Gary Goodridge: MMA, Personal Life & Net Worth
Gary Henry Goodridge goes by the name Gary Goodridge. He is a Trinidadian-Canadian retired heavyweight kickboxer and Mix Martial Artist(MMA).
Furthermore, Gary played for the team Go-Riki throughout his career.
He has won several matches in kickboxing, MMA, and arm wrestling.
Moreover, Gary Goodridge has won 12 matches, lost 24 matches, and drew two matches in kickboxing.
Likewise, he has won 23 matches, lost 22 matches, and drew one match in MMA.
Moreover, he was one of the top-ranked contenders of professional arm-wrestling before kickboxing and MMA.
In the article, you will find detailed information about the former heavyweight kickboxer, arm wrestler, and Mixed Martial Artist(MMA).
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Gary Henry Goodridge |
| Nickname | Big Daddy |
| Birth Date | January 17, 1966 |
| Birth Place | Saint, James, Port of Spain, Trinidad, and Tobago |
| Residence | Saint James |
| Religion | Islam |
| Nationality | Trinidadian Canadian |
| Ethnicity | Black |
| Hobbies | Not Available |
| Food Habit | Not Available |
| Education | Kuk Sool Won School |
| Zodiac Sign | Capricorn |
| Zodiac Animal | Horse |
| Life Path | four(4) |
| Father’s Name | Henry Goodridge |
| Mother’s Name | Barbara Goodridge |
| Siblings | Sharon Goodridge(sister) Shirma Goodridge(sister) Suzie Goodridge Lisa Goodridge(sister) |
| Age | 58 Years Old |
| Height | 191 meters (6 feet 3 inches) |
| Reach | Not Available |
| Weight | 240 lbs (109 kg) |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Body Type | Athletic |
| Profession | Arm Wrestler, Kickboxer, MMA Fighter |
| Associated Teams | Go-Riki |
| Position | Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Kuk Sool Won |
| Rank | Honorary 4th-degree black belt in Kuk Sool Won Black Prajied in Muay Thai |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Ex-Wife | Karen Goodridge and Charlie (rumored) |
| Children | Tyra Goodridge and Trinity |
| Net Worth | $8 million (as of 2024) |
| Social Media | Twitter, Instagram |
| Merch | Autographed Card, Signed UFC Glove |
| Last Update | April,2024 |
Gary Goodridge: Age, Height, and Weight
The Canadian-Trinidian retired professional Gary Goodridge is currently 58 Years Old.
He was born on January 17, 1966, which makes him a Capricorn. Furthermore, he stands 6 feet 3 inches tall, i.e., 191 meters.
Similarly, he weighs around 240 pounds, i.e., 109 kg.
As he was a kickboxer in the heavyweight category, his body is enormous and weighs more than ordinary people.
Gary Goodridge: Family, Early Life, and Education
Family
Goodridge was born into a low-income family in Saint James, Port of Spain, Trinidad.
He was born to his mother, Barbara Goodridge, and his father, Henry Goodridge. Besides, he was raised along with four other sisters.
Due to poverty, Henry and Barbara, and their children, moved to Ontario, Canada, in hopes of providing a better life to their kids.
Early Life
Before putting his foot in the combat sports industry, Goodridge was a welder.
Moreover, he worked as a welder in the Honda factory in Allison, Ontario.
In 1991, and 1944, he defeated great arm wrestlers like Sharon Remez and John Brzenk.
He was, in fact, a world champion in arm wrestling and the champion of the super heavyweight amateur boxing of Canada.
Education
Not much is known about Goodridge’s academic life, even though he did go to school when he was younger.
But there is no information available about his schooling and college.
However, he went to a martial arts school called Kuk Sool Won, a type of Korean martial arts.
Furthermore, he once watched a fight between Remco Pardoel and Orlando Wiet and decided to apply for the Ultimate Fighting Championships(UFC), which his friend suggested.
He started training in Kuk Sool Won for participating in UFC as he needed some martial arts credentials aside from boxing championships.
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Gary Goodridge: Career
Kickboxing
In 1999, Goodridge made his debut in kickboxing at K-1 Revenge. He fought his first match against Musashi and lost via disqualification.
In 2002, he won his first match against Mike Bernardo at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Las Vegas.
He continued to participate in further K-1 World Grand Prix matches.
Goodridge was once knocked out 42 seconds into the match by Jerome Le Banner.
He then knocked out Sean O’Haire and Scott Lighty on April 30, 2005, in Las Vegas to reach the K=1 World Grand Prix finals.
However, he was defeated by Glaube Feitosa. Furthermore, he returned in 2006 to the K-1 World Grand Prix.
Moreover, he defeated Scott Lighty again, and Kengo, yet again, was stopped by Chalid Arrab in the finals.
Beginning Stage
Goodridge’s career in UFC began when he joined Kuk Sool Won school for more martial arts training.
However, it was unfortunate for him as the school was already training a fighter for UFC.
Moreover, Garry was forced to fight him. So he did and also won the fight.
Furthermore, he represented the school in the event and was offered the 4th-degree black belt and free do bok.
With his talent and hard work, he went to UFC 8 in less than a month of experience in arts.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Goodridge began his career in UFC in 1966 in the eight-man tournament at UFC 8:David vs. Goliath in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In his first match, he went against Paul Herrera, an amateur fighter at that time. Moreover, Goodridge outweighed him by around 80 lbs.
In the match, he ended up knocking Herrera unconscious and also broke his cheekbone.
After defeating Herrea, Goodridge proceeded to the second round. In the second round, he was up against Lion’s Den fighter Jerry Bohlander.
He tried to control Bohlander but instead got swept and also received headbutts and punches.
Nonetheless, he was able to land two heavy right hooks and knock Jerry out.
Similarly, Goodridge won the second match as well and qualified for the finals.
He had to face the legend, Don Frye, for the finals. However, he considered quitting the match due to exhaustion and lack of preparation.
But, in the end, Gary decided to go for it for the bout money.
Indeed, the match was intense as Goodridge was up against the legend himself.
Hence, Don was able to use Goodridge’s tiredness and defeat him.
The Return
Goodridge made his return in UFC 9: Motor City Madness in a non-tournament bout.
Furthermore, he had to face Mark Schultz, the Olympic wrestler. The Olympic wrestler took no mercy and grounded him with short punches.
Moreover, Mark completely controlled the match by landing a flurry of blows as the time ran out.
Eventually, Mark Schultz took Gary down as the referee had to stop the match instead of overtime.
Moreover, the referee had to stop the match because his face had cuts and Mark was rubbing on them.
Again, Goodridge took part in his second UFC tournament at UFC 10: The Tournament on July 12, 1996.
He had his first match with a wrestler, John Campetella. Similarly, he was able to knock him out and proceed to advance round. However, he lost the match to eventual winner Mark Coleman.
Furthermore, he had a rematch against Don Frye as his next UFC match at Ultimate Ultimate 1996, on December 7, 1996.
Unfortunately, Goodridge again tapped out due to exhaustion just like the first time and lost to Don Frye.
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Pride Fighting Championships
Goodridge competed in Pride Fighting Championships in Japan in late 1997.
On October 11, he made his promotional debut in the event PRIDE1. He faced Oleg Taktarov, the Russian grappler and UFC tournament winner.
With his skills and strength, he knocked Oleg Taktarov and made him unconscious.
On March 15, 1998, he faced Marco Ruas, UFC 7 tournament winner, and Brazilian Luta livre fighter at PRIDE2.
Furthermore, he proceeded for PRIDE3, where he faced Amir Rahnavardi, Bas Rutten trainee, and knocked him out.
At PRIDE4, the fighter faced Igor Vovchanvhyn, a Ukrainian kickboxer.
Goodridge took Igor down at first, but due to a mistake, he was able to take his revenge and eventually knocked Goodridge out.
In 1999, he returned to the UFC, at UFC 19: Ultimate Young Guns, submitting Andre Roberts.
