Jason DeLucia

Jason DeLucia was an early student of martial arts such as Aikido, Five Animal Kung Fu, and Tae Kwon Do. He tested himself in unsanctioned fights in the Chinatown area of his native city Boston. DeLucia's career in what would later be known as Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) started because of Steven Seagal. Seagal, an accomplished Aikido practitioner before movie stardom, stated in Black Belt magazine that he would take on challengers at his dojo. DeLucia and a friend drove over three days from Bellingham, Massachusetts to Los Angeles, California. Seagal was not present, and another instructor offered to fight DeLucia. Over some months, DeLucia stayed with a friend, and would regularly return to the dojo but Seagal was not there. Another challenge publicized in Black Belt magazine appealed to DeLucia: The Gracie Challenge. He contacted its issuer, Rorion Gracie whom invited him to his gym in Torrance, California. In Brazil, Gracie's family had created and popularized the ground-fighting style Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) . DeLucia fought and lost to Royce Gracie at the Gracie gym in an encounter documented and distributed on videotape. It revealed to DeLucia the effectiveness of ground-fighting, and he later credited the Gracie's for their contribution to martial arts. DeLucia sought a rematch with Royce, and Rorion informed him about the upcoming first event by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Rorion Gracie, Art Davie, Campbell McLaren, and Robert B. Meyrowitz created UFC to have different styles of fighters compete. During UFC 1: The Beginning (1993), DeLucia fought Trent Jenkins for an alternate spot in the tournament. DeLucia first attacked with kicks and then got an early take-down on Jenkins to win with a rear-naked choke. DeLucia would get the opportunity to fight Royce Gracie again at UFC 2: No Way Out (1994). First, DeLucia faced Scott Baker, and submitted him with strikes. He met Royce Gracie in a tournament quarterfinal bout. The two grabbed each other and fell to the mat with DeLucia on top. Gracie rolled and reversed DeLucia to the bottom. Gracie transitioned to an arm-bar on DeLucia's right arm. DeLucia stood up to escape but the hold is secured and he repeatedly tapped in submission with his left hand. DeLucia fells on his stomach and continued to tap until referee John McCarthy got in position to see the submission, intervened, and stopped the fight in just over a minute. DeLucia's last UFC appearance occurred during UFC 23: Ultimate Japan 2 (1999). He fought Joe Slick, and quickly lost when his leg collapsed into a gruesome injury. DeLucia fought in Pancrase five months later against Bob Stines, losing by technical knockout. It was at UFC 2 that DeLucia met Ken Shamrock and his father Bob Shamrock, whom invited him to audition for their Lion's Den gym. The elder Shamrock sought fighters to compete in Japan's Pancrase organization. DeLucia survived the excruciating workouts and sparring to gain admission. He trained with Lion's Den for two years. The experience would serve as a springboard for DeLucia to compete in Pancrase where he had most of his professional MMA bouts. Among some of Pancrase opponents were Yuki Kondo, Masakatsu Funaki, Takaku Fuke, Matt Hume, Minoru Suzuki, Bas Rutten, Thomas Puckett, Chris Lytle, Manabu Yamada, Ryushi Yanagisawa, Kazuo Takahashi, Osami Shibuya, Ikuhisa Minowa, Katsuhisa Fuji. DeLucia's last two MMA fights happened in United Kingdom's Cage Rage, and World Fighting League in the United States. Respectively, his opponents were Fabio Piamonte and Lance Everson. Possibly his biggest rivalry was with Bas Rutten, whom he fought thrice and lost in all encounters. Years after they last fought, DeLucia and Rutten aired a lengthy exchange of their issues with each other on Sherdog's forums. After he left competition, DeLucia continued working as a martial arts instructor and lead Team Aikidog.