feat in the 1960s.

His siblings also achieved the rank of black belt.

His sister Lilly Rodriguez was a pioneer in kickboxing for women, and their late brother Reuben Urquidez appeared with Benny in a documentary on the combination martial art budojujitsu.

At the age of 12, Urquidez attended the Long Beach International Karate Championships in 1964.

He witnessed a demonstration by Bruce Lee, including the one-inch punch which sent a 245-pound man flying back.

This demonstration by Lee inspired a young Urqidez to start entering martial arts tournaments.

He entered the point circuit in 1964 and earned a reputation as a colorful fighter.

At the 1972 Santa Monica Kempo Open, Urquidez lost in the finals to Brian Strian.

In the 1973 Internationals, he fought John Natividad in what is considered one of the greatest non-contact bouts in history.

In an unprecedented 25-point overtime match, Natividad won the match 13–12, receiving the Grand Title and the $2,500 purse.

He made the transition from point to full-contact karate in 1974, the year of its inception in the US, frequently fighting in bouts where the rules were ambiguous and contrasts in styles were dramatic.

Urquidez is also known for once holding the rare achievement of six world titles in five different weight divisions, and remained largely undefeated in his 27-year career.

His only loss came in a Muay Thai match which was shrouded in controversy, as Urquidez had only agreed to a no-decision exhibition, a clause which was ignored when the fight had ended.

Between 1974 and 1993, he amassed a documented professional record of 49–1–1 (win-loss-draw) with 35 knockouts and two controversial no-contests, although he is also supposed to have an additional record of 10–0–1 (10 KOs) in undocumented professional fights, making a total of 59–1–2–2 (45 KOs).

However, sources vary with Ratings listing Urquidez as 63–0–1, (57 knockouts) and on his own official webpage, Urquidez lists his fight record as 200–0, and says he was 63–0, with 57 knockouts in title defenses.

Also, he claims to have been undefeated in the "Adult Black Belt Division" prior to entering full-contact karate.

In May 1974, at the PAWAK Tournament, Urquidez lost a 4–1 decision to Joe Lewis.

He also competed in England and Belgium as a member of Ed Parker's 1974 US team.

Also in 1974, he began his move away from the non-contact style by entering and winning the World Series of Martial Arts Championship, effectively a tough-man contest with few rules.

Over the next two decades, he fought under various kickboxing organizations (NKL, WPKO, Professional Karate Association (PKA), World Kickboxing Association (WKA), AJKBA, Shin-Kakutojutsu Federation, NJPW and MTN) to amass a record of 58 wins with no losses.

This undefeated record, though official, is controversial and highly disputed.

At the same time, Japanese professional wrestler Antonio Inoki, who gained the worldwide fame by fighting Muhammad Ali in the controversial 1976 boxer/wrestler mixed-match in Japan, had been looking for new opponents for what he called the world martial arts championship series.

Eventually, promoter Ron Holmes discovered Everett Eddy for Inoki.

By that time, Eddy had been coached by Arnold Urquidez, and lost in a knockout in the 1st round to PKA world heavyweight champion Ross Scott in the previous year.

In the same event, Benny Urquidez knocked out Howard Jackson, but soon his lightweight title was stripped by the PKA, and so both Eddy and Urquidez had no action in the US, and had to look for fights overseas.

Even though the Inoki/Eddy bout was successful, it was the fight between Urquidez and Suzuki, which shocked Japan, where Japanese kickboxing had been very popular.

Though never tested for or achieved any rank in Japanese karate, Urquidez has decided to bestow upon himself the title of sensei, a Japanese honorific term which is given to experts and instructors meaning: "someone who precedes you in knowledge".

In 1977, Urquidez traveled to Japan and fought under the WKA's compromise US–Japan rules which included leg kicks and knees to the body.

He defeated Katsuyuki Suzuki by KO in the 6th round (August 1977) as part of the professional wrestling event in which Antonio Inoki fought Everett Eddy in what was said to be a wrestler/karate fighter mixed match but was a pre-determined pro wrestling match.

The Suzuki fight materialized because the newly formed WKA organization could not compete against the PKA in the US.

Black Belt magazine voted Urquidez "Competitor of the Year" in 1978.

He has appeared in occasional acting roles, including the Jackie Chan movies Wheels on Meals (1984) and Dragons Forever (1988), and played a hitman in George Armitage's Grosse Pointe Blank (1997).

Urquidez was born in Los Angeles County, California, the son of a Wrestling mother and a Boxing father.

His parents are of Spanish (Basque), Mexican and Blackfoot ancestry.

He has said that his father was Spanish and his mother was Native American.

In 2019, he was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.