How far do you think that prime Dan Severn could have gone in todays HW?

[Luger]

There are not that many wizards on the ground at HW.
Werdum, Barnett, and a few others. The HWs get used to overpowering guys in training, and they tend to forget technique, just power through it.

Dan was/is a real technician.
I know he fought loads of bums, but he did that as he was older.

A young, hungry Dan.
Knowing the basics in striking would have gone far, in my mind.

A true gentleman and with a great moustache

 

[IMPmmath]

Rickson by armbar

 

[Thunderchild]

Not quite clear what you are asserting. He wouldn't deserve a roster spot in today's UFC in his prime with the skill set he had back then. If you want to argue that if he had the same phsyical attributes but with modern training and skills then I think he could have been ok.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Knowing the basics of striking is key. The man got beat up standing by Tank, so no way he could stand with the likes of JDS, Reem, etc with his old skill set.

But Severn was a beast for sure. Who knows what could have happned had he came up in recent times and with modern training. Top 10 is a good guess.

 

[Karelinator]

He could sure as fuck take Derek Lewis (and the likes) down quickly.

The real question if whether he would be able to keep him there, probably?

 

[13Seconds]

Probably Timothy Johnson level

 

[moreorless87]

I think the OP does make a decent point though that guys who really threaten off of there backs are pretty rare at HW these days. You still have Wersdum but in the past you had him, Nog, Fedor, Mir and you could argue Herring was pretty slippery and very tough to threaten on his back as well. It was those guys who really ended the era of HW wrestler dominance putting away Coleman, Kerr, Randleman and Erikson.

There is a pretty good level of takedown defence at HW, probably good enough to stop someone at Severns level getting near the top but it is generally an easier climate for big wrestlers.

 

[felmmando]

Did we ever get to see prime Severn?

 

[nanika]

terribly

 

[Luger]

Did we ever get to see prime Severn?

That is the thing. He was old as the sport was young. Had he known what we do today, I am sure he would have been troublesome to many top fighters

 

[flyingscissorsheelhook]

He could easily crack the top 50.

 

[Luger]

terribly

I don't even see old Dan doing terribly in the HW division today

 

[mikehunt]

Did we ever get to see prime Severn?

 

[The Bard]

Rosholt has beaten plenty of good fighters, and I'm not sure he's any better.

He's definitely not better than a hypothetical Dan Severn in "today's MMA" who trained MMA from his 20's on.

 

[RicardinhoPT]

The level back then was terrible, he wouldn't be a ranked fighter...

 

[lostdog000]

would lose to low level ufc hws today

 

[Luger]

The level back then was terrible, he wouldn't be a ranked fighter...

The ranked fighters today - in the HW- are not too great on the ground, apart from a few

 

[TheChance]

moustache alone gets him to a title shot

 

[RicardinhoPT]

The ranked fighters today - in the HW- are not too great on the ground, apart from a few

True. But to be honest, I think most light heavyweights could beat Dan Severn, Pete Williams or Ken Shamrock from back in the day...

 

[RoyJonesJr]

Well, let's say he was a young up n coming fighter today. Then he would train with a modern camp and his striking would be much better. How good would he be then? Maybe top 15... Impossible to really tell, but he'd be good for sure.


But if you take a prime Dan and put him in the UFC today, he'd have trouble cracking top 25.