Could any of the 1993 NCAA wrestling All Americans win UFC 1

Only the really big ones, and that's still a maybe

They had no submission defense, so Royce would probably choke them out. I don't even think they'd beat Shamrock, he was a legit leglocker even back then.
 
They would all win with slams if they fought on the concrete streets. But they'd have been submitted by Royce and Ken on those soft mats.
 
The problem wasn't ability or wrestling, striking, etc. It was that people didn't train cross sports. Royce didn't win 3 out of the first 4 UFC's because he was better than the yoked monsters he faced. It was because they didn't know how to stop his submissions. Royce would get beaten up all fight and win by getting the finish when he saw an opening.

If they had basic BJJ training, sure they could have won. Otherwise, history speaks for itself.
 
Only if they had the rolls taught today by Master Artem, to gracefully secure fight-ending kneebars.

eJaB7va.gif
 
No, you need some form of submission defence. Wrestling doesn't prepare you very well for submissions. You need more than wrestling to win fights.
 
No. Before UFC 1 wrestlers didn't know about submission defence.
 
The problem wasn't ability or wrestling, striking, etc. It was that people didn't train cross sports. Royce didn't win 3 out of the first 4 UFC's because he was better than the yoked monsters he faced. It was because they didn't know how to stop his submissions. Royce would get beaten up all fight and win by getting the finish when he saw an opening.

If they had basic BJJ training, sure they could have won. Otherwise, history speaks for itself.
This guy gets it
 
Look at Sarah Mcmann getting triangled. Pure wrestling doesn't teach how to pass guard and deal with subs, but gives a very good base to learn those things.
 
Frank shamrock arm barred Kevin Jackson in a few seconds
 
No sub defence, so very unlikely.
 
not without any preparation on submission defense.

Edit: I took "could any win" to mean if you picked any of them they would win. Of course it would be possible some would win but having no idea about submissions would be a serious weakness.
 
Last edited:
I think so. There were a lot of hand picked cucks in the first few UFCs.
 
The problem wasn't ability or wrestling, striking, etc. It was that people didn't train cross sports. Royce didn't win 3 out of the first 4 UFC's because he was better than the yoked monsters he faced. It was because they didn't know how to stop his submissions. Royce would get beaten up all fight and win by getting the finish when he saw an opening.

If they had basic BJJ training, sure they could have won. Otherwise, history speaks for itself.
I don't think they needed even basic BJJ training. Probably only need to watch some videos and get demos from a judoka on basic positions and submissions they'd be exposed to and they'd be good to go. Royce had to be carried out half dead after fighting Kimo and he had to grab his hair.
 
Who said they had to go to the ground with Royce? He'd never be able to take them down.

Haymakers from a 230lb monster will put him to sleep
 
Back
Top