Gerard Gordeau is a Dutch former savateur, karateka, and mixed martial artist.
Moreover, he is the 1991 World Champion Savate and holder of the Dutch Champion Kyokushin Karate title for 8 consecutive years.
Foremost Gerard is known internationally for his employment of “dirty,” often illegal fighting techniques such as biting and eye-gouging.
Furthermore, let’s get to know more about the mixed martial artist Gerard Gordeau. First, let’s look into some of Gerad’s quick facts.
Gerard Gordeau| Quick Facts
| Full Name | Gerard Gordeau |
| Birth Date | March 30th, 1955 |
| Birth Place | Den Haag, Netherlands |
| Age | 65 years (in 2020) |
| Nick Name | “The Undertaker from Hell” |
| Religion | Not Available |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Education | Not Available |
| Horoscope | Aries |
| Father’s Name | Not Disclosed |
| Mother’s Name | Not Disclosed |
| Siblings | Five |
| Height | 6’5” (1.96 m) |
| Weight | 98kg (216 lb) |
| Build | Athletic |
| Shoe Size | Not Available |
| Hair Color | Brown |
| Eye Color | Grey |
| Style | Savate |
| Team | Dojo Kamakura |
| Marital Status | Not Disclosed |
| Spouse | Not Disclosed |
| Net Worth | $1 million |
| Rank | 9th dan Kyokushin Karate (International Budokai)
4th dan Kyokushin Karate (NKA) 7th dan Sei Budo Kai 2nd dan Full-Contact Karate (USA) 3rd Silver glove in Savate (Boxe Francaise) 4th dan Oyama Karate |
| Social Media | Instagram, Twitter |
Gerard Gordeau| Early Life, Family & Education
Curtis Jonathan Hussey, aka Johnny Curtis, was born on July 22nd, 1981, in Portland, Maine.
The second of six brothers, Gordeau, lost his father when he was 11 and was forced to leave school to earn an income. He took up karate by the influence of an Indonesian friend at whose house Gordeau used to eat.
Moreover, initially seeing it as just a hobby, Gordeau decided to train seriously after challenging and losing to an unassuming Japanese partner. After a year of training in several dojos, he sparred again with him, and this time Gordeau won.
Thanks to those skills, he held jobs as a bouncer for eight years. Due to the Dutch districts’ high criminality, he would reveal years later that he lived through constant danger of death.
Age, Height & Body Measurements
Gerard possesses an athletic body frame and stands at the height of 6’3” (1.91 m) with 95kgs (210 lbs).
Moreover, Harper turned 53 years old in 2020, and he has brown colored hair and grey colored eyes.
According to Gerard’s birthdate, he falls under the sun sign of Aries.
Education
There is no information available regarding Gerard’s educational background from any sources. However, we know that he was born and raised in the Netherlands.
So, we can assume that he graduated from educational institutions based in Netherland.
Gerard Gordeau | Career and Profession
After turning professional, Gordeau joined the Kyokushin school and competed at the World Open Karate Championships.
Later in his life, following Kyokushin founder Mas Oyama’s ideas, he trained in amateur wrestling and boxing in an attempt to make his style more complete.
Moreover, he also learned kickboxing, savate, and judo. Gordeau was a Dutch Karate Champion from 1978 to 1985, a European Savate Champion from 1988 to 1991, and a World Savate Champion in 1992, with an overall competitive record of 27-4 before his MMA debut.
UWF Newborn and RINGS
Gordeau had his debut in professional wrestling on August 13, 1988, in shoot-style promotion UWF Newborn, losing a special match against Akira Maeda.
Moreover, he also competed in two bouts against Masaaki Satake and Mitsuya Nagai at “free fight” events held under RINGS.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
In 1993, Gordeau was scouted to participate in UFC 1, the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The event’s organizers had sought several high-level fighters in Holland, kickboxing champion Ernesto Hoost, but Gordeau was the only available and willing to do it.
Moreover, as he had been a savate champion the previous year, he was billed solely as a savate artist. He was initially pitted against Royce Gracie in the first round of the tournament, but when the organizers found out that Gordeau had fought in Japan, they changed the matchup.
In his first bout, also the first televised match in the history of UFC, Gordeau defeated Tuli in a fight that lasted only 26 seconds.
Furthermore, victorious, Gordeau advanced to the next round, although the bout left him injured, as the kick had knocked out three of Tuli’s teeth, and two of them had been stuck in Gordeau’s foot.
Likewise, the announcers claimed that the third tooth landed underneath their table, although other reports say it landed on the crowd.
Doctors attended him but, not wanting Gordeau to have an open wound and has determined that it would get infected if they tried to extract the teeth, they tapped his foot.
Similarly, Gordeau’s punch had broken his hand as well, and he came to the next fight with a noticeably swollen fist.
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Controversy
In an unrelated matter, Gordeau’s debut caused a minor controversy because he appeared to do a Roman salute before the match, gaining his accusations of being a neo-nazi. Still, it was explained that he was actually doing the traditional savate salute.
In fact, Gordeau had a Jewish ethnic background through his father, a Jewish man from France. His grandfather was also shot at the Amersfoort concentration camp for being part of the Dutch resistance.
His next fight was against kickboxing champion Kevin Rosier, who outweighed Gordeau again by almost 100 pounds and slightly better health.
