At the age of 12, Urquidez attended the
Long Beach International Karate Championships in 1964. He witnessed a demonstration by
Bruce Lee, including the
one-inch punch which sent a 245-pound man flying back. This demonstration by Lee inspired a young Urqidez to start entering martial arts tournaments. He entered the point circuit in 1964 and earned a reputation as a colorful fighter. At the 1972 Santa Monica Kenpo Open, Urquidez lost in the finals to Brian Strian. In the 1973
Internationals, he fought John Natividad in what is considered one of the greatest non-contact bouts in history. In an unprecedented 25-point overtime match, Natividad won the match 13–12, receiving the Grand Title and the $2,500 purse. In May 1974, at the PAWAK Tournament, Urquidez lost a 4–1 decision to
Joe Lewis. He also competed in England and Belgium as a member of
Ed Parker's 1974 US team. Also in 1974, he began his move away from the non-contact style by entering and winning the World Series of Martial Arts Championship, effectively a tough-man contest with few rules. Over the next two decades, he fought under various kickboxing organizations (NKL, WPKO,
Professional Karate Association (PKA),
World Kickboxing Association (WKA), AJKBA, Shin-Kakutojutsu Federation, NJPW and MTN) to amass a record of 58 wins with no losses. This undefeated record, though official, is controversial and highly disputed. In 1977, Urquidez traveled to Japan and fought under the WKA's compromise US–Japan rules which included leg kicks and knees to the body. At the same time, Japanese professional wrestler
Antonio Inoki, who gained the worldwide fame by fighting
Muhammad Ali in the controversial 1976 boxer/wrestler mixed-match in Japan, had been looking for new opponents for what he called the world martial arts championship series. Eventually, promoter Ron Holmes discovered Everett Eddy for Inoki. By that time, Eddy had been coached by Arnold Urquidez, and lost in a knockout in the 1st round to PKA world heavyweight champion Ross Scott in the previous year. In the same event, Benny Urquidez knocked out
Howard Jackson, but soon his lightweight title was stripped by the PKA, and so both Eddy and Urquidez had no action in the US, and had to look for fights overseas. Even though the Inoki/Eddy bout was successful, it was the fight between Urquidez and Suzuki, which shocked Japan, where Japanese kickboxing had been very popular. Though never tested for or achieved any rank in Japanese karate, Urquidez has decided to bestow upon himself the title of
sensei, a Japanese honorific term which is given to experts and instructors meaning: "someone who precedes you in knowledge". The All-Japan Kickboxing Association, for which Suzuki had been rated as No. 2, became interested in the American sport of full-contact karate, decided to promote series of mixed-rules bouts between the American full-contact karate fighters and Japanese kickboxers. On November 14, 1977, the AJKF held the first of such event which featured Benny Urquidez, his brother-in-law Blinky Rodriguez, Marc Costello, Brendan Leddy, Tony Lopez, Leonard Galiza and Freddy Avila. Only Benny Urquidez and Costello came out as the winners for the American team. Urquidez's victory over Kunimitsu Okao convinced the Japanese fight fans, and eventually began to be featured as the central figure for what was supposed to be the documentary comic book,
The Square Ring, until he declined to avenge his loss against the
Thai opponent Prayout Sittiboonlert. Urquidez's second loss came in August 1980 in Florida. American Billye Jackson dominated seven rounds including knocking Urquidez down. Urquidez protested the decision and petitioned the WKA's Howard Hansen to classify it as a no-contest. After 1980, Urquidez' ring appearances became less frequent. Between 1981 and 1984 he fought only sporadically. In 1984, he fought Ivan Sprang in
Amsterdam under modified
Muay Thai rules (no elbows), winning by 6th-round TKO. His ring career largely came to a halt after 1985, and he retired after facing
Yoshihisa Tagami at the age of 41. Subsequently, Urquidez became devoted to
acting, teaching kickboxing and
martial arts choreography. Urquidez's late brother Reuben was also a competitive martial artist and actor; they appeared together in a 1982 training video,
World Of Martial Arts, along with
Steve Sanders (karate),
Chuck Norris and
John Saxon.
Van Halen lead singer
David Lee Roth dedicated the band's hit 1984 song "
Jump" to Urquidez, of whom Roth was a student. In 2000, Urquidez and
Emil Farkas founded the Los Angeles Film Fighting Institute, which was one of the first schools of its kind in the United States to teach martial artists the intricacies of stunt work. Urquidez has had training in nine styles:
Judo,
Kajukenbo,
Shotokan,
Taekwondo,
Lima Lama,
White Crane Kung Fu,
Jujutsu,
Aikido and
American Kenpo. He is the founder of Ukidokan Karate. His style is influenced by
Muhammad Ali (boxing), Ralph Castro (Shaolin Kenpo),
Gokor Chivichyan (Judo), Al Dacascos (Kajukenbo),
Dan Inosanto,
Takayuki Kubota (Shotokan),
Thomas Carroll (Shotokan),
Gene LeBell (Judo),
Bruce Lee,
Chuck Norris,
Mas Oyama,
Ed Parker,
Steve Sanders, Bill Ryusaki,
Mike Stone, Arnold Urquidez, Lily Urquidez Rodriguez, Douglas Wong (Shoalin), and
Tadashi Yamashita. Urquidez founded The Jet Center in 1981. The concept for an upscale dojo came from Urquidez's experience from competing in Japan around 1978, being exposed to facilities like the New Hotel Japan in
Akasaka. The center served as a filming location for multiple Hollywood productions, including
Split Decisions,
Mike Hammer,
Hunter,
Murder, She Wrote,
Scarecrow and Mrs. King,
Jake and the Fatman, amongst other. The facility closed in 1994 due to extensive damage caused by the
Northridge earthquake. In 1995, he opened up The Jets Gym in
North Hollywood, California. The Jets Gym in the North Hollywood location closed in 2007, to prepare for new commercial development on the property. As of 2009, he taught ukidokan kickboxing at Team Karate Center in Woodland Hills, California. In January 2026, Benny indicated on the
Joe Rogan Podcast, that he plans to opening a new gym somewhere in California. The facility will include nine pieces of new equipment and five machines that have never been commercially available. It has been previously mentioned that he has a special friendship with actor/client
John Cusack with whom talks of opening up a bigger gym in Santa Monica, targeting former champions as clients and trainers are in the works as Cusack has shown interest in taking part as co-owner. == Controversies ==