by Jordan Breen (jbreen@sherdog.com)
The world of MMA has lost a true pioneer, with the passing of wrestling legend Karl Gotch. Gotch passed away surrounded by friends and family Saturday in Tampa, Fla. August 3 would have been Gotch's 83rd birthday.
Born Karl Isatz, Gotch represented Belgium in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1948 Olympics Games in London. He later made the transition to pro-wrestling after training at The Snakepit, Billy Riley's famous catch wrestling school in Wigan, England. He then adopted the ring name 'Gotch' in honor of legendary catch wrestler Frank Gotch.
Gotch rose to prominence, competing all over North America in the AWA, NWA and WWWF (now the WWE), however it was in Japan where his impact would be felt most. Gotch headlined the first ever New Japan Pro Wrestling event in 1972 against Antonio Inoki, and would go on to become a trainer for New Japan.
More importantly, some of Gotch's students -- Akira Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Nobuhiko Takada, Satoru Sayama -- went on to form the Universal Wrestling Federation, the beginning of the "UWF system" which gave rise to the popularity of the shoot style pro-wrestling that would later evolve into MMA.
Sayama would go on to found Shooto in 1986, while Akira Maeda formed the RINGS Fighting Network in 1991. Yoshiaki Fujiwara's star students, Masakatsu Funaki (Pictures) and Minoru Suzuki, founded Pancrase in 1993, while Nobuhiko Takada (Pictures) played a pivotal role in bringing MMA to the forefront in Japan due to his battles with Rickson Gracie and his participation in PRIDE.
Fittingly, the Japanese call Gotch "Kami no Puroresu," meaning "The God of Pro Wrestling."
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