Smiler Steps Up to Face Bob Sapp

After the surprise and sudden retirement of Robert "Buzz" Berry only five weeks away from undoubtedly the biggest fight of his career, Cage Rage were left to find a suitable replacement Cage Rage 21 headline fighter to take on “The Beast” Bob Sapp.

Berry cited a job promotion and a change in family commitments as his reason for stepping out of the match and the fight game.

Cage Rage promised to find an excellent British replacement for the big man.

Suggestions of Cage Rage British Champion Tengiz Tedoradze or Rob Broughton were fielded by the pundits, but in the end CR Promoters Dave O’Donnell and Andy Geer drafted an old skool British legend.

Gary Turner has been under the radar for a while but his skills, particularly in stand up fighting, have never been forgotten. Turner was set to make his MMA comeback against Tom Blackledge at Ultimate Force in Doncaster but Cage Rage will now be the stage for his return to MMA.

For those of you unfamiliar with Gary Turner, we did a bit of Googling and came up with the following. It’s quite old and probably very out of date, but it should give you some idea on what Gary Turner is about.

You can see Bob Sapp vs Gary Turner live at Cage Rage 21.
Click here for more details and tickets.

Name: Gary Turner
Nickname: ‘Smiler’

Age: 36

Date of Birth: 2 September 1970

Fighting Weight: 100kg

Background: Judo, Traditional Ju-jitsu, Lau Gar Kung Fu, Kickboxing, Sport Ju-jitsu, Thai Boxing

Grades: Black Belt 2nd Degree Kickboxing, 1st Dan Judo, 1st Dan ju-jitsu

Cross training: Running, mountain biking, weights, indoor rowing, fitness

14th June 2003: Gary landed a role as a K1 Eurosport commentator, and will be commentating live from the Paris K1 14th June 2003 with Will Vanders.

30th May 2003: Gary competed in Basel at the Andy Hug Memorial K1, defeating Kucukulan by 2nd round KO, then losing on points to Bjorn Bregy.

April 2003: Gary won the k1 Battle of Britain:

1st Round - defeats Kenny Gayle
2nd round - defeats Simon Dimitrious
3rd round - 5 second TKO to defeat Gordon Minors

British K1 Champion 2003!

Judo Record

British Open 1997 (Competitor)
British Schools Champion 1996
British Schools Judo Team 1996/7

Major International Championships, Ju-Jitsu and Kickboxing:

1993 WAKO European Championships, Bulgaria, Bronze (Light Continuous Kickboxing)

1995 WCJJO World Championships, Auckland, Gold Individual, Gold Teams
WAKO European Championships, Helsinki, Silver (Full Contact)

1996 ISJA World Championships, West Virginia, Gold Individual, Silver Teams
WAKO World Championships, Kiev, quarter-final (Full Contact Kickboxing)

1997 JJIF European Championships, Paris
WAKO European Championships, Belgrade, Gold (Full Contact Kickboxing)

1998 WAKO World Championships, Poland, Gold (Full Contact Kickboxing)
ISJA World Championships, Vancouver, Gold Individuals, Silver Teams
WCJJO World Championships, Reno, Gold Individual, Gold Teams
JJIF World Championships, Berlin, Silver

1999: JJIF European Championships, Leeds, Bronze

2000: ISJA World Championships, Leeds, Gold Individual, Silver Teams

2001: WCJJO World Championships, Jersey, Gold Teams, Silver Individual

Shootfighting:

1992 Won the Golden Dragon Cup, Rimini, Italy
Rings rules record: 1 win, 1 draw

Professional kickboxing:

1991 Defeated Richard Smith 2nd round KO, Heavyweight Low Kick (3 round match)

1994 WKA Intercontinental Super cruiserweight Title, Kevin Morton, lost points (10 round match)

1995 WAKO British Heavyweight Title, Low Kick, Ian Morgan, won 2nd Round TKO (7 round match)

1995 WKA British Super-cruiserweight Title, Full Contact, Ricky Nicholson, won points (7 round match)

1996 WAKO Low Kick Bout, Ian Morgan, won 2nd Round KO (7 round match)

1996 WAKO British Super-cruiserweight Title, Full Contact, Lee Swaby, won on points (7 round match)

1997 WAKO Commonwealth Heavyweight Title, Full Contact, Gordon Minors, Draw (10 round match)
1997 WAKO European Heavyweight Title, Full Contact, Leroy Tomski, won 2nd Round KO (10 round match)

1997 WAKO Prestige Fight, Tacci Edhem, Heavyweight Full Contact, Macedonia, won on points (5 round match)

1998 Exhibition Fight, Superheavyweight Full Contact, Montenegro - un-judged (5 round match)

2000 WAKO European Heavyweight Title Defence, Full Contact, Cyprus, lost on points (10 round match)

2001 WAKO World Super-cruiserweight Title, Full Contact, Augusto Sporano, Trieste in Italy, lost on points (12 round match)

K1:

2000 Battle of Britiain, Lost to Matt Skelton, points
2000 Britain v Japan event, individual fight, defeated Tyrone Herod, points
2002 Battle of Britain, Lost to Mark Russell, lost on split points
2002 K1 Max Event, individual fight, defeated Rob Lloyd, points
2003 Battle of Britain Champion, 1st round defeated Kenny Gayle points, 2nd round defeated Simon Dimitrious, final defeated Gordon Minors TKO
2003 Andy Hug Memorial, Basel, Switzerland. Defeated Kucukulan, Turkey, 2nd Round TKO. Then stepped in to take the place of Larry Lindwall who broke his hand, and fought Bjorn Bregy, Switzerland, and lost on points.

Also:

5 x British Heavyweight Ju-Jitsu Champion

Captain of the Great Britain Ju-Jitsu Squad 1998 - 2001

Experienced Light-continuous Kickboxing Competitor 1989 - 1994

Numerous FSK Individual Heavyweight Championship wins

3x FSK Grand Heavyweight Champion

Numerous regional tournaments

Notes

WAKO – World Association of Kickboxing Organisations

WKA – World Kickboxing Association

WCJJO – World Council of Ju-jitsu Organisations

ISJA – International Sport Ju-jitsu Association

JJIF – Ju-jitsu International Federation

(All three Ju-jitsu rules consist of punching, kicking and grappling for submissions.)