Moreover, Goodridge fought Naoya Ogawa, a judoka whom he met at PRIDE 6. Ogawa took down Goodridge, making him tap out.
Rumors were saying that he was paid to lose the match against Ogawa.
However, Goodridge himself said in an interview that he was indeed bribed anonymously to lose, but he rejected it all and fought for real but lost to Ogawa.
Besides, he participated in the sixteen-man, open weight tournament PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 on January 20, 2000.
He eventually got eliminated from the tournament but stayed as PRIDE’s gatekeeper. Similarly, he continued to lose further matches.
Finally, he bounced back by defeating Bob Schrijber, Rings Japan fighter, and Valentijn Overeem.
Furthermore, he participated in the K-1 Andy Memorial event in late 2002.
He won the match by submitting Jan Nortje, superheavyweight kickboxer, and Yoshiaki Yatsu.
Further Matches
Goodridge fought against Achmed Labasanov, Russian Top Team at PRIDE 21 in 2002.
The match was intense, but it led to a unanimous decision. Moreover, he defeated Lloyd Van Dams at PRIDE Shockwave in 2002.
He fought Russian Fedor Emelianenko after a year of hiatus. Also, he fought fellow UFC veteran Dan Bobish which led to a controversial ending.
HERO’S Series
The UFC veteran Goodridge started competing for the HERO series, which is a Japanese MMA promotion.
He debuted at K-1 MMA ROMANEX by knocking out Sylvester Terkay, a pro wrestler, in round 1.
Likewise, he defeated Russian sumo wrestler Alan Karaev at HERO’S 1 on March 26, 2005.
On March 15, 2006, he lost to PRIDE veteran Heath Herring via knockout at HERO’s.
Besides, his last professional victory was when he defeated Jan “The Giant” Nortje from South Africa.
Gary Goodridge: Retirement
Goodridge officially retired in 2003 at PRIDE Shockwave after six years of fighting for PRIDE.
He had his official retirement fight against UFC rival Don Frye.
Goodridge was honored with a standing ovation when he defeated Don Frye despite the difficulties.
Furthermore, there was a retirement ceremony which he celebrated with Don Frye and PRIDE executives.
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Gary Goodridge: Net Worth
The UFC veteran Goodridge is indeed a great fighter with excellent skills.
The net worth of Gary Goodridge is estimated to be around $1.5 million.
Moreover, his primary source of income was from his MMA fights. All those years of his hustle and bustle did pay off.
Gary Goodridge: Personal Life
There isn’t much information about Gary’s personal life because he hasn’t revealed anything to the public.
However, he does have two daughters named Trinity and Tyra Goodridge.
Trinity is the first child he had with Charlie. Likewise, Tyra is the second child he had with Karen Goodridge.
He is also very close with his daughters, especially Tyra. It is unknown whether he was married to anyone or not.
Gary Goodridge: Social Media
Goodridge is primarily active on his Twitter account.
He mainly shares beautiful quotes and videos about loving and finding yourself.
He also has an Instagram account, but he is not very active in it.
The above-shown picture is his last post on Instagram, which was posted on June 6, 2014.
From his photos on Instagram, it seems that he loves to take pictures with his friends and the people around him.
Interesting Facts about Gary Goodridge
- He suffers from a disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy(CTE).
- Gatekeeper: The Fighting Life of Gary “Big Daddy” Goodridge is the name of his autobiography.
- The retired kickboxer was beaten a lot when he was a child by his mother.
- Goodridge holds the record of fastest knockouts in MMA, i.e., 13 seconds.
- He was once suicidal.
- Once, he attacked his girlfriend out of anger.
- His birthstone is granite.
- He converted his religion to Islam.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Who defeated Gary Goodridge?
Don Frye, Dan Bobish, Fedor Emelianenko, and many others have defeated Gary Goodridge.
Does Gary Goodridge do drugs?
It is unknown whether Goodridge does drugs or not.
What is the sexual orientation of Gary Goodridge?
There isn’t a specific answer, but he is probably straight as he has dated women before. However, we are unknown about his status.
