Tough Guys

Jun 15 2017 Not Rated 1h 16m
Action, Documentary, Sport

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.

Official Trailer
Plot

Ten years before the debut of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, two karate promoters and their fighters, a rough group of barroom brawlers, bikers, teachers and steel workers, pioneered the first mixed-martial arts league in the nation.

Written by

N/A

Directed by

Henry Roosevelt, W.B. Zullo

Cast

Amber Banaszewski, Jacquet Bazemore, Jack Bodell

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

United States of America

Production Companies

MinusL Productions, Fictionless, Warrior Poets

Awards

N/A

Trailers
TOUGH GUYS | September 15 on SHOWTIME
Scores
# of Votes
158
Average Rating
6.8 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA