What really happened when Jean Claude Van Damme fought Chuck Zito

One of the weirdest martial arts myths of all time has to be the fight between Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Zito. For those out of the loop, Chuck Zito is a former boxer and bodyguard who was also the leader of the Hells Angels in New York for a while. Although Zito is undoubtedly a colorful character, it’s fair to say that he’s also less known compared to Van Damme, who was an international superstar at his peak.

Anyway, back in 1998 the pair got into a fight in a strip club in Manhattan, New York. Sadly, this story is as trashy as it sounds…but even well over 20 years later it still gets tongues wagging on the internet. In this article, we shall go through what really happened (or at least we’ll try to get to the bottom of things).

Chuck Zito Vs Jean Claude Van Damme…according to Zito

Since the 1998 incident, Zito has spoken about it a few different times. Once he was a guest on the Howard Stern show and spoke openly about it. There’s also an extract from his 2003 autobiography Street Justice where it also gets mentioned.

In short, Zito was a bodyguard for Van Damme in the late 90s. Apparently, as professionals, the two didn’t get on so after a few weeks Zito quit the job. They then met in a New York strip club where Van Damme was rude to him and swore toward Zito. This resulted in Zito punching Van Damme in the face whilst he was sitting down and then landing a few more as he got up. After this, Zito bounced and Van Damme was thrown out of the club for aggressive behavior.

More specifically, in he writes “And with that, I hit him twice. A straight right and a left hook. Bam-bam!…Jean-Claude’s chair flipped over backward, and he landed in the lap of my friend Kevin Lubic. I started hitting him with everything I had. Jean-Claude barely even tried to fight back. He just tried to shield himself. When he covered his head I hit him in the body. When he covered his body I hit him in the face. It went on like that for about thirty seconds, until the bouncers jumped in.”

Remember, this is Zito’s account of things and obviously, he would view things differently compared to Van Damme, judging his actions in a more favorable light.

Chuck Zito Vs Jean Claude Van Damme…according to the internet

Whilst Zito’s account would always view things in a certain way – you have to remember that this is his own opinion and people often say scandalous things in autobiographies for promotional reasons.

Now, here’s what could have happened. As we know, Van Damme was sitting on a chair whilst he got punched by Zito. Instantly, this doesn’t sound like a fair fight and has led to people saying he got hit with a sucker punch. Apparently, Van Damme was putting his glasses on his face when Zito started swinging.

Secondly, Van Damme was also meant to be on cocaine at this point. This isn’t a rumor and he has admitted doing it in the 90s, apparently spending $10,000 a week on the drug. Unsurprisingly, this drug use could have fuelled the tension between him and Zito which combined with alcohol could have made Van Damme say some regrettable things.

The reality?

Ultimately, we’ll never know what happened between Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Zito and most of the story is talk and speculation. It seems that Van Damme has moved on from the incident and rarely talks about it – whereas Zito is more talkative on the issue.

What’s worth noting is that even when reading about Zito’s version of events – it doesn’t sound like a fair fight. If you punch someone whilst they’re sitting down then the likelihood is that it wasn’t expected and the opponent doesn’t have time to defend or protect themselves.

Having said this, if JCVD was coked up and trash talking then he is not blameless either. Remember, Zito was a real guy from the streets who was a decent boxer and wouldn’t take disrespect lightly, so his reaction was to be respected.

It sounds like Van Damme was no stranger to beef in the late 90s either, having previously confronted Steven Seagal during a house party involving Sylvester Stallone.

Returning to Zito, had the two fought in some kind of MMA fight then things may have been different. Remember, Van Damme was a solid kickboxer during his prime and was certainly a legit martial artist. However, this episode is a good example of street fights and how they’re not always fair or in line with moral rules. In summary, it sounds like Chuck Zito got the better of Van Damme but it may have been a bit of a cheap shot more than a full-on brawl.

If you’d like to learn more about the feud and Zito’s side of the story then check out his autobiography for more information.