To many, the early 90’s no holds barred scene in the United States consisted solely of the UFC, but right along side it was HooknShoot. Operating primarily out of the midwest beginning in 1996, HooknShoot put a host of international newcomers on display that would eventually become stars. Fighters such as Marcus Aurellio, Mikey Burnett, John Fitch, Hermes Franca, Mike Brown, Tara Larosa and many, many more got their start in the Midwest promotion. Constant trendsetters, HooknShoot was behind women’s MMA before you even knew women’s MMA existed. So the next time you cry out Pride or WEC never die, remember HooknShoot and the ridiculous amount of careers it gave birth to.
With these talented trailblazers came incredibly exciting fights that were lost in time, fights such as the two legendary battles between Aaron Riley and Yves Edwards.
HooknShoot gave Aaron Riley his first professional fight when he was just 16 years-old in 1997. Now, two years later, Riley would stand confidently in the ring with an overall record of 11-1-1 on an brisk October night in Indiana. Across from him was a 21 year-old Yves Edwards. Not yet the ThugJitsuMaster, but certainly one in training. Yves was 8-3, and these two would clash that night in a back and forth battle for the ages. Riley, known for his heavy hands and karate background, would be at the disadvantage in a ‘Texas Rules’ match, where only open-hand strikes were allowed.
Click ‘Read More’ to continue on to the fights.
The first fight: (Texas Rules) October 2, 1999 HooknShoot: Texas Heat. There would be a single twenty minute round.
The second fight would come two years with a substantial amount of build up. The rivals would meet again on July 14th, 2001 at HooknShoot: Showdown. This time the middleweight belt (165 pounds) would be on the line. The rules would be standard MMA rules with three five minute rounds. (The audio is out of sync, damn.)
An entire HooknShoot DVD documentary was dedicated to this duo of fights: here’s the description for the impossible to find and out of stock Showdown DVD.
The mystique surrounding the fight in which many call the “2001 MATCH OF THE YEAR!” involving Aaron Riley and Yves Edwards traces the two fighters history dating back to 1999 when they first met.
This action/documentary featuring two fights never before seen, as well as BOTH fights when the two met up (four fights total).
In addition to the action, you go inside the lives of both fighters just days before the event. News broadcasts, comments from the promoters, friends and parents, fallout from the 2001 match, the controversy surrounding it and much more.
We interviewed Aaron Riley last year, and since they are both in the UFC, this is what he had to say about fighting Yves one more time:
You guys are together under the same roof once again: Yves Edwards vs Aaron Riley III. Will it happen? Hahaha Joe Silva knows the history there so it’s up to him. It just is if our career happens to cross paths again. Would you be down? Possibly. It could be built up really well if they used footage from the past.There is a way it could be approached and I’m not saying main event or anything but they could use old footage and it could be something people would be interested in.
Those fights are great, and there is that old documentary…Throwdown! Yeah! Yeah, that’s impossible to find. That would be so cool. Yeah it’s rare and pretty old, Jeff Osbourne made it and I could try my best to hook you up with a copy. It’s a pretty cool documentary and it’s a great look at that time. That’s its charm though haha.
HooknShoot never die!
