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Tough Guys
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Tough Guys

2017-09-15 · 76 min · ★ 7.5

Documentary

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.

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Production details

Directors
W.B. Zullo, Henry Roosevelt
Production companies
Warrior Poets, Fictionless, MinusL Productions
Countries
United States of America
Status
Released

Top Cast

Bill ViolaHimself
Frank CaliguriHimself
Dann CarrHimself
Jacquet BazemoreHimself
Jimmy CveticHimself

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