Tough Guys 2017
10 years before the debut of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In 1979, Bill Viola and Frank Caliguri dreamed up a contest pitting barroom bigmouths against wrestlers, martial artists, boxers, bouncers and brawlers, billed as no-holds-barred new type of competitive fighting. When the fights succeeded beyond their wildest expectations, they were swept up in a chain of events that ended in the first mixed-martial arts ban in the nation. “Tough Guys” chronicles the inception of Caliguri and Viola’s first bouts and the colorful, crazy cast of fighters who made them a hit as well as the politicians who brought it all crashing down. The film brings to life a moment when the national martial arts craze was building to a crescendo as the economies of Pennsylvania steel towns were plummeting to levels of unemployment never seen, breeding desperate men looking for a chance to prove their worth and make some money in the ring.
- Title: Tough Guys
- Year: 2017
- Genre: Documentary
- Country: United States of America
- Studio: Warrior Poets, Fictionless, MinusL Productions
- Director: W.B. Zullo, Henry Roosevelt
- Cast: Bill Viola, Frank Caliguri, Dann Carr, Jacquet Bazemore, Jimmy Cvetic
- Crew: W.B. Zullo (Director), Henry Roosevelt (Director), Morgan Spurlock (Executive Producer)
- Keyword: sports, competition, wrestling, karate, mixed martial arts, bouncer, fighting, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, boxing, tough man, brawlers
- Release: Sep 15, 2017
- Runtime: 76 minutes
- IMDb: 7.50 / 10 by 2 users
- Popularity: 4
- Budget: $0
- Revenue: $0
- Language:
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