BENNY "The Jet" URQUIDEZ

Benny Urquidez, nicknamed "The Jet", is an American undefeated champion kickboxer, choreographer, and action film actor. He was born the second of nine children in Los Angeles, California, on June 20, 1952, into a family of Basque and Native American descent whose mother, Lupe, was a professional wrestler in the 1940s and his father, Arnold, a boxer. professional. He began competing in boxing when he was only five years old, in 1958 at the famous Olympic auditorium in Los Angeles, California, and at eight he began his martial arts training under Bill Ryusaki, although a year earlier his older brother Arnold had already taught him had entered the world. He also studied under Ed Parker, Tak Kubota and Clarence Akuda. He achieved the black belt at just 14 years old, having started the points combat competition in 1964. In the 1972 Santa Monica kempo open, Benny Urquidez lost in the final against Brian Strian and a year later he played the great international title against John Natividad in one of the best non-contact matches in history. It was a game to 25 points and Natividad won 13-12. In 1973 he was part of Chuck Norris' United States karate team, called "The Los Angeles Stars", sponsored by Elvis Presley. In May 1974, in the PAWAK tournament, Urquidez lost a 4-1 decision against Joe Lewis. He also competed in England and Belgium as a member of Ed Parker's USA team. In 1974 he began his withdrawal from non-contact championships by winning the World Series of Martial Arts Championship in Hawaii, a championship with far fewer rules than those he used to participate in and no weight classes. He fought seven opponents in two days weighing in at 145 pounds, with opponents weighing in at 225 pounds. Before his participation in this championship he turned down an offer to become a professional boxer. By 1977 he had traveled the world defeating opponents from various countries including Japan and clinched the PKA and WKA world kickboxing championships. During the next two decades he fought under different kickboxing organizations such as NKL, WPKO, PKA, WKA, AJKBA, KATOGI, Benny UrquidezNJPW or MTN, obtaining a creditable record of 58 fights won, 49 of them by KO and none lost. After having won five world championships in 4 different weight classes, he retired in 1989 undefeated. However, in 1993 he came out of retirement to win his last fight at the age of 42 against the 25-year-old Japanese champion, achieving his sixth world championship in 5 weight classes and becoming a legend.

In 1977, Urquidez traveled to Japan to fight under WKA rules. In his first meeting in August 1977, he defeated Katsuyuki Suzuki by KO in the sixth round. The rematch of this fight was carried out by the retired and undefeated Kunimatsu Okau in November of the same year, but Urquidez won by KO in the fourth round. In 1978, Black Belt magazine named Benny Urquidez "Fighter of the Year." He had sporadic fights throughout the 1980s. In 1984 he fought Ivan Sprang in Amsterdam under Muay Thai rules, defeating by TKO in the sixth round. After the year 1985 he faced each other only twice. One in 1989 against Nobuya Azuka and another in 1993 at the age of 41 against Yoshihisa Tagami, winning both by decision. From then on he devoted himself to film, teaching kickboxing and martial arts choreography. Reuben, Benny's brother, also took up martial arts and acting.

In Benny Urquidez's career as a competitor, there were three bouts as null (no-contest, NC). His first was

in Los Angeles in March 1977, in a nine-round WKA rules bout against Thai wrestler Narongnoi Kiatbandit. The second null match had a lot of controversy. In it he faced the Thai fighter Prayuth Sittiboonlert in August of the following year in Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese and Thais gave the fight as won by Prayuth, who put Urquidez in difficulties with his clinch strategy and his aggressiveness with his knees. However, both Benny and the WKA gave the match a void claiming that there had been no pre-match weighin and that larger than normal gloves had been used. Officially, the fight concluded as a six-round no contest. The third no contest was a seven-round WKA-rules fight against Billy Jackson in West Palm Beach, Florida on August 8, 1980. Jackson was declared the winner by decision at the end of the fight, but was later declared the winner by decision. it changed to a technical draw and was later declared void. These bouts have raised controversy as to his undefeated status on Benny Urquidez's record. Thus, the November 1984 issue of Official Karate Magazine lists Urquidez with a record of 56-1-1, with 47 victories by KO, as does the September 1985 issue of the same magazine. However, in an article for Inside Karate Magazine from November 1985, Urquidez is listed with a record of 75-0-2, that is, without losing a fight. His track record can be summarized in the following list:

