The Jet
Benny Urquidez
Aggressive and unusually complete for the American circuit of the era, with a willingness to fight under foreign rulesets that most of his peers avoided.
Benny Urquidez was the American fighter most willing to travel, and that willingness is why he matters historically. While much of the United States circuit competed under above-the-waist rules against other Americans, Urquidez fought in Japan against opponents trained under rules that permitted leg kicks and knees — and adapted rather than insisting on his home code.
His style was aggressive and unusually complete for the American scene of the period: high kicks, hands, and a comfort at close range that most point-karate converts lacked. He is credited with helping establish the credibility of American kickboxing abroad at a time when the two circuits had almost no contact.
He also became widely known outside the sport through film choreography and training work, which gave kickboxing a public profile in the United States that the competitive scene alone never achieved.