Joe Hurley : The Forgotten Lion

The Lions Den has had so many fighters that most just know the ones that were great at their time (both Shamrocks, Mezger, Bohlander, Burnett, Oleg, and Williams) Joe Hurley is one of the guys that was top notch but hit his peak before he got his big shot.

Hurley was brought into the Lions Den in 1997 and made his debut with a win against Ashe Bowman at World Pancration Championship 1. WIth the pattented heel hook from the Lions Den.

At World Pancration Championships 2 he is facing his first big name opponent. Yves Edwards, in a good fight Hurley clearly won a 15 minute decision. Was both of these mens 2nd pro MMA fights and it was a good one. Hard to imagine Yves would have the better career.

From 99 to 2000 Hurley goes 3-0 in IFC vs local competition, including winning an IFC tournament vs Nick Ertle (8-6), and Cruz Gomez (12-. He then knocks out Matt Omeara and submits J.F. Bolduc (9-7). At IFC 9 Hurley scores a decision over Scott Bills (7-9-1).

Joe Hurley is 7-0 and 5-0 in IFC

He then goes to King of the Cage with the rest of the Lions Den and at KOTC 5 knocked out Chris Brennan (13-9-1) with elbows in the first round. At King of the Cage 7 Hurley face Charlie Kohler (8-4-1) in a good 3 round fight Hurley is the clear winner having submission attempts and controlling the stand up. Hurley gets the decision. Hurley is 9-0 and is considered a top Lightweight in the world.

At KOTC 8 vs the undefeated Gil Castillo Hurley loses a clear decision. He simply jsut got out did in pretty much everything. Hurley has his first defeat he is 9-1 and his win streak that started in 1997 ends in 2001.

Hurley got back on the winning track submitting Peter Kladjevic a 1-7 career fighter. Hurley then submits Rousko Rousko. Then at WFA Hurley is submitted in 2002 by Vitor Ribiero (20-3) in the 2nd round . Hurley is 11-2 .

At WEC 6 Joe Hurley faces Nick Diaz , Hurley makes the mistake of getting on the ground with Diaz and is submitted in over a minnute. Kimura. Hurley then loses a decision to Alex Garcia and it is clear he is not at the top of his game anymore. He seemed in a funk in the decision loss. Didnt have the same confidence in his hands he used to have.

At WEC 21 Hurley faces off against Nate Diaz. Hurley survived the first round and looked to be doing a little better. But in the 2nd round Hurley makes the same mistake and gets triangle'd by Nate. Hurley fights and beats CJ Thompson in 2006 and it is his last professional fight.

Retired with a 12-5 record and was a top Lightweight for several years. Big win was over Yves Edwards, a tough top notch fighter from the Lions Den who most people dont know about.

No shame in getting subbed by either Diaz Brother. Great read, Bird.

ya I really dont know what happened or why he retired cause he was out of the Nevada Lions Den and I knew all the guys out of the Dallas one but always rooted for him when I saw him and remember him being just another good tough Lions Den fighter.

glad ya enjoyed it

he also had the shit luck of hitting his peak when the UFC was under and Pride was only for the big boys

anyone else remember what a big deal Shaolin was for a while there?

I'd honestly never heard of him before reading this

bobbitt15 wrote:

I'd honestly never heard of him before reading this

He was one of the top submission fighters in 155 for a while, debuted in 2001, won 10 straight including wins over Hurley, Kawarji, Nakayama, and Ishida. then had first loss to Kawarji in 2004.

won 9 straight again including wins over Nakurama and Ueyema lost again in 2007 and took 2 years off


Came back and hasnt looked the same with a win over Nagata at Dream 8 and a decision loss to Shinya Aoki in 2009.

Not a very good striker but his submission game was sick

My bad, I was referring to Hurley. I'm well aware of Riberio

bobbitt15 wrote:

My bad, I was referring to Hurley. I'm well aware of Riberio

oh ok well good stuff then this thread worked, glad to give Hurley some shine

also I am dumb didnt even give info really on the Ribiero fight
Hurley is on his back in about 20 seconds from a good shoot, he somehow survives and manages to get back up. Before being taken down again the next round and finally submitted.

Vs Nick Diaz at WEC 6 Diaz stuns Hurley with the first punch he throws and Hurley is on his back with a Diaz on top of him, never good.

Hurley vs Brennan, sweet reversal from a heel hook to top position

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwz7oG-Yjgw

Omeara fight, 1 of Joes best performances

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-QNDjZkUoQ&feature=related

blocks a leg kcik, right hand, its all over
, Omeara looked like he was dead


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YN9tHcULtI&feature=related great submission over Jf Boulduc 20 seconds give or take

Here is Shaolin fight even though I dont like watching it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rm-z_6ySFA&feature=related

not lying I wonder if Hurley would have killed Omeara if he hadnt backed off on the follow up shot

watch the replay, he knocks Omeara into next year and follows up and has the right hand cocked and even follows through but stops himself when he see's Omeara damn near dead

never seen anyone cradle a fighter like that before

also forgot
what made hurley so good was that he was often outweighed by 10 to 15 pounds, he was one of those guys that didnt have a lower class to fight in so were stuck at 155.

Beat Chris Brennan to be the King of the Cage 155 champion

I wondered how this thread's post count was as high as it was...

Wolfgangsta wrote:

I wondered how this thread's post count was as high as it was...

hahah touche, sorry, just had some stuff to add

Watch the Omeara fight Wolf its worth the 2 minutes