This is an accepted version of this page Robert Malcolm Sapp (born September 22, 1973)[2][3] is an American mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler, actor, and former football player.

He later began a career in professional wrestling before branching out into mixed martial arts and kickboxing, where he initially enjoyed significant success and popularity before eventually developing a reputation as a tomato can.

There he started honing his "The Beast" persona, which at this stage was a villainous, feral tarzan-like gimmick, but his development was cut short when the company was bought out by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

Introduced as a member of chairman Antonio Inoki's army of fighters, Sapp replaced an injured Yoshihiro Takayama in his October 14 match against Manabu Nakanishi.

The two exchanged taunts and attacks on the weeks leading to the match, with Sapp ultimately winning after executing his finishing move, the Beast Bomb,[11] on the ringside, where he left Nakanishi to be counted out.

[14] In October 2003, Sapp returned to NJPW, taking part again of Inoki's MMA army along with Takayama, Kazuyuki Fujita, Shinsuke Nakamura and Minoru Suzuki to face Nakanishi, Nagata, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Seiji Sakaguchi.

On October 16, 2007, Sapp made a surprise appearance at Hustle's Korakuen Hall event, attacking Razor Ramon HG and his partner Wataru Sakata.

He would try to bounce back by participating in the Hustle Grand Prix 2008, but he was shockingly eliminated by Osaka Pro Wrestling representative Zeus after having beaten Tiger Jeet Singh.

[20][21] At a NJPW event on December 20, 2012, Toru Yano announced that Sapp would represent the villainous Chaos stable on January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome.

[23] Sapp made another appearance for New Japan on April 7, 2013, at Invasion Attack, where he and Chaos stablemates Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi were defeated by Akebono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi and Super Strong Machine in another eight-man tag team match.

[26] After training for six months in United States in the AMC Pankration and Team Quest gyms,[6] he would be sent to mixed martial arts company Pride Fighting Championship, which had expressed interest on him too, in order to make his professional debut first under such rules.

After arriving to Japan, Sapp debuted in Pride as a K-1 representative against former professional wrestler and longtime Fighting Network RINGS competitor Yoshihisa Yamamoto, who he finished by TKO at 2:44 of the first round by way of wild hooks.

[28] The bout, which attracted 10 million viewers, quickly turned Sapp into a fan favorite due to his size, charisma and aggression, and prepared him for his kickboxing debut against Tsuyoshi Nakasako a month later.

Though Tamura was a highly respected fighter who held wins over the likes of Pat Miletich, Jeremy Horn and Renzo Gracie, he was giving up 150 lbs to his foe and was quickly overwhelmed by the much larger American, succumbing to strikes just 11 seconds into the bout.

"[6] Due to the usual size disparity, this time amounting to 127 pounds,[30] Nogueira accepted a special rule to ban knee strikes on the ground, making it a more even affair.

Taking his turn again, Sapp started punishing him with ground and pound through the Brazilian's guard, nullifying his armlocks by sheer strength and landing powerbombs every time Nogueira tried his trademark triangle choke.

[35] The latter was expected to win thanks to his experience and technical superiority despite being outweighed by over 100 pounds, but Sapp claimed he would not need more than the first round to defeat Hoost, thus setting up an anticipated matchup.

[38] Two months later, Sapp was slated to fight Semmy Schilt at K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final quarter-finals, but an injury suffered by the latter granted Hoost his second chance as a replacement.

Sapp had trained orthodox kickboxing with fellow UFC champion Maurice Smith for the match, and it could be noted in several powerful punches and knees that stunned Leopoldo.

[6] The event in Las Vegas would not end without more controversy, as the victorious Sapp got in a verbal confrontation with former boxing Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson, who was sitting at ringside.

The American chased a covered up Bonjasky through the ring while scoring punches and knees, but his opponent eventually bypassed his defense and landed a sharp roundhouse kick to end the first round.

[46] Sapp opened 2004 facing Dolgorsürengiin Sumyaabazar, multiple wrestling champion and brother to yokozuna Asashoryu, under a mixed martial arts ruleset at his own event, K-1 Beast.

He kept the momentum at the third, utilizing a defensive strategy of charging and clinching to neutralize Le Banner; however, most of the action would take place at the fourth and last, which saw the two trading dominant positions and ended with Sapp looking for an armlock.

In a departure from his explosive yet ephemeral performances up to the point, Sapp showcased greatly improved stamina and much better technique, gained both after intensive training under his long time friend Sam Greco.

Nakao taunted Sapp during the fight, but the American kept landing kicks and knees in addition to his personal bullrushing style, including also previously unseen counterstrikes.

This time Sapp increased his aggression and came near to finishing Hori early with a barrage of punches and a cut, but the Japanese resisted and kept him at bay with high kicks towards the end of the first round.

Choi's large reach and great size allowed him to land hits regularly through Sapp's charges, but the latter pressed on and got an early knockdown by low kicks to the knee.

[33]When asked about it, Sapp denied he was throwing fights, and claimed he was doing this routine to collect quick paychecks in a late career he did not deem economically worthy to risk his health.

[73] On April 2, 2023, Sapp competed in the main event of Fight Circus 6: The Rise or Fall of Sloppy Balboa[74] in a two-on-two boxing match, teaming up with Quinton Jackson against the promotion's CEO, Jon Nutt and Bangtao Muay Thai strength and conditioning coach Andrew Wood.

Although defined by his brute strength, Sapp's wins over opponents such as Yoshihiro Takayama and Stefan Gamlin showed that he did possess a knowledge of basic submission techniques.