Benny Urquidez facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Benny Urquidez |
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Urquidez in 1998
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| Born | June 20, 1952 Tarzana, California, U.S. |
| Other names | The Jet |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Weight | 145 lb (66 kg; 10.4 st) |
| Division | Lightweight Super Lightweight Welterweight |
| Style | Kenpo-Shotokan, Ukidokan Kickboxing |
| Fighting out of | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Team | The Jet Center |
| Years active | 1974–1985, 1989, 1993 |
| Kickboxing record | |
| Total | 67 |
| Wins | 63 |
| By knockout | 57 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Notable students | Pete Cunningham John Cusack Louis Gossett Jr Michael Keaton Stan Longinidis Duff McKagan Dave Mustaine Richard Norton David Lee Roth Patrick Swayze |
Benny Urquidez (born June 20, 1952) is an American former professional kickboxer, martial arts choreographer, and actor. He is known by his nickname "The Jet".
Urquidez started as a non-contact karate competitor. He then helped create "full-contact" fighting in the United States. This new style allowed fighters to hit each other directly. He began fighting full-contact in 1974, when it was first introduced in the US.
Benny Urquidez is famous for holding six world titles in five different weight classes. He was mostly undefeated during his 27-year career. He was voted "Competitor of the Year" in 1978 by Black Belt magazine. In 2019, he was added to the International Sports Hall of Fame.
He has also acted in movies, including films with Jackie Chan. He played a hitman in the movie Grosse Pointe Blank (1997).
Contents
Early Life and Family
Benny Urquidez was born in Los Angeles County, California. His mother was a wrestling athlete, and his father was a boxing athlete. His family background includes Spanish, Mexican, and Blackfoot heritage.
Benny started competing in boxing and wrestling when he was just five years old in 1958. He began learning martial arts in 1959, at age seven. His first teacher was Bill Ryusaki. Urquidez earned his black belt at 14 in 1966. This was very rare for someone so young back then. His brothers and sisters also became black belts. His sister, Lilly Rodriguez, was a pioneer for women in kickboxing.
Kickboxing Career Highlights
In 1964, when he was 12, Urquidez went to the Long Beach International Karate Championships. There, he saw Bruce Lee perform his famous "one-inch punch." This amazing demonstration inspired young Benny to start entering martial arts tournaments.
He began competing in non-contact karate in 1964. He quickly became known as an exciting fighter. In 1973, he had a famous non-contact match against John Natividad. It was a very close fight that went into overtime.
In 1974, Urquidez started moving into full-contact fighting. He won the World Series of Martial Arts Championship, which was a tough competition with few rules. Over the next 20 years, he fought in many different kickboxing organizations. He built an impressive record of wins.
In 1977, Urquidez traveled to Japan. He fought under special rules that allowed leg kicks and knees to the body. He won against Katsuyuki Suzuki by knockout. This fight surprised many people in Japan, where kickboxing was already popular.
After 1980, Benny Urquidez fought less often. He mostly stopped his ring career after 1985. He officially retired after his last fight in 1993, when he was 41 years old.
Life After Fighting
After retiring from fighting, Urquidez focused on acting, teaching kickboxing, and creating martial arts choreography for movies. His brother, Reuben, was also a martial artist and actor. They appeared together in a training video called World Of Martial Arts.
David Lee Roth, the lead singer of Van Halen, was one of Urquidez's students. Roth even dedicated the band's 1984 hit song "Jump" to Benny.
In 2000, Urquidez and Emil Farkas started the Los Angeles Film Fighting Institute. This was one of the first schools in the US to teach martial artists how to do stunt work for films.
Benny Urquidez has trained in nine different martial arts styles. These include Judo, Kajukenbo, Shotokan, Taekwondo, and Aikido. He also created his own style called Ukidokan Karate.
