David vs Goliath Fights were a crucial part of the rise of MMA in Japan.
Sometimes they ended up in a shock. Boxing Icon Butterbean was dropped and tapped his pride against an opponent, Ikuhisa Minowa, who weighed 200 pounds when he fought when they fought in 2006.
Nowadays you rarely see these kinds of fights. Eddie Hall, however, won a 2VS1 'Freak' fight against Jamil and Jamel Neffati, whose combined weight was 75 pounds less than where the strongest man in the world finished the scales for their collision of June 2024.
Yet it is unlikely that we once see a 7ft versus 5ft 8 -fight sanctioned by MMA's top promotion
View Semmy Schilt vs Akira Shoji
Semmy Schilt was one of the best heavyweight kickboxers in the world, who also enjoyed a 41-Vecht MMA career. In the meantime, Akira Shoji was a mainstay in pride and he recorded all newcomers during his 14-17-5 run in the sport
On Pride 16, Schilt, who is on 7ft, was linked to the 5ft 8in Shoji, who possibly chose the worst opponent when he tried to bounce back from two straight losses.
Amazingly enough, the excessive Japanese hunter managed to bring his gigantic opponent to the floor early in the first round, but Schilt quickly scored a reversal and hit large shots from the top position.
When they got up, the four-fold K1 champion Shoji had stuck in the corner and unleashed a flurry of bumps and stairs to bundle him on the floor.
Shortly thereafter, a huge knee of the Clinch Shoji hit again. 'Mr. Pride 'bounced back quickly to his feet, but it was not long before Schilt would catch him with another barrage of strikes to put an end to what some people call the greatest mismatch' in the MMA history.
Where are they now?
Schilt retired in 2013 after he had instructed it by his medical team because of a heart condition.
'Hightower' ran away from fighting after more than 100 fights about MMA and kickboxing.
Schilt owns a gym and is involved in martial arts by occasionally being a referee at Senshi events.
As for Shoji, he withdrew from MMA in 2011 after an emotional TKO defeat against Kazuo Misaki.