In 1996, Goodridge made his debut in UFC in the eight-man tournament at "UFC 8: David vs. Goliath" in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He first went against amateur wrestler Paul Herrera, whom Goodridge outweighed by nearly 80 lbs. In order to increase Goodridge's will to fight, he had been told by his friends that Herrera and his teammate Tank Abbott were white supremacists. The resultant fight would be a spectacular knockout, as Herrera shot for a fireman's carry only to be caught in a crucifix position by Goodridge, who then proceeded to deliver multiple elbow strikes to the helpless Herrera's head, ending the bout in 13 seconds. The second elbow strike landed on Herrera's temple and knocked him unconscious, but the fight was not stopped until Goodridge landed seven more blows, giving Herrera a concussion and a broken cheekbone. According to Goodridge, the hold had been planned by him and his cornermen after they casually witnessed Herrera training intensively his fireman's carry takeovers, although they had originally conceived it to set up a wrist lock, not strikes.