It is Cult Faction’s sad news to report that UFC pioneer and cult tv and movie star Taylor Wily has passed away at the age of 55 years old. Wily’s passing was announced on Thursday June 20th 2024 by local Hawaii KITV Island News reporter Lina Girl, who said: “It’s with a heavy heart that I share the news of the passing of a Hawaii celebrity, who is also a family friend, Taylor Wily, former sumo wrestler, MMA fighter and actor passed away today in Hurricane, Utah;” according to his manager he died of “natural causes.”
Wily was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 14th0 1968. Weighing in at 440 lbs, he was soon recruited as a sumo wrestler in Japan. He would eventually gain promotion to Makushita, the third-highest division, where he became the first foreign-born wrestler to ever win the division’s championship. By March 1989, he reached Makushita 2, his highest rank ever, before retiring that July. He would then go on to compete in the first ever bout at the first ever UFC pay-per-view on November 12th 1993 as Teila Tuli, where he became the victim of the first ever UFC knockout at the hands of Gerard Gordeau. He would later retire from all combat sports due to knee problems and take up acting.
Wily’s big acting break came in 2008’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” as Kemo, then came his most famous role, Kamekona Tupuola, which started in Hawaii Five-0, and crossed-over into MacGyver and Magnum P.I. It should be worth noting that Wily appeared as an extra back in the original Magnum P.I. series in Season 3 Ep. 3: The Eighth Part of the Village where he was billed as “Guy Outside Pool Hall.”
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Brett Summers
Brett founded CultFaction.com in 2014 a website and podcast that deals with cult film and tv. He also has a strong interest in grappling martial arts both as a practitioner and as a historian.
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