Taylor Wily, UFC 1 fighter and Hawaiian actor from ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall,’ dead at 56

Teila Tuli went on to a successful acting career, including a big role in ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall.’

Taylor Wily

Taylor Wily, a one-time UFC fighter who went on to a successful acting career, has died of undisclosed causes.

KITV’s Island News in Wily’s home state of Hawaii first reported his death, citing the family. Wily, who was known as [autotag]Teila Tuli[/autotag] when he fought, was 56.

The lone fight of his MMA career was a memorable one, to be certain – though not a great one for Wily. In the first quarterfinal fight of the first tournament of the first event in the promotion’s history – UFC 1 in November 1993 – Wily (Tuli) was knocked out by a head kick in 26 seconds by Gerard Gordeau.

The KO became something of a bit of MMA lore. Wily, who competed as a sumo wrestler, as well, had three of his teeth knocked out – two of which reportedly were stuck in Gordeau’s foot. Gordeau also broke his hand landing a punch.

Although Wily’s fight with Gordeau was not the actual first fight in UFC history – there was a tournament alternate bout just before it – it will go down in the promotion’s record books as the first fight to be broadcast in UFC history. Wily also suffered the first knockout in UFC history, as well.

Wily, who was billed at 410 pounds, never fought again and became an actor.

When the UFC celebrated the 30th anniversary of UFC 1 this past November, Wily was on hand with UFC Hall of Famers Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie, as well as fellow UFC 1 fighters Art Jimmerson and Zane Frazier, to look back at the event in a sit-down reunion dinner. With Wily’s death, the original eight from the UFC 1 tournament are down to five living. Patrick Smith and Kevin Rosier died in 2019 and 2015, respectively.

The teddy-bear-big Hawaiian did more than 170 episodes of the rebooted “Hawaii Five-0” as Kamekona, one of the show’s most enduring characters and the prime source of its comic relief. He also was in another Hawaii-based reboot, “Magnum P.I.” But in 2008, he found arguably his widest reach when he appeared alongside Jason Segel and Mila Kunis in the hit romantic comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”

The event that started it all: Watch UFC 1 in its entirety – 30 years later

UFC fights looked a lot different at the promotion’s conception in 1993.

UFC 295 marked the 30th anniversary of the promotion.

Over three decades, the UFC – and the sport of MMA as a whole – has evolved tremendously. If evidence is needed, go back and watch the promotion’s first event ever – which is now available in full, for free.

UFC 1 took place Nov. 12, 1993, at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver with a reported 7,800 fans in attendance. The one-night tournament-style fight card filled with openweight matchups featured eight fights. [autotag]Royce Gracie[/autotag] defeated [autotag]Gerard Gordeau[/autotag] to win the tournament championship.

Relive the full fight card in the video above. Tournament participants include Gracie, Gordeau, [autotag]Ken Shamrock[/autotag], [autotag]Kevin Rosier[/autotag], [autotag]Art Jimmerson[/autotag], [autotag]Zane Frazier[/autotag], and [autotag]Teila Tuli[/autotag].

The six living UFC 1 tournament participants recently reunited for dinner and the filming of a segment called Fighters of the Roundtable. Watch that reunion here.

Video: UFC 1 competitors reunite for dinner 30 years later

The six remaining living UFC 1 tournament members reunited for a 30th anniversary dinner to reflect on their pioneering night in 1993.

It was a reunion 30 years in the making.

The UFC celebrates its 30th anniversary Nov. 12 and the promotion recently organized a get-together for the six remaining living tournament participants.

The six pioneers met over dinner at an undisclosed location and shared drinks, food, laughs, and memories. The gathering was recorded and released in a video segment published Saturday entitled “Fighter of the Roundtable.”

On hand were [autotag]Gerard Gordeau[/autotag] and Taylor Wily (known as [autotag]Teila Tuli[/autotag] during his fighting days), the two fighters from the first-ever UFC bout. UFC Hall of Famers [autotag]Ken Shamrock[/autotag] and [autotag]Royce Gracie[/autotag] were also on hand, as were [autotag]Art Jimmerson[/autotag] and [autotag]Zane Frazier[/autotag].

UFC 1 took place Nov. 12, 1993 at McNichols Sports Arena. The tournament-style competition was won by Gracie, who defeated Jimmerson, Shamrock, and Gordeau all the in the same night.

Absent from the meal were the late [autotag]Kevin Rosier[/autotag] and [autotag]Patrick Smith[/autotag], who died in 2015 and 2019 respectively. An in memoriam graphic dedicated to the two deceased pioneers ran prior to the video’s closing credits.

Check out the full 42-minute production of the UFC 1 reunion dinner in the video above.