Bob Sapp Robert Malcolm " Bob " Sapp ( ; born September 22 , 1974 ) is an American kickboxer , mixed martial artist , professional wrestler , actor , comedian and former professional American football player . Sapp has a combined fight record of 22 – 32 – 1 , mostly fighting in Japan . He is well known in Japan , where he has appeared in numerous commercials , television programs , and various other media , and has released a music CD , " It ' s Sapp Time " . He also appeared in an episode of the HBO program " Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel " . He is currently working sporadically for various MMA promotions in the U . S . , Japan , and Europe . American football career . Sapp began his athletic career in high school playing football at Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs , Colorado . He received a football scholarship to the University of Washington , where he won the Morris Award . He was drafted by the Chicago Bears 69th overall in the 1997 NFL Draft . Sapp ' s career took a hit after he was suspended by the NFL for alleged steroid abuse . Sapp signed with the Minnesota Vikings after being released by the Bears . He spent two seasons with the Vikings and only played in one game . Afterwards , Sapp was reportedly in poverty , and worked at a funeral home by moving coffins . Professional wrestling . Bob Sapp ' s pro - wrestling career started in NWA Wildside in 2001 . He was quickly contracted by World Championship Wrestling as a developmental wrestler , before the company was bought out by the World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) ( at that time WWF ) . In 2004 , Sapp competed for New Japan Pro Wrestling , winning their IWGP Heavyweight Championship and becoming the first black man to accomplish this feat , though it was vacated shortly thereafter due to a mixed martial arts fight loss and film commitments . On October 16 , 2007 , Bob Sapp made a surprise appearance at HUSTLE ' s Korakuen Hall event , attacking Razor Ramon HG and his partner Wataru Sakata . Sapp aligned himself with Generalissimo Takada ' s Monster Army . He also announced that he would wrestle at the HUSTLE Mania 11 / 25 Yokohama Arena event . His opponent was later confirmed to be Razor Ramon HG and Sapp defeated him in the resultant match . Since 2008 , Sapp began to participate in WWA , a pro - wrestling organization in South Korea . On October 26 , 2009 , Bob Sapp captured the WWA Heavyweight title by defeating Lee Wang Pyo , a famous professional wrestler in Korea who was taught by legendary Korean professional wrestler Kim Il , at Olympic Fencing Gymnasium event . On July 24 , 2011 , Sapp made his debut for Dramatic Dream Team at the " 2011 : A RYOGOKU Peter Pan " event , using a " Beast will fight for money " gimmick . In a comedy match , he was defeated by Danshoku Dino , another wrestler with a homosexual character , being pinned after a kiss and a roll - up . At a New Japan Pro Wrestling event on December 20 , 2012 , Toru Yano announced that Sapp would represent the villainous Chaos stable on January 4 , 2013 , at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome . At the event , Sapp teamed with Yano , Takashi Iizuka and Yujiro Takahashi in an eight man tag team match , where they were defeated by Akebono , Manabu Nakanishi , MVP and Strong Man . Sapp made another appearance for New Japan on April 7 , 2013 , at Invasion Attack , where he and Chaos stablemates Takashi Iizuka , Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi - Hashi were defeated by Akebono , Hiroyoshi Tenzan , Manabu Nakanishi and Super Strong Machine in another eight man tag team match . Kickboxing and mixed martial arts career . Pride Fighting Championships . Sapp was subsequently recruited by the Japanese MMA organization Pride , where he quickly became a fan favorite due to his size , charisma and aggression . After a number of successes in Pride , Sapp was then invited to K - 1 by Kazuyoshi Ishii , the creator of the fighting sport K - 1 . Ishii saw the combination of great potential great marketability in Sapp and he also had actually fought and not just taken dives . After arriving in Japan , Sapp fought three matches in Pride . His first match pitted him against pro wrestler and longtime RINGS Fighting Network competitor Yoshihisa Yamamoto , who he finished by TKO at 2 : 44 of the first round . Sapp ' s second Pride match was against two - time RINGS Open - Weight Champion Kiyoshi Tamura . Though Tamura was a highly respected fighter who held wins over the likes of Pat Miletich , Jeremy Horn , and Renzo Gracie , he was giving up 150 lbs to his foe and was quickly overwhelmed by the much larger American , succumbing to strikes just 11 seconds into the bout . During this time fans were first introduced to Sapp ' s " bullrush " technique , whereby he would rush an opponent with punches , quickly overwhelming them . Pride and K - 1 collaborated to create a show billed " Dynamite " in Japan and " Shockwave " in the United States . He faced then - champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira . Sapp submitted to an armbar late in the second round . Sapp would never again compete in Pride , instead focusing his attention on K - 1 . K - 1 . Despite losing his first fight by disqualification , Sapp was initially successful in K - 1 . He twice defeated four - time K - 1 champion Ernesto Hoost by technical knockout . He became an overnight sensation in Japan afterwards , appearing on numerous television shows , advertisements , and movie cameos such as in the big screen adaptation of Devilman . K - 1 heads , trying to strike while the iron was hot and hoping to duplicate the success of Sapp , made a new fighting division called " Beast " ( Sapp ' s nickname ) , which featured larger fighters such as Choi Hong - man . However , the division was stopped after two events due to disappointing reviews and gate takes . At the height of his success , there was talk and promotion of a fight between him and the former boxing Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson . The two had a face to face confrontation immediately after Sapp ' s victory in Las Vegas over Kimo . K - 1 signed Tyson to a contract and the fight looked to be on . However , Tyson ' s status as a convicted felon made him unable to get a visa to fight in Japan where the fight would have been most profitable . Other locations for the proposed fight were made , but negotiations ended up dissipating to nothing and the fight never came off . In June 2005 , Sapp won the K - 1 Japan Grand Prix in Hiroshima to become one of 16 fighters qualified for the 2005 K - 1 World GP . In the Japan GP , Sapp showcased greatly improved stamina , as well as better technique , than in his previous fights after intensive training under Sam Greco . In the K - 1 2005 World GP Eliminations he lost by decision to " The Techno Goliath " Choi Hong - man . Sapp ' s initial success with his intimidating , blind chase - and - punch method ( which he dubbed as " NFL Style " ) slowly petered out into disqualifications for bullrushing and punching after referee breaks . Additionally , experienced opponents discovered Sapp ' s weak points — his vulnerable midsection and legs as well as his limited stamina . On May 13 , 2006 , Sapp was to headline the K - 1 show in the Netherlands . His opponent was Ernesto Hoost . Hoost stated in previous interviews and the interview on that show that this was to be his last match in Holland before his retirement . Sapp attended all the pre - fight press conferences and even attended the opening ceremonies for the show . It is unclear at the moment as to why , but Sapp pulled out of the event midway through the show . K - 1 issued a statement claiming Sapp pulled out due to new demands he brought to promoters during the show . K - 1 would not agree to those demands since they felt their written contract was final and Sapp left . The full K - 1 press release can be viewed on the organization ' s website . Sapp has not issued a statement , but some sources indicated that he disagreed with K - 1 ' s account of events . However , he did participate in 2007 ' s K - 1 event in the Amsterdam Arena , fighting as a replacement for Remy Bonjasky , against Peter Aerts . Sapp lost the fight by KO within 20 seconds in the first round by a knee to the liver . While Sapp was being led from the ring , Aerts apologized to the fans in Dutch for the short bout as well as having berated his fallen opponent . After his falling out with K - 1 , Sapp began to get offers from WWE as well as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) to work with them , but his K - 1 contract prohibited him from going through with any return to the ring . Sapp made a surprise return to the K - 1 ring in Japan after a two - year absence against comedian and part - time K - 1 competitor Bobby Ologun . Ologun was unable to mount any effective offense as he was quickly run down and overpowered by Sapp in the 1st round . Cage Rage . On February 10 , 2007 it was announced by the United Kingdom ' s Cage Rage promotion that Sapp would appear on its Cage Rage 21 event on April 21 , facing Gary Turner . The move was partly a retaliatory one , as the UFC had chosen to run its first British show in years that same night at the Manchester Evening News Arena , headlined by Mirko " Cro Cop " , Andrei Arlovski and British star Michael Bisping . Though Cage Rage promoter Andy Geer said that the UFC show would not affect ticket sales for CR21 , the signing of Sapp was a clear sign that the company knew it would need a superstar draw in order to successfully compete with the American promotion . A few days before the event Bob Sapp pulled out of the scheduled fight . On short notice , Tank Abbott stepped in for Sapp and lost to Gary Turner . Strikeforce , FEG and other . Sapp faced the South African fighter Jan " The Giant " Nortje at the event in Tacoma , Washington , at the Tacoma Dome on February 23 , 2008 . Sapp was defeated at the 55 second mark of the first round by TKO after receiving an unanswered torrent of punches . Sapp then returned to Japan on New Year ' s Eve 2008 and defeated Akihito Tanaka via first round TKO . Sapp lost to Japanese Ikuhisa Minowa at " Dream 9 " on May 26 , 2009 , due to Achilles lock . He fought and lost to Bobby Lashley at Ultimate Chaos in Biloxi , Mississippi , on June 27 , 2009 , due to first round tapout from strikes . On October 6 , Sapp stood in for an injured Gegard Mousasi to face Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in the semifinals at Dream 11 . He lost via TKO ( punches ) in the first round . On November 27 , Sapp fought against Swedish K - 1 veteran Jörgen Kruth . The fight got a lot of publicity in Swedish and international press , but ended with an anticlimax when Sapp ' s corner threw in the towel after only 45 seconds , after Kruth hit Sapp with a knee to the liver . Sapp was next going to face Stav Economou at BAMMA 5 , but the event was canceled due to extreme weather conditions . Sapp was scheduled to fight at K1 Dynamite ! ! 2010 . He was set to battle Shinichi Suzukawa on New Year ' s Eve in a Pancrase - style matchup , but pulled out at the last minute due to contract disputes . When questioned about Sapp ' s refusal to fight on the day of the event , FEG President Sadaharu Tanikawa asked , " Does anyone actually care ? I don ' t know the reasons why , but we did our best to make him fight . He just said he didn ' t want to . This is typical [ of Sapp ] . " But Sapp claims that the promoters were contracted to pay him $ 30 , 000 for the fight , but that Tanikawa offered him $ 15 , 000 shortly after he arrived in Japan for the event . Sapp refused to fight for half of the original purse . In response , he " should not be considered as a normal person " and is " the worst , most lamentable dust man . " Tanikawa went on to say via Twitter that " No one cares anymore , but the Sapp incident had NOTHING to do with the fight money … That guy is such a loser . He is one lonely man . " ONE Fighting Championship . On 11 February 2012 debuted for the Asian ONE Fighting Championship promotion . He faced Rolles Gracie at in Jakarta , Indonesia and lost via submission to strikes in the first round . Super Fight League . Sapp fought in the main event of the Super Fight League ' s inaugural event , SFL 1 , against James Thompson on March 11 , 2012 . Sapp tapped out due to a Thompson takedown that caused the leg injury to Sapp in the first round .