These guys are often looked upon as setups for Royce to wipe out the field. They were not a well-rounded lot (few were back then), but not bad either. Considering the tournament's budget, they did well in their selections--just because WE know today that "pure" stylists didn't do well does not mean that they did. They simply did not know WHAT sort of fighters would emerge victorious. * Shamrock was the champion of the same organization that produced Bas Rutten. * Dan Severn was a well-regarded amateur wrestler before he turned professional. Tough guy as well. * Minoki Ichihara was the best heavyweight Daido Juku (Judo + Kyokushin) guy around. * Orlando Wiet was a pretty good Muay Thai European kickboxer. Also had a boxing record, for what it was worth (8-8, most losses coming later in his career). * Pat Smith won the Sabaki Challenge. * Teila Tuli wasn't great, but he was the first foreigner to win a tournament in the makushita division. * Art Jimmerson's record of 29-5 was decent, although I do not believe he was in the top 10 at the time as claimed. * Gordeau was past his prime, but had a very good record in Kyokushin. I believe he was European champion at one time. * Jason DeLucia went on to be ranked highly in Pancrase. I believe he fought for the title on at least one occasion. * Emmanuel Yarbrough was the amateur world Sumo champion (recognized by the organization that participates in the World Games). * Pardoel was supposed to be highly regarded in European Jujutsu, but I cannot ascertain the truth of this one. Ironically, many of the "best" fighters did not do well. For a "setup", the UFC was pretty poor--the quality DECLINED as the tournament matured. One would expect the opposite if the Gracies wanted to give their fighter an easy victory at the beginning.
