Widely regarded as America’s greatest kickboxing champion, Don Wilson, is perhaps better known outside of martial arts sports as the star of nearly 40 internationally-released action thriller cable-TV movies. Upcoming in 2015, “The Dragon” will star in THE MARTIAL ARTS KID opposite fellow International Sports Hall of Famer Cynthia Rothrock, and also will appear in THE SCORPION KING 4: QUEST FOR POWER.
Don entered the international stage as the first Kung-Fu practitioner to win a world kickboxing title. His fighting nickname, “The Dragon,” comes from his White Dragon (Pa’i Lum) Kung-Fu style. Over the next decade and a half, he won 11 World Title belts in 4 weight divisions, for 5 sanctioning bodies (WKA, STAR, PKO, ISKA and IKF). Along the way, he defeated 13 other World Champions. Wilson headlined main event fight cards from Madison Square Garden (New York City), Caesar’s Palace (Las Vegas & Lake Tahoe), Korakuen Hall (Tokyo Dome), Queen Elizabeth Stadium (Hong Kong), Lumpinee Stadium (Bangkok), Verdun Auditorium (Montreal), Deutschlandehalle (Berlin) and MGM Grand (Las Vegas) as broadcast over NBC-TV, ESPN-TV, TSN-TV (Canada), Ashai-TV (Japan), TVB-TV (Hong Kong), Channel 8 (Thailand), FNN/SCORE-TV and Canal Plus (Europe). He amassed a total kickboxing record of 73-5-2, with 49 KOs, 7 by Kick-KO. His 61.2% knockout average remains slightly better than boxing’s “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali’s 60.7% average. By 2002, Wilson was entered into the GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS for winning the most Kickboxing World Titles, a feat as-yet unequalled. Following advice from Chuck Norris, “The Dragon” relocated to Hollywood where, among his early film roles, he appeared as John Cusack’s sparring partner in Columbia Pictures’ SAY ANYTHING (1989). He also trained Mr. Cusack in kickboxing for that film. Next, Wilson was hand-selected by renowned “King of the Bs” producer Roger Corman to star in eight of Concorde Pictures’ BLOODFIST film franchise. Subsequently, four Wilson actioners became HBO World Premieres, including RED SUN RISING (1994) – the highest Nielsen-rated HBO movie of that year (10.3 Nielsen, 15 share). He further made cameo appearances in Warner Brothers’ BATMAN FOREVER (1995) and Columbia Pictures’ STEALING HARVARD (2002), as well as starred in SYFY-TV’s THE LAST SENTINEL (2007).
Don ‘The Dragon’ is one of the most liked and admired legends in the martial arts world!