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| Birth Name(s) : Bob Sapp |
Date of Birth: N/A |
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Full Bob Sapp Biography
Robert Malcolm Sapp aka Bob "The Beast" Sapp (born September 22, 1974) is an American kickboxer, mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and former world champion professional wrestler and professional American Football player. Sapp currently has an MMA record of 8-2-1 as of September 2007, mostly fighting in Japan. He is well-known in Japan, where he has appeared in commercials, television programs, and has released a music CD entitled "It's Sapp Time". Sapp also appeared in an episode of the HBO program Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. In Japan he has appeared in 23 commercials, 200 times on TV, in 1000 interviews, on 200 products with his name or image, as an author or subject of 4 books (according to his self-introduction in the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 11 August 2003). He is currently wrestling for HUSTLE.
Bob Sapp, known as "The Beast", began his athletic career in college football as a standout offensive lineman for the University of Washington, where he won the Morris Award. Expected by some to get high notice from pro scouts in the 1997 NFL draft, he slipped to the third round before being chosen by the Chicago Bears at 69th overall. Although Sapp was under pro contract for the next four seasons (Chicago Bears '97, Minnesota Vikings '98, Baltimore Ravens '99, and Oakland Raiders '00 , each of which cut him within that season), he appeared in only one regular season game before washing out of the league. Bob went on to fight (and defeat) William "The Refrigerator" Perry in a Toughman boxing special promoted by the FX channel.
Bob Sapp's pro-wrestling career started in NWA Wildside in 2001. He was quickly contracted by World Championship Wrestling as a developmental wrestler, before the company was bought out by the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) (at that time WWF). He washed out of that program due to his bad cardiovascular conditioning, a problem that would haunt him in his later K-1 career.
His opponent was confirmed to be Razor Ramon HG on November 4, 2007. Sapp easily defeated HG in the resultant match.
Sapp was subsequently recruited by the Japanese MMA organization PRIDE, where he quickly became a fan favorite due to his preternatural size and aggression. After a number of successes in Pride, Sapp was then invited by Kazuyoshi Ishii to K-1. Ishii, inventor of the fighting sport K-1, saw in Sapp the combination of great potential and great marketability.
After arriving in Japan, Sapp fought a number of low level Japanese fighters, winning all his bouts through sheer strength and size. During this time fans were first introduced to Sapp's "bullrush" technique, whereby he would rush an opponent with punches, quickly overwhelming them. PRIDE and K-1 collaborated to create a show billed "Dynamite" in Japan and "Shockwave" in the United States. He faced then-champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Sapp was defeated and shortly afterward moved to K-1.
Despite losing his first fight by disqualification, Sapp was initially successful in K-1. He twice defeated four-time K-1 champion Ernesto Hoost by technical knockout. Sapp's initial success with his intimidating, blind chase-and-punch method slowly petered out into disqualifications for bullrushing and punching after referee breaks. Additionally, experienced opponents discovered Sapp's weak points—his weak chin and legs. He also engaged in an ineffective but entertaining defensive stance consisting of cowering away from attacks and spinning around in a circle. In what marked the beginning of his K-1 decline, Sapp was knocked out and brought to tears by Croatian Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović in 86 seconds at the March 30, 2003, Saitama event. After Filipović landed several solid kicks to his sides and legs, an overhand left broke Sapp's orbital bone. In May 2004 he tapped out while on the ground due to kicks and strikes from Kazuyuki Fujita.
In June 2005, Sapp won the K-1 Japan Grand Prix in Hiroshima to become one of 16 fighters qualified for the 2005 K-1 World GP. In the Japan GP, Sapp showcased greatly improved stamina, as well as better technique, than in his previous fights after intensive training under Sam Greco. In the K-1 2005 World GP Eliminations he lost by decision to "The Techno Goliath" Choi Hong-man.
On May 13, 2006, Sapp was to headline the K-1 show in Holland. His opponent was Ernesto Hoost. Hoost stated in previous interviews and the interview on that show that this was to be his last match in Holland before his retirement. Sapp attended all the pre-fight press conferences and even attended the opening ceremonies for the show. It is unclear at the moment as to why, but Sapp pulled out of the event midway through the show.
This move has also presumably ended his career as a gaijin tarento or foreign celebrity in Japan, as his appearances and endorsements came to a halt in the wake of the incident.
However, he did participate in this year's K-1 event in the Amsterdam Arena, fighting as a replacement for Remy Bonjasky, against Peter Aerts. Sapp, however, lost the fight at KO within 20 seconds in the first round by a knee .
He most recently has been getting offers from WWE again as well as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) to work with them, but his K-1 contract is prohibiting him from going through with any return to the ring. |
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