[3][4] He made the transition from point to full-contact karate in 1974, the year of its inception in the US, frequently fighting in bouts where the rules were ambiguous and contrasts in styles were dramatic.

His only loss came in a Muay Thai match which was shrouded in controversy, as Urquidez had only agreed to a no-decision exhibition, a clause which was ignored when the fight had ended.

[8] He has appeared in occasional acting roles, including the Jackie Chan movies Wheels on Meals (1984) and Dragons Forever (1988), and played a hitman in George Armitage's Grosse Pointe Blank (1997).

[12] His sister Lilly Rodriguez was a pioneer in kickboxing for women,[13] and their late brother Reuben Urquidez appeared with Benny in a documentary on the combination martial art budojujitsu.

Also in 1974, he began his move away from the non-contact style by entering and winning the World Series of Martial Arts Championship, effectively a tough-man contest with few rules.

[16] At the same time, Japanese professional wrestler Antonio Inoki, who gained the worldwide fame by fighting Muhammad Ali in the controversial 1976 boxer/wrestler mixed-match in Japan, had been looking for new opponents for what he called the world martial arts championship series.

By that time, Eddy had been coached by Arnold Urquidez, and lost in a knockout in the 1st round to PKA world heavyweight champion Ross Scott in the previous year.

On November 14, 1977, the AJKF held the first of such event which featured Benny Urquidez, his brother-in-law Blinky Rodriguez, Marc Costello, Brendan Leddy, Tony Lopez, Leonard Galiza and Freddy Avila.

[18] Urquidez's victory over Kunimitsu Okao convinced the Japanese fight fans, and eventually began to be featured as the central figure for what was supposed to be the documentary comic book, The Square Ring, until he declined to avenge his loss against the Thai opponent Prayout Sittiboonlert.

[19] In 2000, Urquidez and Emil Farkas founded the Los Angeles Film Fighting Institute, which was one of the first schools of its kind in the United States to teach martial artists the intricacies of stunt work.

Urquidez has had training in nine styles: Judo, Kajukenbo, Shotokan, Taekwondo, Lima Lama, White Crane Kung Fu, Jujutsu, Aikido and American Kenpo.

In late 1974, in the grand finale of an early mixed martial arts-style tough man contest in Honolulu, Hawaii, a 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m), 145 lb (66 kg) Urquidez decisioned a 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), 230 lb (100 kg) Dana Goodson after scoring a takedown and pin against Goodson in the third and final round.

Chuck Norris' short-lived International Karate League (IKL) and later the STAR System world ratings reversed this outcome.

However, the point deduction came shortly after Narongnoi had scored his sole flash-knockdown which, in turn, provoked a riot among Muay Thai fans in the audience.

[15] Next, on April 29, 1978, Urquidez faced his fourth Japanese opponent Shinobu Onuki in Tokyo; the event was co-promoted by the AJKBA and Shin-Kakutojutsu Federation.

The WKA waited until March 1986 to unambiguously transmute this outcome owing to uneven glove assignments and a coerced last-minute rule change that unfairly affected Urquidez's performance in an otherwise close bout.

[15] The no-contest status of these fights has been corroborated in print by Paul Maslak (Chief Administrator of the STAR System world ratings).

Meanwhile, on August 2, 1978, Urquidez faced the then fifth-ranked welterweight Thai boxer, Prayout Sittiboonlert, in Tokyo as part of the Shin-Kakutojutsu Organization's first independent event.

[26] A rematch was set on October 30, 1978, at the Budokan (Martial Arts Hall) as part of the five world championships card for the Shin-Kakutojutsu Organization.

[citation needed] According to one report, Urquidez did travel to Japan, but was unable to recover sufficiently from a high fever which he contracted from an allergic reaction to pain medication being used to treat a lingering left knuckle injury.

[28] Both the WKA and the STAR world ratings regarded this bout as muay Thai, a separate sport, and did not include it as part of Urquidez's rankings and record count for kickboxing.

[15] After a six-year absence from the Japanese ring, Urquidez agreed to fight an exhibition against Nobuya Asuka on April 24, 1989, at the Tokyo Dome as part of the New Japan Pro-Wrestling event.

[24] After another four-year absence on December 4, 1993, in "The Legend's Final Challenge" at the Mirage Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Urquidez fought Japanese champion Yoshihisa Tagami to establish the vacant WKA super welterweight world title.

Despite having injured his left wrist in training,[30] Urquidez proceeded with the bout and narrowly defeated his equally aggressive opponent with kicking attacks.

[30] In response, in November of the same year, Rorion's brother Royce Gracie challenged Urquidez himself,[32] which Benny rejected on the grounds of being retired.

He has a cameo appearance in the movie Street Fighter (1994), playing one of several prisoners put in a truck with Ken, Ryu, Sagat and Vega.

[37][38] Urquidez performed in the film Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) as Felix La Poubelle, a hitman sent to kill a character played by John Cusack.