John Lewis is from the Hawaiian island, Oahu. As a young man, he liked break-dancing until he became Influenced by Hawaii's "street-fighting oriented" culture. Lewis got involved in mar ...Show More
John Lewis is from the Hawaiian island, Oahu. As a young man, he liked break-dancing until he became Influenced by Hawaii's "street-fighting oriented" culture. Lewis got involved in martial arts, and by age 13, he had studied Sho Kon Do, a form of Japanese kickboxing, and Japanese Ju-Jutsu. Lewis trained in his backyard and fought opponents from various styles of martial arts. In doing so he met John Perretti, who introduced him to Gene LeBell. Lewis became LeBell's student, and later received the first black belt given by LeBell. Set on competing in "no holds barred" competitions, Lewis sought out Rickson Gracie of the Brazilian clan of ground-based fighters who popularized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Lewis earned a blue belt under Gracie's tutelage, and later a black belt in BJJ from Andre Pederneiras. In learning different styles for competition, Lewis would be credited as among the earliest of true Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters.In September 1995, John Perretti and Gene LeBell accompanied John Lewis for his first sanctioned bout--he had many unsanctioned ones--which took place at United Full Contact Federation in Hawaii . At a minute and forty-five seconds, Lewis submitted Thomas Puckett by arm-bar. Lewis' second fight happened that November in North Carolina against Carlson Gracie Jr. Lewis would frequently hold the cage, which the rules allowed at the time, to help against being taken down. He head-butted Gracie, which was also legal. The fight was considered a draw after the fifteen minute time limit had passed. A five-minute overtime was added which concluded with both men against the cage, and was again ruled a draw. Lewis felt he should have won, landing more strikes, but the rules at the time dictated that with no judges, every fight that reached the end was a draw. Lewis' performance against Gracie enhanced his reputation.In April 1996, Lewis' third sanctioned fight happened in Battlecade's Extreme Fighting, where John Perretti worked as a matchmaker. To avoid legal obstacles, Extreme Fighting's promoters had the event at a Indian reservation in Quebec, Canada. Lewis' opponent, Jim Teachout, was an AAU National Wrestling champion. Lewis used his ground-fighting abilities to outmaneuver Teachout, and land several elbows to the head which elicited a submission from Teachout. Three months later he fought Rumina Sato to a draw in Vale Tudo Japan. He had another draw that year in his next bout against Johil de Oliveira at an Oklahoma event. His first loss came at the hands of Kenny Monday, who defeated him in Iowa by technical knockout with punches. Lewis lost his rematch with Rumina Sato in Vale Tudo Japan by an arm-lock submission. His losing streak continued when he met LaVerne Clark in World Extreme Fighting and lost by unanimous decision. The streak ended when Lewis fought Lowell Anderson at UFC 22: There Can Be Only One Champion (1999), winning by third round retirement. In November 2000 at UFC 28: High Stakes (2000), Lewis lost to Jens Pulver in fifteen seconds from a punch which broke his jaw, and lead to it being wired shut for six weeks.Through a business partnership with Andre Pederneiras, Lewis opened J-Sect Jiu-Jitsu gym in Las Vegas in 1995. J-Sect Jiu-Jitsu was the first American affiliate of Brazil's Novia Uniao (New Union) gyms, co-founded by Pederneiras and Wendell Alexander. Lewis helped create another branch of Nova Uniao, in Honolulu, which closed after two years. Lewis cited its closure as a result of the difficulty in managing two gyms while maintaining high standards. After he left competition, Lewis continued work as a trainer. He instructed Randy Couture, B.J. Penn, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Matt Lindland, Maurice Smith, Gilbert Yvel, and Frank Trigg. Lewis attended UFC 21: Return of the Champions (1999) to be in the corner of Andre Pederneiras. While there he met Lorenzo Fertitta, a member of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Fertitta was invited by UFC's owner Robert B. Meyrowitz as part of efforts to get MMA legalized in Nevada. Fertitta became a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu student of Lewis, along with his brother Frank Fertitta, and Dana White.In 2000, John Lewis applied for a fight promoter's license in Nevada. The next year he allied with club promoter John Huntington and lawyer Louis Palazzo to form World Fighting Alliance (WFA). With the motto, "Where the Night Club Meets the Fight Club," the first WFA show took place on November 3, 2001. It was almost canceled because the cage was completed near start time. Lewis said WFA achieved forty-percent of its goals at its first event. WFA had its second card on November 23, 2002, which resulted in another commercial failure. WFA was re-launched in 2005 by Louis Palazzo, Ross Goodman, and Jeremy Lappen. WFA's third and final card happened on July 22, 2006, with another financial loss. Lewis returned to fight promoting in March 2008, when he was named President and Partner of Ultimate Warrior Challenge (UWC). Lewis continued work at his gym, which he renamed John Lewis MMA. In Los Angeles/San Diego, Lewis created another gym named BRICK Performance Center. Outside of the gym, John Lewis an actor, movie producer, stunt choreographer, and founder of JLE Cinema Group. Hide
