Will we ever see an elite (World Champion) Karate competitor fight in the UFC?

Machida , Wonderboy and GSP come to mind but neither of them were world karate champions (correct me if i'm wrong)

I guess it's possible that someone will be in the future but as of right now wrestling , BJJ and boxing/kickboxing still rule the land
 
Tabarnakos said:
Machida , Wonderboy and GSP come to mind but neither of them were world karate champions (correct me if i'm wrong)

I guess it's possible that someone will be in the future but as of right now wrestling , BJJ and boxing/kickboxing still rule the land
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I would be interested to see Aghaev or somebody of that level try UFC.
 
Karate sucks. The most realistic and devastating style that exists, kyokushin, wears fucking football helmets and doesn't even allow punches to the head. It devolved into bullshit over the 20th century just like Judo did when it became an Olympic sport. It's a joke.

Machida is great because his dad taught him real Karate from the 1800s. Machida was probably the last line in the world of that kind of Karate, and now it's extinct just like ancient Greek Pankration and legit Chinese traditional Kung Fu.

1800s Judo survived in the form of BJJ. 1800s Karate is just about actually dead.

You were damned lucky that one of the last surviving lines of real 1800s Karate was good enough to be a fucking UFC champion. So no, you won't ever see a real elite karate competitor in the UFC ever again.
 
To be World Class you really need to dedicate your body to the sport and a lot of what make you a champion won't be useful in MMA. So i'd say it's pretty hard.
 
superpunch said:
Karate sucks. The most realistic and devastating style that exists, kyokushin, wears fucking football helmets and doesn't even allow punches to the head. It devolved into bullshit over the 20th century just like Judo did when it became an Olympic sport. It's a joke.

Machida is great because his dad taught him real Karate from the 1800s. Machida was probably the last line in the world of that kind of Karate, and now it's extinct just like ancient Greek Pankration and legit Chinese traditional Kung Fu.

1800s Judo survived in the form of BJJ. 1800s Karate is just about actually dead.

You were damned lucky that one of the last surviving lines of real 1800s Karate was good enough to be a fucking UFC champion. So no, you won't ever see a real elite karate competitor in the UFC ever again.
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Kyokushin does not wear helmets
 
Usually fighters who are elite at a combat sport, are elite (in part) because they solely focus on that endeavor. Wrestling and BJJ are the obvious exceptions.
 
Judochopatemi said:
Kyokushin does not wear helmets
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The most realist and violent form of karate. It still doesn't even allow punches to the head. That makes it bullshit. That makes all surviving forms of karate bullshit. Unless the Machida's gym is pushing through some good fighters for the next generation.
 
gspieler said:
Usually fighters who are elite at a combat sport, are elite (in part) because they solely focus on that endeavor. Wrestling and BJJ are the obvious exceptions, mostly because there's no money in the sports.
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We've seen WC Kickboxers make the transition. And point fighting actually suits UFC type in and out shoot fighting, since people don't want to commit and get taken down.
 
Some good information in this thread and I’m not even huge on Karate.

people make fun of it but hey... it was a strong style of combat long before we were alive right? Fighting evolved but doesn’t mean it’s useless just obsolete now somewhat.
 
We need Dolph Lundgren to take the HW division by storm.

He can be Sweden's belt winner.
.
.
.
.
Or Russia's...
"If he dies, he dies"
 
Not UFC, but Satake for instance.
Yakov Zobnin
Toon Stelling
Guy Mezger (UFC)
Taiei Kin

Others who competed at the highest level:
Hans Roovers
Ronny Rivano
Veselin Bozhinov
Kochkin
Tariel Bitsadze
Vladimir Klementiev
Adam Watt
Willie Williams
 
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