Glenn McMorris was an American retired kickboxer, a former Professional Karate Association Full-Contact Middleweight United States Champion, a sport karate Hall of Famer, and the only fighter to have knocked out Martial Arts Hall of Famer Don "The Dragon" Wilson. McMorris died on November 21, 2019.

Sport Karate

Glenn McMorris started in martial arts competition in sport karate. He fought in numerous point-fighting matches which earned him a place in the Sport Karate Hall of Fame. One of McMorris's rare defeats in point-fighting was to Harold "Nature Boy" Roth in New Orleans in 1975. McMorris was the 1976 International Shotokan Karate Federation heavyweight kumite champion.

McMorris appeared on the cover of the magazine Karate Illustrated in July 1979 (Vol.10, Number 7).

Kickboxing McMorris branched off into kickboxing. He had an early reputation in the WSMAC (World Series of the Martial Arts Championships) as a knockout artist; knocking out "Big" Macon Taylor in 15 seconds. McMorris possessed a great right hand, but he didn't have much of a defense.

McMorris was billed as the number 1 contender for the Professional Karate Association (PKA) Middleweight U.S. Title in March 1980.

McMorris challenged Don "The Dragon" Wilson for the PKA Full-Contact Middleweight U.S. Title on 5 March 1980. McMorris had a record of 9–6 (8 knockouts) going into the title fight, while Wilson was 25-3-1 and was riding a 2-year, 17 bout winning streak. McMorris scored a stunning upset by knocking out Wilson in the first round to capture the title. This would be the only knockout defeat suffered by Wilson in his 6-decade career.

Four months later, McMorris lost the PKA Full-Contact Middleweight U.S. Title to Ray McCallum by 2nd-round knockout.Martial Arts: Traditions, History, People by John Corcoran and Emil Frarkas 1988, page 353.

Next, McMorris attempted a comeback and was knocked out by Robert Biggs.

On 24 February 1981, McMorris met PKA World Lightheavyweight Champion Jean-Yves Theriault in a non-title match. In a brutal slugfest, McMorris lost by knockout in the 6th round. McMorris retired after this bout.

Kickboxing record

ResultRecordOpponentWeightMethodDateRoundTimeEventLocationNotes style="text-align:center;" Win7-6-0Coleman Johnson168 lbs.KO197910:14New Orleans, Louisiana style="text-align:center;" Win8-6-0Emile "Big Macon" Taylor168 lbs.KO197910:17New Orleans, Louisiana style="text-align:center;" Win9-6-0Bice Milford168 lbs.TKO1980 Jan.11:03New Orleans, Louisiana style="text-align:center;" Win10-6-0Don Wilson168 lbs.TKO1980 Mar 51P.K.A. Full-Contact Middleweight U.S. TitleWest Palm Beach, FloridaWon P.K.A. Full-Contact Middleweight U.S. Title style="text-align:center;" Loss10-7-0Ray McCallum168 lbs.KO1980 Jul2P.K.A. Full-Contact Middleweight U.S. TitleLost P.K.A. Full-Contact Middleweight U.S. Title style="text-align:center;" Loss10-8-0Robert Biggs168 lbs.KO1980 Nov 21:36Clearwater, Florida, USA style="text-align:center;" Loss10-9-0Jean-Yves Theriault178 lbs.KO1981 Feb 246Non-Title MatchOttawa, Ontario, Canada

Karate Point Fighting record

ResultRecordOpponentMethodDateRoundTimeEventLocationNotes style="text-align:center;" DrawJohn Keating188 lbs.Draw19703New Orleans, Louisiana style="text-align:center;" WinJimmy TabaresPTS1975 Jul1Houston, TexasSource:Black Belt Magazine July 1975. style="text-align:center;" UnavailableLouis Arnold1975Source:Black Belt Magazine July 1975. style="text-align:center;" LossHarold "Nature Boy" Roth168 lbs.PTS19753New Orleans, Louisiana style="text-align:center;" UnavailableErnest Smith1976Galveston, TexasSource: Black Belt Magazine July 1976.

Full-Contact Karate Record ResultRecordOpponentMethodDateRoundTimeEventLocationNotes style="text-align:center;" UnavailableBurnis White160 lbs.1976 Oct 1Tommy Lee promoterAloha, Hawaii, Braisdell Memorial ArenaSource:

Footnotes