Mixed martial arts is exploding around the world. You see shows popping up anywhere you can set up a cage and put 10 folding chairs in a row; people just can’t get enough of the sport. Gladiator Magazine, in just in its second issue, is already printing over 20,000 copies and can be found in Barnes and Nobles, Borders, Books a Million, Hastings and numerous other major bookstore chains in all 50 states, and also many countries including Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Mexico, Portugal, Austria, Guam, Taiwan, and Israel. This list doesn’t even include Canada, a hotbed of MMA activity, where Gladiator will go into next issue. So just who is responsible for MMA being where it is today?

You have to give enormous credit to the pioneers of the sport who tirelessly covered, promoted, and trained for decades before MMA became an “overnight” sensation. A legion of people from other entertainment industries and sports, who at best laughed at MMA just a few years ago and at worst tried to destroy it, are now scrambling to jump on the bandwagon in hopes of cashing in. But 20 years ago when I first started training with the Gracie family in their Torrance, California garage and traveling with them to their underground fights, there was no pot of gold to reach for. If you loved Gracie jiu-jitsu (the basis for modern MMA) and vale tudo (its no-rules aspect created by Carlos and Helio Gracie), training was its own reward. Eventually vale tudo (what the original UFC really was) was transformed into MMA by Art Davie and then taken worldwide by people like Frederico Lapenda, Bas Boon, and others.

As time passed and more people heard about the sport I saw a lot of people come and go, but I would always see the same core group, in the trenches and on a mission, spending their own time, money and effort to keep the sport alive. You’ll see a lot of those people either writing for Gladiator Magazine now or being featured in our pages. Without them there would be no mixed martial arts today. Some are still in the industry but history has passed by many of them without so much as a backwards glance.

But since they all did it out of a love of the sport, I don’t believe that matters to them. They supported the sport unselfishly for years with their blood, sweat, and tears. But they should not be forgotten and their names should be remembered by all the new fans the sport now attracts. This MMA Roll Call of Honor, as I like to think of it, is in no particular order of importance and is undoubtedly not complete. This is not a “best fighters” list and mainly includes those behind-the-scenes people I’ve had direct contact with over the past two decades. Some names go back 20 years and some go back five years. But it isn’t a long list; back in the day there weren’t that many of us.

Helio Gracie, Rorion Gracie, Carlson Gracie, Rickson, Royce, Royler, and Renzo Gracie (oh, forget it, if your last name is Gracie you’re on the list), the Machado brothers (ditto), Kid Peligro, Matt Furey, Erik Paulson, Frederico Lapenda, Art Davie, Monty Cox, Terry Trebilcock, Joe Gold, Luca Atalla, Joe Silva, Rico Chiapparelli, Jeff Sherwood, Sheik Tahoon, John Donahue, Richard Norton, Bruce Buffer, Chuck Norris, TJ Thompson, Gene LeBell, Mark Eccard, Scott Mofhitz (Scott K), Clay McBride, Bas Boon, Hurb Dean, Eddie Goldman, Kipp Kollar, Tami Goldsmith, Matt Hume, Jeff Osborne, Bud Brutsman, Koichi Kawasaki, Susumu Nagao, Guy Neivens, Craig Kukuk, Mr. Oitate, Cecil Peoples, Gilberto Faria, Tedd Williams, Miguel Iturrate, Pat Miletich, Joe Moreira, Josh Gross, John McCarthy, Chris Peters, Dr. John Keating, Larry Hazard, Bob Meyerwitz, John Petrilli, John Lewis, Stephen Quadros, Marcelo Alonso, Phylis Lee, Charlie Anzalone, and others.

I believe the most important name on this list is “and others.” Those who were around in the beginning know who you are. I’m sure I’ve left off many people who deserve to be on my MMA Roll Call of Honor so I’ll make another list sometime. Feel free to leave a comment with anyone else that should be on the list.