So I've met don the dragon Wilson (He trains at a gym I used to train at) and he loves telling stories from his fighting days. He told me that he had an agreement with the UFC to fight Royce Gracie in an MMA match. That fell apart during negotiations. Don is one of the best kickboxers of all time and likely the greatest American Kickboxer ever. Don won titles in all 3 rulesets of kickboxing during the 70s-90s eras. and won 11 world titles. Don was also a high-level collegiate wrestler. If the fight came together in MMA who would you pick? Don recently appeared on a podcast and he tells a bunch of amazing stories about his fighting days and the negotiations with the UFC. Including stories of him sparring Mugabi, James Toney and Henry Tillman. (He alleges that he KOd Mugabi in sparring btw) (I recommend giving it a listen) This content is protected This content is protected
I have Don by KO if Royce isn't able to get him on the ground immediately he's screwed Royce's striking was really subpar and I don't see him lasting 2-3 minutes on the feet with Don. Taking don down won't be like it was with Jimmerson who had zero wrestling background. Don also fought Jimmerson in a Kickboxing match that went 6 rounds btw and he kod Jimmerson This content is protected
How was that? Hes helped me with my jab and head movement and coached me a few times while sparring other guys at the gym he's a stand-up dude gave me a lot of advice
Truth lol I've seen him at 60 beat down 20 year old amatuers in sparring guys still in tremendous shape
Basically the kickboxer either needs some sort of experience in takedown defence or he needs to smoke the grappler fast. Usually (but not always) what happened in early MMA where fighters were not cross training was that the grapplers would get close enough to clinch or grab a limb and take the strikers down. Once on the ground it becomes dire for the striker and it reminds me of those nature videos where anacondas slowly wrap around and eat terrified antelope. On the other hand if the striker has some form of TDD and understands what the grappler is trying to do, he might well be able to pile up the damage fast while avoiding getting floored. I remember seeing fights where the obviously superior grappler was not able to translate a takedown into meaningful offence because the striker had already beaten his face to a pulp and I guess the submission artist was not thinking straight anymore. I'd personally favour Gracie based on how these early MMA fights went but if Don has any wrestling background at all Gracie could be in deep ****.
Nice analysis! if you watch the podcast you'll see and Don has told me this too if he were to have fought Gracie he was planning on learning some BJJ (he says he already knows a few submissions too he did a little Japanese Jiu Jitsu as a teenager) and practice some wrestling again because he was a high-level Collegiate wrestler. With that in mind do you still have Gracie?
Maybe not. If he's got a submission background it's often enough to keep the better grappler at bay until the damage piles up.
Nice throw back thread. Don the Dragon was a bone fide world class striker. He considered entering the early UFC's back when their were no weight classes and 3 fights a night. BY that time I think Don was long retired and in his later 30s and with a succesfull hollywood action movie star career The warrior in him considered it seriously but I think the problem was this early Rorian Gracie and Art Davie vehicle was a loudmouth disrespectful enterprise that called out such legends no matter their prior achievements. They even called out Gene Le Bell and Tyson. The black dragon Ron Van Clief a 1970s kung fu stylist did enter.To be fair they had a point their BJJ could beat world class practitioners in other styles they said. On the other hand they gaslighted the audience by entering sub par "bodies" eg jason delucia a barely credible mcdojo guy already training with the gracies...... elementary in kung fu and passing him off as a master in that discipline. At the time during the UFCS 1-5 and the world combat championships and inaugral Extreme Fighting Championships the Gracies were passed off as unbeatable and there was a lot of bullshido claims such as Rickson was 400-0. But there was a real point the gracies were making and were correct in.... Why were stand up stylists and martial artists not trained on the ground? The reality is a guy like Bruce lee was 30 years ahead of his time..he was cross training And I think if Don WIlson had time on his hands and he devoted 2 years to grappling and in particular anti take down defence he knocks out gracie. We subsequently saw a lot of stand up guys like bas rutten learnt basic anti takedown and won MMA bouts with more or less stand up. Don at that time would do the same