1970 Second place behind Byong Yu at the 7th Long Beach Internationals 1972 Defeated Datu Lowell Manabe Defeated by Brian Strian at the Santa Monica Open Kempo (karate) 1973 Defeated by John Natividad at the Long Beach International Karate Championships, August (karate) 1974 Defeated Buch Batie to become Grand Champion at the Mountains Karate Championships Defeated by Joe Lewis, 4-1 (karate) Defeated by Roy Kurban (karate) World Series of Martial Arts Championship in Hawaii, promoted by Tommy Lee. Tournament without weight categories with a prize of $5,000, December 20, 1974. Urquidez defeated Bill Rosehill by KO in 3 rounds, Futi Semanu by KO in 2 rounds, Tom Mossman by KO in 2 rounds, by KO in 2 rounds to Burnis White and by decision in 3 rounds to Dana Goodson. Benny Urquidez 1975 Defeated Butch Bell by KO in 2 rounds in Savanah, GA (NKL) in February He defeated Ken Koolodziej by KO in 4 rounds in Milwaukee, WI, in March He defeated Demetrius Havana by decision in 3 rounds in Dalls, TX (NKL World), in April Defeated Tayari Casei by decision in 3 rounds in New York (WPKO World), on May 10 He defeated Roland Talton by KO in 2 rounds in Los Angeles, on May 16. He defeated Bill Henderson by KO by 2 rounds in Los Angeles, on May 16 He defeated Sanun Plypoolsup by KO in 2 rounds, on June 21 He defeated Ken Riley by KO in 2 rounds in Honolulu, HI (WSMAC World), on June 20. He defeated Burnis White by KO in 2 rounds, on June 21 He defeated Sammy Pace by KO in 1 round, in Los Angeles in July He defeated Bill Henderson by KO in 2 rounds, in October Defeated Sanun Plypoolsup in 8 rounds, in May

Defeated Tayari Casel in New York on May 10 He defeated Marcelino Torres by KO in 1 round in New York, on May 10. He defeated Eddie Andujar in Los Angeles on May 28. He defeated Randy Sojot by KO in 3 rounds in Honolulu, HI, on September 21. Defeated Bill Henderson by KO in 2 rounds in Los Angeles, CA (WSMAC World), in October 1976 Defeated Eddie Andujar, on October 1 Defeated Ernest Hart Jr. in the first round in Los Angeles Defeated Sanun Plypollsup on points over 8 rounds in Dallas Defeated Ernest Hart Jr. by points in 9 rounds in Hawaii 1977 He defeated Howard Jackson by KO in 4 rounds, on April 23 in Las Vegas He defeated Katsuyuki Suzuki by KO in 6 rounds, on August 2 in Tokyo He defeated Kunimatsu Okao by KO in 4 rounds, on November 14 1978 He defeated Dave Paul by KO in 4 rounds in Vancouver, in April He defeated Takeshi Naito by KO in 1 round in Japan, in April He defeated Sammy Pace by KO in 1 round in Los Angeles, in July Null match against Shinobu Onuki in Tokyo No match against Prayuth Sittiboonlert in Tokyo 1979 He defeated Rick Simerly by KO in 6 rounds, on May 2 Defeated Frank Holloway by points in 9 rounds in Ensenada, Mexico He defeated Yoshimitsu Tomashiro by points in 9 rounds, in October 1980 He defeated Shinobu Onuki by KO in 7 rounds, on January 26 Benny Urquidez He defeated Frank Holloway by points in 9 rounds in Vancouver No bout against Billy Jackson in Palm-Beach 1981 He defeated Kong Fu Tak by KO in 4 rounds in Hong Kong, China (WKA World), on April 9. 1982 Defeated Jessie Orrozo by decision in 6 rounds, on February 8 He defeated Yutaka Koshikawa by KO in 6 rounds, on June 21. 1983 He defeated Kunimasa Nagae by KO in 4 rounds, on January 8 He defeated Iron Fujimoto by KO in 6 rounds, on September 12. 1984 He defeated Ivan Sprang by KO in 6 rounds, on January 15 in Amsterdam 1985 Defeated Tom LaRoche by decision in 12 rounds in Northridge, CA (WKA World), on November 16 1989 Defeated Nobuya Azuka by points in 5 rounds in Tokyo 1993 Defeated Yoshihisa Tagami on points in Las Vegas As for his career in the cinema, Urquidez has participated in several martial arts films. His first appearance was in The Invincible Five (Force: Five) in 1981, along with Joe Lewis and Bong Soo Han. Later, he participated in two Jackie Chan films, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao: Los Supercamorristas (Wheels on Meals, 1984). and The three dragons (Dragons Forever, 1988). In both he characterizes the final character of the film that Jackie Chan must defeat. Both fights against Jackie Chan are considered some of the best in the genre, especially the one against the aforementioned Los Supercamorristas. He has also made appearances in films such as Ragin' Cajun (1991), Bloodmatch (1991), Street Fighter (1994), A Something Special Killer (Grosse Pointe Blank) (1997), 1408 (2007), The Perfect Hit (Diggstown) or Spider-Man. He has participated in several films with John Cusack, to whom Benny gave Kickboxing classes for a long time.

Benny Urquidez holds the black belt in nine different styles, namely: judo, kajukenbo, shotokan, taekwondo, lima lama, white crane kung fu, jujutsu, aikido and karate. In addition, he is the founder of Ukidokan karate, a style that mixes all of his martial arts knowledge and techniques. He owns a gym in California, called The Jets Gym in which he teaches his knowledge. He has produced several instructional videos and books and has been featured in a multitude of martial arts and contact sports magazines.

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