Still, Gordeau dominated the fight easily, driving Rosier against the fence with multiple leg kicks and jabs while keeping distance.
Likewise, after half a minute of harassment, Gordeau pushed Rosier down to the mat with knee and elbow strikes to the head, forcing him to cover down, shielding his face, and then finished him with two stomps to the liver.
Illegal Attacks
Finally, the Dutchman faced Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist Royce Gracie in the championship bout.
According to Gordeau, Royce had been warned by the UFC doctors about his injuries and took advantage of this to overpower him.
Moreover, while Gordeau was under Gracie’s mount, he allegedly bit Gracie’s ear in an intentional foul. However, after landing some palm strikes and headbutts, Gracie still managed to submit Gordeau with a rear-naked choke to win the fight and the tournament.
The Brazilian also held the choke for a long time after Gerard’s tap out in retaliation for the foul play.
Furthermore, Gordeau later justified his illegal attack as, “If you go down, you might as well give him something to remember you by,” but he also commended Gracie as the better fighter.
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UFC 2
In 1994, Gordeau was approached to fight again in UFC 2, but he refused due to disagreements over his payment after the previous event.
Moreover, Hereard instead arranged for his training partners Remco Pardoel and Freek Hamaker to take his place, with him as a cornerman.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
Moreover, in 1995, he took part in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s four-person Final Countdown BVD Tournament on January 4 at the Tokyo Dome during Battle 7. He lost his only match to eventual winner Antonio Inoki.
Gordeau remained with Inoki as a trainer and wrestler for the Universal Fighting-Arts Organization, cornering Naoya Ogawa on several occasions.
He took part in the infamous 1.4 Incident, which occurred on January fourth, 1999, at the Tokyo Dome, where UFO member Naoya Ogawa faced Shinya Hashimoto in a pro wrestling match.
Vale Tudo Japan
Two years after his UFC stint, Gordeau applied to the Japanese Vale Tudo Japan tournament. In the previous edition as a cornerman, he helped train fellow UFC competitor Dave Levicki for his unsuccessful match against Royce’s brother Rickson.
Gordeau was pitted against the much lighter shoot wrestling exponent Yuki Nakai.
Taking advantage of the ring they were fighting in, Gordeau grabbed the ropes to avoid takedowns and scored several strikes on Nakai through the first two rounds, including several illegal eye gouges when Nakai was down from a heel hook attempt.
However, after a third-round passed again on the ropes, Nakai scored a double leg takedown against the ring corner, escaped from a guillotine choke attempt by Gordeau, and dropped down for another heel hook, this time managing to submit the Dutchman after half an hour of fighting.
Moreover, after an intense fight between them, Yuki refused to seek medical attention to continue in the tournament, Nakai lost sight in his right eye from the gouge.
As with his fouls in UFC, Gordeau was unapologetic of his action, stating that he would do it again if he rematched Nakai. These claims attracted a great deal of criticism.
Moreover, in 2019, however, he revealed that he and Nakai had talked about it and no longer harbored any ill feelings. Gordeau also praised Nakai’s fighting spirit during the bout.
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Pro Wrestling Zero-One
Through 2001 and 2002, Gordeau participated in various Pro Wrestling Zero1 events, wrestling in singles matches against Shinya Hashimoto, Masato Tanaka, Samoa Joe, and Steve Corino.
Furthermore, he returned to the promotion in 2010 at Zero1’s Yasukuni Shrine Festival, where he teamed up with his former student Ryoji Sai to defeat Munenori Sawa and Akebono.
Gerard Gordeau | Awards and Accomplishments
- Eight-time Dutch Champion Kyokushin Karate
- Competed at the World Championships Kyokushin Karate-1979, 1983, 1987
- Savate World Heavyweight Champion- 1991
- Three-time Savate European Heavyweight Champion
- UFC 1 Tournament Runner Up- 1993
Gerard Gordeau | Net Worth
Curtis has not revealed anything about his career earnings. However, reviewing the average salary of several wrestlers, we can assume that-
THUS PRESUMABLE NET WORTH OF JOHNNY CURTIS IS ABOUT $1 MILLION.
Gerard Gordeau | Post- Retirement
In 2000, Gordeau served as a consultant for women’s MMA promotion ReMix, cornered Marloes Coenen.
Furthermore, Gordeau, along with his brothers Al and Nico, owns the Dojo Kamakura in The Hague. He also trained Dutch K-1 fighter Mourad Bouzidi, Anil Dubar, and sometimes the Romanian champion Daniel Ghiță.
Likewise, famous students are Cem Senol of the Dojo Osaka Netherlands, Robert Pepels of the Ashigaru Honbu Dojo Netherlands, and the Ashigaru Ryu style founder.
Moreover, Gordeau runs an International Karate Organization together with Pepels and teaches at camps and seminars worldwide.
Gerard Gordeau | Wife and Children
Gerard is known for keeping his private matters a secret. The only information available regarding him is about his professional life and career.
Moreover, there are also no sources that state Gerard’s relationship with anyone currently or in the past.
Gerard Gordeau | Social Media Presence
Gerard’s social media presence is absent. However, his fans still post about him.
We have provided you with Gerard’s hashtags on various social media platforms-
Twitter– #gerardgordeau
Instagram- #gerardgordeau
