Gerard Gordeau

As with his fouls in UFC, Gordeau was unapologetic of his action, stating he would do it again if he rematched Nakai. Those claims attracted a great deal of criticism. In 2019, however, he revealed Nakai and him had talked about it and didn't harbor ill feelings anymore. Gordeau also praised Nakai's fighting spirit during the bout.

Gordeau later justified his illegal attack as, "If you go down, you might as well give him something to remember you by," but he also commended Gracie as the better fighter. In 2012, Royce would visit Gordeau's dojo in The Hague to train, about which the Dutch fighter stated: "It was the first time after 20 years that we spoke. No hard feelings!"

Through 2001 and 2002, Gordeau participated in various Pro Wrestling Zero1 events, wrestling in singles matches against names like Shinya Hashimoto, Masato Tanaka, Samoa Joe and Steve Corino. He returned to the promotion in 2010 at Zero1's Yasukuni Shrine Festival, where he teamed up with his former student Ryoji Sai to defeat Munenori Sawa and Akebono.

In 2000, Gordeau served as a consultant for women's MMA promotion ReMix, where he also cornered Marloes Coenen.

He took part in the infamous 1.4 Incident, which occurred on January fourth, 1999 at the Tokyo Dome, where UFO member Naoya Ogawa faced Shinya Hashimoto in a pro wrestling match. Gordeau was in Ogawa's corner along with Kazunari Murakami and Tiger Mask, and when Naoya turned the bout into a shoot by brutally striking Hashimoto, who had no idea what was going on, Gerard and his colleagues had to protect Ogawa from the NJPW crew in the subsequent brawl. Gordeau later criticized Ogawa's action.

In 1995, he took part in New Japan Pro Wrestling's four-man Final Countdown BVD Tournament on January 4 at the Tokyo Dome during Battle 7. He lost his only match to eventual winner Antonio Inoki. Gordeau remained with Inoki as a trainer and wrestler for the Universal Fighting-Arts Organization, cornering Naoya Ogawa in several occasions.

In 1994, Gordeau was approached to fight again in UFC 2, but he refused due to disagreements over his payment after the previous event. He instead arranged for his training partners Remco Pardoel and Freek Hamaker to take his place, with him as a cornerman.

Gerard Gordeau (born March 30, 1956) is a Dutch former savateur, karateka, and mixed martial artist. He is the 1991 World Champion Savate and holder of the Dutch Champion Kyokushin Karate title for 8 consecutive years, but foremost known internationally for his fight against Teila Tuli in the first televised Ultimate Fighting Championship bout on 12 November 1993.

In 1993, Gordeau was scouted to take part in UFC 1, the first event of Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event's organizers had sought several high-level fighters in Holland, among them kickboxing champion Ernesto Hoost, but Gordeau was the only available and willing to do it. As he had been a savate champion the previous year, he was billed solely as a savate artist. According to him, he was initially pitted against Royce Gracie in the first round of the tournament, but when the organizers found out that Gordeau had fought in Japan, they changed the matchup: Gracie would fight boxer Art Jimmerson instead, while Gordeau would face 400 pound sumo wrestler Teila Tuli on the opposite side of the bracket.

Gordeau had his debut in professional wrestling on August 13, 1988 in shoot style promotion UWF Newborn, losing a special match against Akira Maeda. He also competed in two bouts against Masaaki Satake and Mitsuya Nagai at "free fight" events held under RINGS.

After turning professional, Gordeau joined the Kyokushin school and competed at the World Open Karate Championships. Later in his life, following the ideas of Kyokushin founder Mas Oyama, he trained in amateur wrestling and boxing in an attempt to make his style more complete. He also learned kickboxing, savate and judo. Gordeau was a Dutch Karate Champion from 1978 to 1985, a European Savate Champion from 1988 to 1991 and a World Savate Champion in 1992, with an overall competitive record of 27-4 before his MMA debut.