Champion of UFC 1 if it was today...

cormier would do well as would cain bc of his insane pace, also werdum
 
The same as whoever is the current champ.
 
I'd have to go with Anderson Silva. Watching him fight I've always just thought a lot of the current rules really hinder Silva from going total savage and do some serious damage and injury to others, like he's holding himself back.
 
3 fights in 1 night would kill Reem......


..... even if he fought the likes of Fred Ettish
 
I'd have to go with Anderson Silva. Watching him fight I've always just thought a lot of the current rules really hinder Silva from going total savage and do some serious damage and injury to others, like he's holding himself back.

I just can't imagine how he wins against big hw with wrestling like dc or cain. better chances against reem, jds or werdum.

I would love to see him go super violent with soccer kicks and footstomps though
 
this is why i dont talk to white belts

26h5.jpg
 
I don't know why people think Cain would. His cardio is decent for a HW, but he was just as tired as JDS in round 4-5. Do you really think he could fight well in multiple fights a night? The reason Royce gracie did so well was because of his legendary stamina. He fought Sakuraba for 90 minutes before his brother forced him to quit in pride. In a 3 fight tournament, the guys who weigh 240 would be gassed and would lose in the later fights. LHW like Bones/ Anderson, or even a Middleweight GSP would do much better in the long run. Bones and Anderson would be allowed to throw upkicks from their back and both have good ground game so they'd be able to shut down others who might try to wrestle/grapple with them. A bulkier GSP would have more strength and without needing to cut weight, he would have even better stamina for long fights on the ground. Werdum was a good choice by TS though, his BJJ would be excellent in this style tournament as long a he pulls guard fast without taking too many hits on his feet.
 
I just can't imagine how he wins against big hw with wrestling like dc or cain. better chances against reem, jds or werdum.

I would love to see him go super violent with soccer kicks and footstomps though

It's a lot harder to shoot for a double leg when you are allowed to knee downed opponents to the head. Anderson's kicks/knees are vicious and accurate, which would cause a wrestler to hesitate. They'd try to clinch him and wear him down, and you see what happens when people try to do that. Muay Thai plum + knees to the chest/face = knockout by Silva.
 
I don't know why people think Cain would. His cardio is decent for a HW, but he was just as tired as JDS in round 4-5. Do you really think he could fight well in multiple fights a night? The reason Royce gracie did so well was because of his legendary stamina. He fought Sakuraba for 90 minutes before his brother forced him to quit in pride. In a 3 fight tournament, the guys who weigh 240 would be gassed and would lose in the later fights.

That's a good point! But consider that if JDS/Cain 2 had no break after every 5 min it wouldn't have last 25 min, at least in my opinion.
 
That old format was BRUTAL.

Also, there was the whole no-time-limit thing. And for UFC 1, that was totally no-holds-barred, right? Groin shots, headbutts, fish-hooking, small joint manipulation...

With today's UFC roster and their current level of skills, the most likely to win a tournament are wrestlers that can get a good clinch and td, as they'd be least likely to take a ton of damage. I'd take Bones and Rashad, if they can make it past the first match against a fresh fighter that may be a heavyweight. The only striker I'd say could win it all is Silva, because he takes very little damage and seems capable of KOing people with the slightest impact, and he can fall back on his jits. Maybe Dan Henderson because of his freakish KO ability (really, the guy is a middleweight and is capable of knocking out heavyweights).

All the heavyweights would look great for their first match and then have nothing for the rest of the tournament, unless they completely steamroll the first match. Even Cain is going to gas, especially with the old no-time-limit rules.

I wouldn't think GSP has much of a shot, as there's no such thing as a decision and he HAS to get a stop in the old rules. He's become too defensive/control-oriented to do well in that old format and would use up too much energy in a long, grinding fight.

On the one hand, it's an interesting thought experiment. And on the other... you could get total snoozefests with 30 minutes of guys afraid to engage each other (Severn v Shamrock 2).
 
I think Reem would take it by TKO'ing the entire field
 
Head butts were legal, Bigfoot would kill people.

Really though a guy like Cain would muscle smaller guys down and just knee and headbutt the hell out of them.
 
Reem with knees to downed opponent, knees to the head in north/south etc sounds pretty deadly.

Tito or Bigfoot with headbutts.
 
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