Athletes from other sports that could become UFC champions with some training

[AndrewGolota48]

Jon Jones is a good example of a lower end A level athlete competing in UFC. His brother was a relative nobody in NFL and can still allegedly kick Jon's ass.

Tons of wrestlers were better at Jones' own sport, wrestling, yet he's better than all of them at MMA, so theory annihilated.

 

[Buckeye8705]

Probably anybody from the NHL. They beat each other up, sit in time out then go back to finish their game.

I saw Lebron's name come up lol bruh nobody from the NBA...they take a hard charge and end up missing the next 12 games. Lebron would probably flop when they started rubbing vaseline on his face.




And it still cracks me up that people hold Lesnar as one of the greatest camps smh. He was a juice head who knocked out a 47yr old couture and tko'd Mir to with the title. Sorry but that path was soft as shit

 

[KillerIsBack V2]

Joe Joyce Olympic silver at Rio in the Super Heavyweight boxing.
He did a capoeira celebration when he won some of his fights so he's pretty agile for a 6 foot 6 240 lb fighter.

He's just gone pro with David Hayes promotion company though.

Damn, the guy who beat him to get the gold is an even more decorated amateur, much younger, and just won his pro debut.

 

[wilKO]

Brock has an amazing wrestling background, something like 106 wins with 5 losses.

Brock has way more than 5 losses in wrestling. He lost to Samoa Joe recently

 

[g*r*b]

Notice how people are mostly just listing Heavyweights? This is why without Cain or the freak Ngannou, that division is boring as fuck to me. Has the sloppiest fighters that rely on strength mostly over skill.

Yeah that sloppy Stipe, amazing how he lucks into 1st round killshots 4 times in a row...

 

[machidafan99]

6'2" 170 pounds
Flying knee

Ground game

I believe Novak Djokovic would be great at BJJ.

 

[cshireman4]

Back in the day I thought Alfonso Soriano would have been WW goat.

40-40 club, Soriano bless.

 

[rantajuoppo]

Tons of wrestlers were better at Jones' own sport, wrestling, yet he's better than all of them at MMA, so theory annihilated.

No. Logically those wrestlers that were better than Jones would probably be even better at MMA than Jones, if they put their mind on it.

MMA is a D level sport.

 

[eiyuu]

No. Logically those wrestlers that were better than Jones would probably be even better at MMA than Jones, if they put their mind on it.

MMA is a D level sport.

Aaron Pico is definitely a better wrestler than Zach Freeman and Pico trained for a considerable amount of time before his MMA debut.

How'd that work out?

 

[lalaland]

Lesnar went from WWE to UFC champion pretty much instantaneously and he's not nearly as A level as these guys.

Lesnar was much heavier and stronger than Reuben and Lebron. Plus he could actually wrestle.

Listing non-combat sports athletes is pointless. You have no idea if they have much talent for fighting.

 

[lalaland]

Kobe Bryant. Dude can take a shot..

A-level athletes looking awkward and uncoordinated in a fight.

 

[lalaland]

No. Logically those wrestlers that were better than Jones would probably be even better at MMA than Jones, if they put their mind on it.

MMA is a D level sport.

Like DC?

 

[empsim]

I think joshua could do it with a year of serious mma training. HW division is really weak.

for lebron james it wouldnt even take a pro mma fighter for him to get KTFO, an amateur would do just fine

dont know the other guys you named

 

[MyEnglishIsPeperoni]

100% Anthony Joshua or Buka ... but why should they? even the young don yen could ... he has the skills, but why should they? wtf ... list goes on.



/edit its like asking " how many from the ufc could join a pro football league" wtf?

 

[MyEnglishIsPeperoni]

All these thread are complete fantasy and should be wastelanded instantly. What's the difference between make believe shit like this and the proverbial Rickson thread?

Sherdog could be a much better place if mods took the forum rules just a little more seriously (or if they were allowed to do so).

sherdog is like youtube ... quantity > quality

 

[Drain Bamage]

Baseball players


Ty Cobb
Pete Rose
Roger Clemens

These dudes are tough as nails

 

[IcemanFan75]

It's not that simple. What happens when they get punched in the face? What happens when they eat a few leg kicks? There is more to being a fighter than pure athleticism. Some would do well others would not.

 

[Hard To Tell]

Travis Browne and Brendan Schaub are mediocre athletes who failed to cut it in their preferred sports, who had no combat sport experience prior to taking up MMA in their mid twenties, yet within a couple of years were contenders in the UFC. Alexander Gustafsson went from amateur boxing to MMA and within just a few months was a pro MMA fighter with a winning record which got him a UFC contract. There are loads of examples like this.

So the idea that someone like Anthony Joshua, who is a natural fighter, an elite level athlete and already an Olympic gold medalist and world champion in a key area of MMA, would not do well or would take a long time to adapt, is pretty laughable tbh. I would give him a realistic chance of sparking Stipe Miocic right now.

 

[Drain Bamage]

It seems like the most athletic dudes have worse chins

Maybe because they are always off balance with all that movement

 

[mmaElite53]

If Tom Brady trained MMA for a couple years and had Bill Belichick in his corner game planning his strategies they could probably do some damage.