The MMA Mental Hall of Fame: Bill “Superfoot” Wallace
Filed Under (MMA) by admin on 16-01-2009
Tagged Under : Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, MMA Mental Hall of Fame
Rarely is a man who never fought in mixed martial arts honored with an induction to the MMA Mental Hall of Fame. But the former karate competitor (and champion) earned his place among this group of immortals on the basis of his ringside commentary at UFC 1.
Indeed, his persistence in calling the UFC the “Ultimate Fighting Challenge” may be largely to blame for future competitor Harold Howard’s insistence to do the same, something that may indeed one day justify a re-examination of Howard’s eligibility for the Hall.
The video below really does its own job of highlighting and critiquing Superfoot’s ringside work, but it is probably safe to say that going 0-for-10 in attempts to say “Teila Tuli” was one of Mr. Wallace’s more memorable displays in this fledgling broadcast.
Of course, it only added to the magic that the octagon on this day was mostly filled with odd characters, and that his broadcast team consisted of Kathy Long and Jim Brown, both of whom were gifted athletes but neither of whom really knew much about mixed martial arts competition. Then again, who really did?
All of this said, Superfoot’s being revealed as only human when it came to announcing fights doesn’t erase the fact that he was one of the elite strikers of his day, posting a 23-0 professional karate record. He is also a tougher guy than you would gather from his ringside work at UFC 1: He is a U.S. Airforce veteran and, in a turn of events that would make Cro Cop do a double take, he continued his career after losing a testicle in a combat tournament.
And he doesn’t really deserve his own place in the Hall, but we’ll give an honorable mention to Brian Kilmore, er, Brian Kilmeade for his spot duty inside the ring, er, octagon.