i think at heavyweight the best guy would be wlad...due to his ablitly to move out of range and fairly fast hands with reach..he could do what prime tim sylvia did to mma guys only much better. Of course..he would need to work on take down defense. Vitali was a kick boxer....but i think i might still like wlad more. and wlad likely has done some kick boxing himself as well.
According to a comprehensive police report i read, 90% of all physical altercations end on the ground. If this is the case, Good Night, George.
A street fight is different to MMA sport combat. My point is that Foreman may actually beat Couture in the street, whether it goes to the ground or otherwise. Also, a big punch, kick, push or headbutt in the initial moments of an altercation may account for a lot of the remaining 10%, I don't know.
yea but guys end on the ground on the street often because they cant fight and are drunk..not because they are great wrestlers or bjj guys....they throw a big wild punch...guy falls into the other..they do down sloppy..... in mma plenty of fights stay standing up..but you need to to have good take down defense if your a boxer..cause all the mma guys are going to try to take you down from the start.
That 90% may include people who have been sparked standing up. I'm not even sure 90% of MMA fights end on the floor
I think many posters have no idea how skilled a sport MMA is. Guys like Jones,toney,the klitschkos,even robinson have zero chance at almost any level of MMA. You must have a wrestling background Or an ability to sprawl or evade takedowns. A hard guy like Toney was completely clueless versus an old couture. Any boxer that thinks he can win by sidestepping the takedown then KO the opponent with a swift uppercut or hook is going to find that 95% of the time he will fail badly. The other 5% of the time he may land a clean bomb (like mercer v sylvia.) and win by big KO. But that presumes a big puncher and tremendously fleet feet,a very rare combo. However,in history guys like dempsey and louis (who both wrestled.) could be great in MMA. Duran and ali both had MMA bouts and proved very useful. If its any consolation,no MMA champions would ever win a at the highest levels of boxing either. (with the possible exception of anderson silva.)
Kickboxers have gone into mma with no grappling back ground. Boxers in some ways are better then muay thai guys at take down defense...cause mauy thai fighters fight very straight up and down. Someone like wlad is freakishly strong...Jones was strong and fast...as was robinson. I think Toney had the worst natural base. Could the guys I mentioned become great wrestlers/bjj guys with one year of training..no...could they avoid take downs long enough to land ONE punch...I think so..
The difference between a kickboxer/muay thai guy and a pure boxer is pretty big in MMA terms. Their footwork is more conducive to MMA and they have leg offense and defense. (as well as punching.) By current MMA standards no pure kickboxers or even muay thai guys excel at the top level. All the top guys are pretty well rounded in all aspects now. Hence MIXED martial arts. Jones,robinson,wlad are going to get mashed in MMA even if they train for ten years. Wrong styles and attributes.
Even the premier strikers from the earlier days of mma have been overtaken. It is becoming increasingly obvious that western wrestling is the most effective aspect of the sport, of course with other disciplines added.
Lets also add that the BJJ seems to be crucial along with the 'western style wrestling'. Those that think pure strikers can compete with MMA guys are not following the sports evolution and progression.