In 1981, Urquidez opened "The Jet Center," a high-end martial arts gym. This gym was used as a filming location for many Hollywood movies and TV shows. The center closed in 1994 because of damage from the Northridge earthquake. In 1995, he opened "The Jets Gym" in North Hollywood, California. This gym closed in 2007.
As of 2009, he taught Ukidokan kickboxing at Team Karate Center. Today, Urquidez still teaches privately and works as a stunt coordinator in the entertainment business. He has also written books and made videos to teach others. He is good friends with actor John Cusack, who is also his long-time kickboxing trainer. They have talked about opening a bigger gym together. In 2024, it was announced that a documentary about Benny Urquidez would be made.
Movie Roles
Benny Urquidez has appeared in many martial arts movies. His first film was Force: Five (1981). He later made two movies with the famous actor Jackie Chan: Wheels on Meals (1984) and Dragons Forever (1988). In these films, he fights against characters played by Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao. Urquidez is shown as a very tough opponent in these movies. His final fight with Chan in Wheels on Meals is considered one of Jackie Chan's best fight scenes.
He also had a small role as a kickboxer in the film Ragin' Cajun. In the 1989 movie Roadhouse, he was one of the fighters in a car dealership scene. He trained actor Patrick Swayze in his fighting techniques for this movie. Urquidez appeared in Blood Match (1991) and played a referee in Diggstown (1992).
He had a small role in the movie Street Fighter (1994). He also helped train most of the actors for their fight scenes in Street Fighter.
Urquidez worked with actor John Cusack in several films. He played Felix La Poubelle, a hitman, in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997). He also appeared as a ghostly killer in 1408 (2007), again with Cusack. Benny Urquidez is John Cusack's long-time kickboxing trainer. Urquidez also had a small part in the first Spider-Man movie (2002). He played one of the thugs who try to rob Kirsten Dunst's character.
He was a fight coordinator for an episode of the TV show Criminal Minds called "The Bittersweet Science." He also appeared briefly in that episode as an underground MMA referee.
Titles and Awards
- World Kickboxing League W.K.L - Hall of Fame 2013
- Black Belt Magazine
- 1978 Competitor of the Year
- KATOGI
- KATOGI super-lightweight (-63.6 kg) world champion: 1978
- Muay Thai Bond Nederland
- M.T.B.N. welterweight (-66 kg) world champion: 1984
- National Karate League
- N.K.L. lightweight (-70.5 kg) world champion: 1974-1975
- Professional Karate Association
- P.K.A. lightweight (-65.9 kg) world champion: 1976-1977
- STAR System World Kickboxing Ratings
- S.T.A.R. undisputed welterweight (-66.8 kg) world champion: 1985
- S.T.A.R. undisputed super-welterweight (-70.5 kg) world champion: 1974
- World Kickboxing Association
- W.K.A. super-welterweight (-70 kg) world champion: 1993
- W.K.A. welterweight (-66.8 kg) world champion: 1985
- W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world champion: 1977-1985
- World Professional Karate Organization
- W.P.K.O. lightweight (-65.9 kg) world champion: 1975
- World Series of Martial Arts Championships
- W.S.M.A.C. lightweight (-79.5 kg) world champion: 1975-1976
- W.S.M.A.C. openweight (unlimited weight) world champion: 1974-1976
Kickboxing Record
Benny Urquidez had a very impressive professional kickboxing record. The official record from the S.T.A.R. website shows:
| 48 Wins (35 (T)KOs, 14 decisions), 1 loss, 1 draw, 3 no contests | ||||||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-12-04 | Win |  Yoshihisa Tagami |
W.K.A. Event @ Mirage Hotel | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | Decision (split) | 12 | 48-1-4 | |
| Won the W.K.A. super welterweight (-70 kg) world title. He gave up the title after this fight. | ||||||||
| 1985-11-16 | Win |  Tom Larouche |
W.K.A. Event | Northridge, California, USA | Decision (split) | 12 | 2:00 | 47-1-3 |
| Won the W.K.A. welterweight (-66.8 kg) world title. He also became the S.T.A.R. undisputed welterweight champion. He gave up this title and his previous W.K.A. super-lightweight title after the fight. | ||||||||
| 1984-01-15 | Win |  Iwan Sprang |
M.T.B.N. Event | Amsterdam, Netherlands | TKO (referee stoppage) | 4 | 1:37 | 46-1-3 |
| Won the M.T.B.N. welterweight (-66 kg) world title. | ||||||||
| 1983-09-12 | Win | "Iron" Fujimoto |
W.K.A. Event | Tokyo, Japan | KO | 6 | 1:37 | 45-1-3 |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (14th defense). | ||||||||
| 1983-01-08 | Win | Kunimasa Nagae |
W.K.A. Event | Tokyo, Japan | KO | 4 | 44-1-3 | |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (13th defense). | ||||||||
| 1982-06-21 | Win | Yutaka Koshikawa |
W.K.A. Event | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | KO (spinning back kick) | 6 | 1:48 | 43-1-3 |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (12th defense). | ||||||||
| 1982-02-02 | Win |  Jesse Orrozzo |
W.K.A. Event @ Queen Elizabeth Stadium | Hong Kong | Decision | 6 | 2:00 | 42-1-3 |
| 1981-04-09 | Win |  Kong Fu Tak |
W.K.A. Event @ Queen Elizabeth Stadium | Hong Kong | TKO (cut) | 4 | 41-1-3 | |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (11th defense). | ||||||||
| 1980-08-09 | NC | Billye Jackson |
W.K.A. Event | West Palm Beach, Florida, USA | decision loss | 7 | 2:00 | 40-1-3 |
| 1980-04-19 | Win | Frank Holloway |
W.K.A. Event | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | Decision | 9 | 2:00 | 40-1-2 |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (10th defense). | ||||||||
| 1980-01-26 | Win | Shinobu Onuki |
W.K.A. Event @ Tropicana Casino Hotel | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | KO (left hook) | 7 | 39-1-2 | |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (9th defense). | ||||||||
| 1979-?-? | Win |  |
W.K.A. Event | Tijuana, Mexico | KO | 4 | 38-1-1 | |
| 1979-10-01 | Win | Yoshimitsu Tamashiro |
W.K.A. & A.J.K.B.A. Event | Tokyo, Japan | Decision | 9 | 2:00 | 37-1-2 |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (8th defense). | ||||||||
| 1979-09-14 | Win | Frank Holloway |
W.K.A. Event | Ensenada, Mexico | Decision | 9 | 2:00 | 36-1-2 |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (7th defense). | ||||||||
| 1979-?-? | Win |  |
W.K.A. Event | Tijuana, Mexico | KO | 2 | 35-1-2 | |
| 1979-07-05 | Win | Frank Lee | W.K.A. Event @ Northland Pavilion | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | KO | 34-1-2 | ||
| 1979-05-02 | Win | Rick Simmerly |
W.K.A. Event | South Lake Tahoe, California, USA | KO | 6 | 33-1-2 | |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (6th defense). | ||||||||
| 1978-08-02 | Loss | Prayut Sitiboonlert |
KATOGI Event | Tokyo, Japan | Decision | 6 | 3:00 | 32-1-2 |
| Lost the KATOGI super-lightweight (-63.6 kg) world title. | ||||||||
| 1978-04-29 | Win | Shinobu Onuki |
W.K.A. & A.J.K.B.A. Event | Tokyo, Japan | TKO (injury) | 3 | 1:17 | 32-0-2 |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (5th defense). This fight's result was changed multiple times, ending as a TKO win for Urquidez. | ||||||||
| 1978-04-10 | Win | Takeshi Naito |
KATOGI Event | Osaka, Japan | KO (spinning back kick) | 1 | 1:16 | 31-0-2 |
| Won the KATOGI super-lightweight (-63.6 kg) world title. | ||||||||
| 1978-04-05 | Win | Dave Paul |
W.K.A. Event | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | TKO | 4 | 30-0-2 | |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (4th defense). | ||||||||
| 1977-11-14 | Win | Kunimatsu Okao |
W.K.A. & A.J.K.B.A. Event @ Nippon Budokan | Tokyo, Japan | KO | 4 | 1:31 | 29-0-2 |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (3rd defense). | ||||||||
| 1977-08-03 | Win | Katsuyuki Suzuki |
W.K.A. & A.J.K.B.A. Event @ Nippon Budokan | Tokyo, Japan | KO | 6 | 28-0-2 | |
| Kept his W.K.A. super-lightweight (-64.5 kg) world title (2nd defense). | ||||||||
| 1977-07-? | Win | |
W.K.A. Event | Tijuana, Mexico | KO (kick) | 1 | 27-0-2 | |
| Kept his W.K.A. lightweight (-65.9 kg) world title (1st defense). | ||||||||
| 1977-04-23 | Win | Howard Jackson |
P.K.A. Event @ Hilton Hotel | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | TKO (referee stoppage) | 4 | 1:25 | 26-0-2 |
| Kept his P.K.A. lightweight (-65.9 kg) world title (2nd defense). | ||||||||
| 1977-03-12 | NC | Narongnoi Kiatbandit |
W.K.A. Event | Los Angeles, California, USA | No contest (riot in crowd) | 9 | 25-0-2 | |
| This fight was for Urquidez's W.K.A. lightweight world title. It was stopped and declared a "no contest" because of a riot in the crowd. | ||||||||
| 1976-10-01 | Win | Eddie Andujar |
P.K.A. & W.K.A. Event | Los Angeles, California, USA | TKO | 8 | 25-0-1 | |
| Won the first W.K.A. lightweight (-65.9 kg) world title. Also kept his P.K.A. lightweight world title (1st defense). | ||||||||
| 1976-08-28 | Win | Earnest Hart, Jr. |
P.K.A. Event @ Neal Blaisdell Center | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | Decision | 9 | 2:00 | 24-0-1 |
| Won the first P.K.A. lightweight (-65.9 kg) world title. | ||||||||
| 1976-?-? | Win | |
Tijuana, Mexico | KO (kick) | 3 | 23-0-1 | ||
| 1976-06-? | Win | Sanun Plypoolsup |
W.S.M.A.C. Event | Dallas, Texas, USA | Decision | 8 | 3:00 | 22-0-1 |
| Kept his W.S.M.A.C. openweight world title (1st defense). | ||||||||
| 1976-02-14 | Draw | Earnest Hart, Jr. |
Los Angeles, California, USA | Technical draw (Hart cut after throw) | 1 | 21-0-1 | ||
| 1976-?-? | Win | N.K.L. Event | Detroit, Michigan, USA | KO | 1 | 21-0-0 | ||
| 1975-12-? | Win | N.K.L. Event | Detroit, Michigan, USA | KO | 2 | 20-0-0 | ||
| The initial decision in this fight was overturned. Urquidez was disqualified at first, but the decision was later changed to a KO win for him. | ||||||||
| 1975-10-11 | Win | Bill Henderson |
W.S.M.A.C. Event | Los Angeles, California, USA | KO | 3 | 0:32 | 19-0-0 |
| Kept his W.S.M.A.C. lightweight (-79.5 kg) world title (4th defense). | ||||||||
| 1975-09-21 | Win | Farrel Sojot |
W.S.M.A.C. Event @ Honolulu International Center Arena | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | TKO | 3 | 18-0-0 | |
