Tough Guys was originally published under the title Godfathers of MMA (2014).[1][2][15] The Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, discovered the book and subsequently established a permanent exhibit to recognize Pittsburgh as the birthplace of modern sport of MMA in the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum.[3][16][17][18]
New York based MinusL Productions secured the rights to produce a documentary film about the history of MMA and used the book as the basis for the film named Tough Guys co-starring Bill Viola Sr., the author's father.[12] Tough Guys made its world premiere June 15, 2017 at the AFI Docs Film Festival in Washington, D.C.[19][20]
The book was updated and rebranded as Tough Guys (2017) and published the same day as the network television debut of Tough Guys on Showtime.[2][21] The re-released commemorative edition peaked at No. 1 on the Amazon individual sports charts September, 2017.[5][6][22][17][18]
Summary
The book is a noted MMA resource and historical reference for early competition.[5][23][24][25] Tough Guys documents mixed martial arts in the late 1970s-1980s.[26][27] In 1979, Bill Viola Sr. and Frank Caliguri established CV Productions Inc. and created a new sport that combined martial arts, boxing, wrestling, jujutsu and various forms of combat sports. The “anything goes” Tough Guy Contest[12][20][8] introduced regulated mixed martial arts competition to America and launched the first MMA league, later rebranded as “Super Fighters.”[27][28][15]
Tough Guys chronicles mixed martial arts a decade before the term became popular or the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was created.[12][23][29] It details the Toughman (boxing) vs Tough Guy (MMA) controversy, the death of Ronald Miller and the Tough Guy Law which outlawed mixed martial arts in 1983.[24][30] Tough Guys documents the sports early history and legal issues with the Pennsylvania State Legislature and Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission.[27][24] It concludes with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania outlawing mixed martial arts.[24][31]
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