Biography
Name: Gary Henry Goodridge
Born on: January 17, 1966 (age 56)
Other Names: Big Daddy
Nationality: Trinidadian, Canadian
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91m)
Weight: 240 lb (109 kg; 17 st 2 lb)
Division: Heavyweight, Openweight
Style: Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Kuk Sool Won
Team: Team Go-Riki
Years active: 1996–2010 (MMA) 1999–2010 (Kickboxing)
Introduction
Gary Henry Goodridge, nicknamed “Big Daddy,” is a Trinidadian-Canadian heavyweight kickboxer and mixed martial artist fighting out of Barrie, Ontario. He was also considered one of the top-ranked contenders in the world of professional arm-wrestling before he was diagnosed with early onset of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Early life of Gary Goodridge
Goodridge is from Saint James in Trinidad and Tobago but moved to Barrie, Ontario. Before he turned pro, he worked as a welder at the Honda plant in Alliston. He was a world champion in arm wrestling and was able to defeat the likes of Sharon Remez and John Brzenk. He was also the super heavyweight amateur boxing champion of Canada.
Gary Goodridge arm-wrestling record
Goodridge is one of the top-ranked contenders pre-UFC. He has been diagnosed with early onset of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
In the first half of the 90sin the world of professional arm wrestling, he was also one of the top arm wrestlers. He was able to defeat champions like Sharon Remez and John Brzenk. Gary won the Canadian stand-up national championship in 1990, and Gloucester Fair international Arm wrestling championships in 1993. However, he was defeated in Yukon Jack National Championship by Cleave Dean in 1994.
Gary Goodridge MMA Career
Gary Goodridge had studied boxing and martial arts in preparation for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He started training in a Kuk Sool Won school but found out that the school already had a fighter on its roster to compete in UFC. Gary was forced to fight him and won, but he actually became one of the first fighters at the time for UFC 8 after only being a black belt for less than one month.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Veterans MMA fighter (UFC) Jon “Bones” Jones opened up about a fight he was involved in back in 1996 during UFC 8: David vs. Goliath. The eight-man tournament at UFC 8 saw Jones debut by fighting Paul Herrera and his teammate Tank Abbott. When Jones faced Herrera, he outweighed him by nearly 80 lbs., and it was there that another fighter crossed his path — well, sort of. As Herrera’s bag of punches was met with Jones’ elbows, the result was a spectacular knockout, both men shot for the fireman’s carry (same submission hold) but both ended up in crucifix position as Jones delivered five punches to the head before losing consciousness, with a significant 9 more punches. It should also be noted that this fight did not stop until 7 more blows landed on Huntsman before either one went limp.
There was a lot of anticipation around Gary Goodridge’s decision to quit. It was noticeable that his body could not handle the rigor of training and competing at events such as Copymatic, which causes worry for some people within the MMA industry about how this might affect his performances in future fights.
Goodridge returned at UFC 9: Motor City Madness, where he fought Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz. The wrestler controlled the fight by taking Gary down and grinding him to the mat with body blows and punches, as time ran out. Instead of going to an overtime period, the referee stopped the fight due to cuts on Goodridge’s face.
On July 12th, 1996, in UFC 10: The Tournament, Goodridge fought John Campetella in his second UFC tournament. He took part in a one-round boxing match against Campetella, knocked out him with left jabs from mount count after reversing a takedown, and advanced to round two against wrestling champion and eventual winner Mark Coleman. Goodridge was taken down repeatedly while being struck by elbows and headbutts until finally submitting when he gave his back out of surrender.
This time, Goodridge was the underdog, and he proved it by losing to Don Frye in a rematch. They traded strikes inside the clinch, then Goodridge attempted to take down Frye, who reached for two armbar attempts and got free, making his own takedown to end their match just like the first time.
