Hook ‘em Up N Shoot ‘em Down
- "The thing about HOO Kn SHOOT was that it was a small show, but you knew the MMA world was watching. You knew that if you were fighting there, people would see it. A win there would mean something. The bigger shows that were looking for good fighters, they were looking at HOO Kn SHOOT."— Yves Edwards
As a whole:
- Crossover: With GAME in 1996.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Used a cage for its first event before switching to a ring.
- Insistent Terminology: They refer their shoot style rules fights either as "Pancrase Style" or "Submission Fighting". They also had NHB and Absolute rules fights, NHB rules had a single round 15 minute time limit (20 for title fights) while Absolute rules were basically Shooto rules.
- Minored In Ass Kicking: They also held submission grappling matches and even hosted the inaugural ADCC North American trials.
- World of Action Girls: Featured the first American all women’s MMA fight cards.
Brett Al-azzawi
- Guest Fighter: From Dark Alley Fight Team.
- I Know Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- Jobber
- Red Baron: "Safa".
Travis Fulton
- The Apprentice: To Pat Miletich.
- Blood Knight: He has been in more sanctioned MMA fights than any other fighter ever by a large margin with a total of 316 fights with 253 wins, 52 losses, 10 draws, and 1 no contest. He also has a professional boxing record of 62 matches with 22 wins, 39 losses and 1 draw.
- Cool Old Guy: He is 40 years old now and still fighting.
- Guest Fighter
- I Know Karate: A 2nd dan black belt in American Kenpo Karate. He also competed in amateur wrestling and was a Golden Gloves and professional boxer.
- Red Baron: "The Ironman".
Jeremy Horn
- "Guys like Dana came in and took it further, but without guys like Jeremy Horn, this sport would have died a long, long time ago."— Monte Cox"Iowa sucks! That's why we keep training 10 hours a day - you can do nothing else!"— Jeremy Horn
- Always Someone Better: He is this to Chael Sonnen, who he beat 3 times.
- The Apprentice: To Pat Miletich.
- Badass Family: He is a half-brother of fellow MMA fighter Matt Andersen.
- Badass Teacher: Has his own MMA team, Elite Performance.
- Blood Knight: He has over 100 fights in MMA with 91 wins.
- Bully Hunter: Fought bullies when he was in school.
- Disappeared Dad: He was raised by his single mother alongside his brother and two half-brothers.
- Early-Bird Cameo / Guest Fighter: Had one match in Pancrase against KEI Yamamiya that ended in a draw before he went to RINGS. He also had a few fights in Hook N Shoot before his Pancrase fight.
- Hero Killer: The only guy who beat Chuck Lidell by submission. He also beat guys like Daiju Takase, Gilbert Yvel, Chris Haseman, Vernon White (in his King of the Cage period), Forrest Griffin, Chael Sonnen, etc.
- I Know Ninjutsu: A black belt in Robert Bussey's Warrior's International system and trained in MMA under Miletich Fighting Systems.
- Red Baron: "Gumby", "Tetsujin" ("Iron Man").
- Wrestler in All of Us: Tried a real diving chop on Randy Couture in their match in RINGS.
Phil Johns
- "Well, there's always that element in this kind of fight when you're going against someone who is solely or mostly a groundfighter... There's always that element of a triangle or an arm bar. I don't fear them. I mean I can stay out of them if I really want to. What I mean by that is that I'm a "risk fighter". I take risks."
- Authority Equals Ass Kicking: The head fighter of Silverbacks Vale Tudo.
- Cool Teacher: A co-head trainer of Silverbacks Vale Tudo.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Debuted at a HOOKnSHOOT event.
- Guest Fighter
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Bob Long as co-founders of Silverbacks Vale Tudo.
- I Know Amateur Wrestling: A four-time All-American and an undefeated national champion. He also learned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
- Red Baron: "Little Giant".
- Start My Own: Had a fight promotion called Silverback Classic.
Dave Menne
- The Apprentice: To Greg Nelson.
- Cool Teacher: Owns and is the head instructor of Menne Combat Academy.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Had a fight in Shooto before entering the RINGS King of Kings tournament.
- Guest Fighter: From The Minnesota Martial Arts Academy.
- I Know Amateur Wrestling: And also learned Muay Thai.
- Red Baron: "The Warrior".
Gary Myers
- "My family gave me the name Bear when I was 2 yrs old. I wrestled on the USA wrestling team. I wrestled in Russia and I beat both of my opponents in Russia and at the time they were both ranked very high in the world and they said in the Moscow newspaper that I was to be given the a new nickname of "THE IRON BEAR" that was a great honor for me."
- Bouncer: Was bouncing at a roadhouse on Stop Road in Indianapolis called Club Mark in 1997 as detailed in When We Were Bouncers.
- Guest Fighter: Fought a single bout in Pancrase against Yuki Kondo.
- I Know Amateur Wrestling: A 6 time Greco Roman wrestling world competition gold medalist, he also trained in Judo and Taekwondo, Shorinji-Ryu Karate, boxing, Sambo, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He later trained at Integrated Fighting Academy for MMA.
- Last of His Kind: Was the last GAME Heavyweight Champion (he didn't fight in GAME itself, he won it in a Crossover event with HOOKnSHOOT.
- Red Baron: "Iron Bear".
- Start My Own: Founded Iron Bear Productions, which promotes amateur MMA events in Indiana.
Jeff Osborne
- "Jeff Osborne likes to say he survived MMA. That may seem funny to hear from a man with 23 years in the game, but the way he figures, there are thousands of others who weren’t so lucky. Fighters, coaches, promoters — flameouts who lost it all betting on a bloodsport to propel them into society’s one percent. But not him. He endured in a space where few others could. And whether people realize it or not, his mark on the sport is forever indelible, broad bold strokes upon the canvas of modern MMA."— Shaun Al-Shatti, writer for https://www.mmafighting.com
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- The Apprentice: To Scott "Bam Bam" Sullivan.
- Authority Equals Ass Kicking: Has competed in 3 MMA fights, one in his own promotion.
- Combat Commentator: Has worked as one for the UFC.
- I Know Karate: As well as Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
- Red Baron: "The Godfather of North American Women's MMA".
- Start My Own: Founded HOOKnSHOOT.
John Renken
- "Peaceful in a Violent Sort of Way."
- The Apprentice: To Erik Paulson and Greg Nelson.
- Badass Preacher: He is an ordained minister and founder of Xtreme Ministries.
- Combat Referee: A licensed MMA referee.
- Cool Teacher: Owner of Clarksville Mixed Martial Arts Academy and also created Global Combative Operations for civilian, law enforcement, and military self defense.
- Genius Bruiser: Graduated from North Central University in 2000 with a degree in Bible and Theology.
- Guest Fighter
- Heel–Faith Turn: Was a former satanist, then he converted to Christianity.
- I Know Muay Thai: As well as boxing, Sambo, has a black belt in Judo and a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He also trained in the Modern Army Combatives Program while he was in the army and Combat Submission Wrestling at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy.
- Ranger: A former United States Army Ranger.
- Real Men Love Jesus: Was featured on the MMA documentary "Fight Church".
- Red Baron: "The Saint", "The Fighting Preacher".
Ivan Salaverry
- "I believe that everyone has the fighting spirit in them. It's innate. It's genetic. It's hard-wired into each and every one of us."
- The Apprentice: To Maurice Smith, Matt Hume and Tito Ortiz.
- Cool Teacher: Has his own gym, Ivan Salaverry MMA.
- Guest Fighter
- I Know Muay Thai: A black prajied, trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is a black belt under Marcelo Alonso, learned Karate, amateur wrestling, and trained at places like AMC Pankration, Team Punishment, Carlson Gracie BJJ, and Brazilian Top Team.
- Jack of All Stats: Is known for his well-rounded skills.
- Red Baron: "The Shark".
- Signature Move: He is also notable for being a pioneer of the crucifix-style position from side control, which is often referred to as "The Salaverry" during Mixed Martial Arts broadcasts, particularly by UFC commentator Joe Rogan.
Nicholas Starks
- The Apprentice: To Bart Vale, Reza Nasri, Gokor Chivichyan, Robert Bussey, and Marcio Simas.
- Canon Immigrant: Represented the International Shoot Fighting Association.
- Guest Fighter: Made a few appearances in Kingdom.
- I Know Sambo: As well as Taekwondo, hapkido, Judo, Greco-Roman wrestling, ninjutsu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and shootfighting.
- Jobber
- Red Baron: "The Exorcist".
- Scary Black Man
Alex Stiebling
- "Stiebling was a student at Frank Benn's Integrated F Ighting Academy, one of the first American establishments to openly bill itself as a full mixed martial arts school, and as a standout at the regional HOO Kn SHOOT events he gathered the attention of major organizations, but his attempts at challenging them went poorly: He made one UFC appearance at UFC 28, where Matt Hughes' twin brother Mark wrestled him to a dominant decision loss, and followed it with a Pancrase appearance against top-ranked middleweight Sanae Kikuta, which ended in a no-contest after an accidental headbutt. By 2001 he was 6-1-1-1, had been bounced from two of the major MMA organizations on the planet, and was in need of something to put weight behind his name. And then he was invited to the International Vale Tudo Championship's one-night USA vs Brazil tournament. (Which, for some reason, was held in Venezuela.) It was a tough field, and oddly enough, Stievling was the only non-Brazilian fighter in the tournament itself—and he put on a clinic, stopping all four of his opponents in the first round. It was an incredible performance, and it won him international acclaim, an invitation to Pride—and his self-styled nickname, "The Brazilian Killa." It was one of MMA's first blatant marketing campaigns, and it worked like a charm. Pride's Brazilian contingent hated him, with fighters from feuding camps all able to unite in their joined desire to shut him up. He didn't make it easy on them: He knocked out Allan Goes and took a close decision from Wallid Ismail, becoming a bigger target with each victory, until at Pride 21 he met a young Chute Boxe prospect by the name of Anderson Silva. It's not much of a fight—Anderson hits him with a high kick, Stiebling takes him down, the ref stops the fight to check on a cut caused by the kick and doctors stop it within ninety seconds—but it ended Stiebling's stardom overnight. Brazil was avenged and Stiebling's mojo was gone, as he dropped his next three straight fights, ending in a return to Pride where he was blatantly screwed out of a decision against Akira Shoji. The message was clear: His time in the sun was over. And it was. He'd put together a few more wins in the regional circuit and became a standby of the early WEC, but the last half of his career was mostly a skid; before the Anderson fight he was 12-1-1-1, and he retired in 2009 at 19-11-1-1. Stiebling's real legacy in MMA isn't his fighting, it's his existence as one of the first successful examples of vaguely racist yet blatant self-marketing. Chael Sonnen and Conor Mcgregor owe him."
- The Apprentice: To Jason Godsey and Pat McPherson.
- Arch-Enemy / Hero Killer: To Brazilian fighters. It all started when he won the International Vale Tudo Championship's one-night USA vs Brazil tournament, which for some reason was held in Venezuela and he was the only non-Brazilian. Then he knocked out Allan Goes and took a close decision from Wallid Ismail in Pride which is how he got his nickname "The Brazilian Killa". Then he lose by doctor stoppage to a young Anderson Silva and lost his mojo.
- Guest Fighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase.
- I Know Muay Thai: Trained at the Muay Thai Institute of Kunponli and also trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He trained for MMA at Integrated Fighting Academy.
- Red Baron: "The Brazilian Killa".
- Use Your Head: Accidently headbutted Sanae Kikuta in their Pancrase fight, which ended in a no contest.
