{"id":760382,"date":"2026-06-25T23:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/760382\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T23:51:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:51:19","slug":"ali-vs-inoki-the-forgotten-fight-that-inspired-mma-and-launched-sports-entertainment-book-club-double-double-espresso-post-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/760382\/","title":{"rendered":"Ali vs. Inoki: The Forgotten Fight That Inspired MMA and Launched Sports Entertainment | BOOK CLUB (Double Double &#038; Espresso) &#8211; POST Wrestling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/BOOK-CLUB_Ali_Inoki-678x381.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"BOOK CLUB_Ali_Inoki\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t<a class=\"mh-facebook\" href=\"#\" onclick=\"window.open('https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.postwrestling.com%2F2026%2F06%2F25%2Fali-vs-inoki-the-forgotten-fight-that-inspired-mma-and-launched-sports-entertainment-book-club-double-double-espresso%2F&amp;t=Ali+vs.+Inoki%3A+The+Forgotten+Fight+That+Inspired+MMA+and+Launched+Sports+Entertainment+%7C+BOOK+CLUB+%28Double+Double+%26+Espresso%29', 'facebookShare', 'width=626,height=436'); 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return false;\" title=\"Pin This Post\"><\/p>\n<p>\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"mh-email\" href=\"http:\/\/www.postwrestling.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#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\" title=\"Send this article to a friend\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"mh-print\" href=\"https:\/\/www.postwrestling.com\/2026\/06\/25\/ali-vs-inoki-the-forgotten-fight-that-inspired-mma-and-launched-sports-entertainment-book-club-double-double-espresso\/javascript:window.print()\" title=\"Print this article\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/iamjohnpollock.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">John Pollock<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/nealflanagan.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Neal Flanagan<\/a> review <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.ca\/Ali-vs-Inoki-Forgotten-Entertainment\/dp\/1942952198\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ali vs. Inoki: The Forgotten Fight That Inspired Mixed Martial Arts and Launched Sports Entertainment<\/a>, chronicling the June 1976 fight<br \/>John &amp; Neal discuss the legacy of the fight on its fiftieth anniversary, the way the boxing media covered it, their re-watch of the fight with modern-day analysis of the fight, and how its legacy differs in the U.S. from Japan.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/POSTwrestling\/posts\/ali-vs-inoki-mma-162082007\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-69136 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/POST-CAFE_CLICK-TO-UNLOCK-THIS-SHOW.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Available for Double Double &amp; Espresso members<\/p>\n<p>What we watched\/read:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.ca\/She-Said-Breaking-Harassment-Movement\/dp\/0525560343\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">She Said by Jodi Kantor &amp; Megan Twohey<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/ivehaditpodcast.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">I\u2019ve Had It Podcast<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/tv.apple.com\/ca\/show\/the-prisoner\/umc.cmc.1peuawp39nj5mrvp27rbscadb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Prisoner (1967)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postwrestling.com\/category\/podcasts\/postwrestlingcafe\/book-club\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">BOOK CLUB Archive<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>NEXT MONTH: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.ca\/Regime-Change-Inside-Imperial-Presidency-ebook\/dp\/B0FH2K4T1C?ref_=ast_author_mpb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Photos Courtesy: BenBella Books\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bluesky: <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/postwrestling.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/postwrestling.com<br \/><\/a>X: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/POSTwrestling\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/POSTwrestling<br \/><\/a>Instagram: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/POSTwrestling\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/POSTwrestling<br \/><\/a>Facebook: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/POSTwrestling\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/POSTwrestling<br \/><\/a>YouTube: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/POSTwrestling\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/POSTwrestling<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/postwrestling.com\/subscribe\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/postwrestling.com\/subscribe<br \/><\/a>Patreon: <a href=\"http:\/\/postwrestlingcafe.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/postwrestlingcafe.com<br \/><\/a>Forum: <a href=\"https:\/\/forum.postwrestling.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/forum.postwrestling.com<br \/><\/a>Discord: <a href=\"https:\/\/postwrestling.com\/discord\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/postwrestling.com\/discord<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Pollock &amp; Neal Flanagan review Ali vs. Inoki: The Forgotten Fight That Inspired Mixed Martial Arts and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-760382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}