Tough Guys (2017)
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.
Directors: W.B. Zullo, Henry Roosevelt.
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Bill Viola as Himself |
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Frank Caliguri as Himself |
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Dann Carr as Himself |
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Jacquet Bazemore as Himself |
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Jimmy Cvetic as Himself |
| Directing | W.B. Zullo | Director |
| Production | Morgan Spurlock | Executive Producer |
| Directing | Henry Roosevelt | Director |
