Egan Inoue: My WAR with Relson Gracie

<p>Egan Inoue sits down with the MMA History Podcast and opens a Hawaiian career that ran from racquetball world titles straight into the chaos of the early fight scene. Younger brother of Enson Inoue, he talks training with Rickson Gracie before the UFC existed, learning jiu-jitsu from Enson, and a Space Needle street fight that finally pulled him in.</p><p><br></p><p>His pro debut came at Lumax Cup: Tournament of J ’95 on October 13, 1995. Armbars over Alexander Otsuka and Akihiro Gono put him in the final, where Tsuyoshi Kosaka stopped the run. From there he covers a 1996 Shooto win over Gordon Dehdman, a Lumax Cup loss to Sanae Kikuta, a Rings disqualification against Masayuki Naruse, and a Pride 5 TKO of Minoru Toyonaga.</p><p><br></p><p>Inoue is widely credited as the first non-Brazilian IBJJF world champion, blue belt in 1996 and purple belt in 1997. He also breaks down the footlock game that got him booed in Brazil.</p><p><br></p><p>The Relson Gracie feud started on the mats and never really cooled off. Opening Grappling Unlimited in Honolulu, and his ties to kickboxer Dennis Alexio, poured fuel on it. The bad blood spilled into a Hawaii Pan American, a ban from the Florida Pan Ams, and a hired opponent at SuperBrawl 12 on June 1, 1999: Marcelo Dantas, known as Tigre. He also talks weekends at the gym with a young BJ Penn.</p><p><br></p><p>At ADCC 1999 he submitted Robbie Kilpatrick, outpointed Renzo Gracie, and dropped the bronze match to Ricardo Libório. </p><p><br></p><p>Mike Davis and Joey Venty keep the tape rolling!</p><p><br></p><p>0:00 start</p><p>0:29 MMA History Podcast intro </p><p>1:01 Joey Venti’s guest introduction </p><p>1:16 interview start </p><p>1:40 first time hearing about MMA</p><p>2:15 meeting Royce Gracie </p><p>4:11 joining Enson Inoue in learning Jiu jitsu </p><p>5:40 Enson Inoue Jiu jitsu on the street </p><p>9:28 learning bjj from brother </p><p>10:57 landing triangle choke on Relson Gracie </p><p>12:52 training with Rickson Gracie </p><p>15:39 Lumax Cup 8 man tournament </p><p>17:51 Egan Inoue vs Tsuyoshi Kosaka</p><p>19:39 pay for 8 man tournament </p><p>20:59 pay for racquetball tournaments</p><p>21:39 first non Brazilian bjj world champion </p><p>22:34 learning how to do foot locks </p><p>23:26 rule changes due to leg submissions </p><p>24:50 dragged out of arena in Brazil </p><p>27:16 Egan Inoue vs Gordon Dehdman </p><p>27:34 Egan Inoue vs Yasunobu vs Matsuo </p><p>29:25 recognizing the Yakuzas involvement </p><p>31: