13 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Ludvig Borga
9. The True Story Of Tony’s Very Brief MMA Career
Tony wound up in the WWF after leaving New Japan. Before digging into that, here's a snapshot look at his extremely brief MMA career that happened afterwards.
Journalist Marttinen says Halme didn’t take MMA or UFC very seriously at all. In fact, he thought it’d be a breeze for him and vowed to do well in the sport. Tony fought none other than Randy Couture in his first and only UFC fight at UFC XIII on 30 May 1997. For the record, he lost via submission with a rear-naked choke in just 56 seconds.
Halme had gone in saying he’d never tap out and would “rather die”, so this was an embarrassing moment for sure, but his foray into MMA isn’t something many talk about nowadays. It's largely forgotten. Tony was likely grateful for that when still alive, especially after bragging to anyone who'd listen that he'd wipe the mat with guys like Couture. Running into a future UFC great was unlucky, but Halme's attitude didn't do him any favours.
'Dark Side' showed footage from the fight, which was gripping. It's plain to see that Tony's best days were behind him physically, but that didn't match up with his ego. He figured that lifting lots of weights, taking plenty of steroids and cutting pro wrestling-style promos would be enough to succeed in the real fight game. Not quite.
Randy Couture obliterated Halme, then went on to become a three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. That's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what Couture achieved in the sport.