| 1975-08-? | Win | Marcelino Torres |
N.K.L. Event | San Juan | KO | 1 | 0:30 | 17-0-0 |
| 1975-07-26 | Win | Burnis White |
W.S.M.A.C. Event | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | KO (kick) | 4 | 16-0-0 | |
| Kept his W.S.M.A.C. lightweight (-79.5 kg) world title (3rd defense). | ||||||||
| 1975-07-? | Win | Sammy Pace |
N.K.L. Event | Los Angeles, California, USA | KO | 1 | 15-0-0 | |
| 1975-06-28 | Win | Eddie Andujar |
N.K.L. Event | Los Angeles, California, USA | Decision | 3 | 3:00 | 14-0-0 |
| Kept his N.K.L. lightweight (70.5 kg) world title (3rd defense). | ||||||||
| 1975-06-20 | Win | Ken Riley |
W.S.M.A.C. Event | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | KO | 2 | 13-0-0 | |
| Kept his W.S.M.A.C. lightweight (-79.5 kg) world title (2nd defense). | ||||||||
| 1975-05-30 | Win | Sanun Plysoolsup |
W.S.M.A.C. Event | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | TKO (cut) | 2 | 12-0-0 | |
| Kept his W.S.M.A.C. lightweight (-79.5 kg) world title (1st defense). | ||||||||
| 1975-05-16 | Win | Roland Talton |
W.S.M.A.C. Event | Los Angeles, California, USA | KO (knee) | 2 | 2:04 | 11-0-0 |
| Won the W.S.M.A.C. lightweight (-79.5 kg) world title. | ||||||||
| 1975-05-10 | Win | Tayari Casel |
W.P.K.O. Event @ Madison Square Garden | New York City, New York, USA | Decision | 3 | 3:00 | 10-0-0 |
| Won the W.P.K.O. lightweight (-65.9 kg) world title. | ||||||||
| 1975-04-? | Win | Demetrius Havanas |
N.K.L. Event @ Tarrant County Convention Center | Savannah, Georgia, USA | Decision | 3 | 3:00 | 9-0-0 |
| Kept his N.K.L. lightweight (-70.5 kg) world title (2nd defense). | ||||||||
| 1975-03-? | Win | N.K.L. Event | Atlanta, Georgia, USA | KO (kick) | 2 | 8-0-0 | ||
| Kept his N.K.L. lightweight (-70.5 kg) world title (1st defense). | ||||||||
| 1975-03-? | Win | Ken Kolodziej |
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA | KO (knee) | 4 | 7-0-0 | ||
| 1975-02-? | Win | Arthur Butch Bell |
N.K.L. Event | Savannah, Georgia, USA | TKO | 2 | 6-0-0 | |
| Won the first N.K.L. lightweight (-70.5 kg) world title. He also became the S.T.A.R. undisputed super-welterweight (-70.5 kg) world champion. | ||||||||
| 1974-11-15 | Win |  Dana Goodson |
W.S.M.A.C. Event, Final | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | Decision | 3 | 3:00 | 5-0-0 |
| Won the first W.S.M.A.C. openweight world title. | ||||||||
| 1974-11-15 | Win | Burnis White |
W.S.M.A.C. Event, Semi Final | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | Decision | 3 | 3:00 | 4-0-0 |
| 1974-11-14 | Win | Bill Rosehill |
W.S.M.A.C. Event, Quarter Final | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | TKO (forfeit) | 3 | 3-0-0 | |
| 1974-11-14 | Win |  Futi Semanu |
W.S.M.A.C. Event, 2nd Round | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | KO | 2 | 2-0-0 | |
| 1974-11-14 | Win | Tom Mossman |
W.S.M.A.C. Event, 1st Round | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | KO (foot sweep) | 3 | 1-0-0 | |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes | ||||||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989-04-24 | No-Decision | Nobuya Asuka (Ikuya Sumino) |
N.J.P.W. Event @ Tokyo Dome | Tokyo, Japan | No-Decision | 5 | 2:00 | |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes | ||||||||
See also
In Spanish: Benny Urquidez para niños
- List of male kickboxers
- Gracie Challenge
