Cecil Peoples

They call him the “Magic Dragon” because his sweeps are like a dragon whipping its tail. Cecil Peoples is one of the pioneers of kickboxing, in fact, he was one of the few handful of individuals who made the transition from point fight to kickboxer. It was in the 1970s after the winner of the Internationals, Peoples threw his hat into a new sport, full-contact karate, and everything changed. Applying boxing and power training, Peoples became one of the dominant figures in the kickboxing world. In time, he would become the leading referee and judge for mixed martial arts events such as the UFC, Bellator, and many more. Peoples changed history as one of kickboxing’s pioneers. He was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum’s Hall of Fame in 2003.