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

[mjfan23]

I agree if a guy like Terkay had been in UFC 1, it probably would not have been Royce, but Rickson. And Rickson probably would have won. It would have been fun to see though.

But since the Gracies had ownership in the UFC at that point, it's really not an accident that there were no people like Terkay in UFC 1.

Yup it was all a marketing ploy

 

[Taric]

Marco Ruas would've won UFC 1 if he was invited and the luta livre craze would've taken over instead.

 

[davidlemonparty]

Probably not. Royce managed to submit Dan Severn in UFC 4. Knowledge of the effectiveness of BJJ had been out for a year at that point. Dan was a big dude and an extremely accomplished Freestyle and Greco Roman wrestler. He was a 2 time D-1 All American and just missed making the Olympic team in 1984. The guy who narrowly and controversially beat him in the trials (Lou Banach) won the Gold in the 1984 Olympics.

If anyone from the 1993 batch could have pulled it off though, it would have been Sylvester Terkay- The champion.

I actually got to see this guy wrestle on a number of occasions. He wrestled at NC State some of the time I wrestled at Clemson. Since both are ACC schools we not only had duals with them every year but we saw them in the ACC tournament. He won the ACC tournament every year, even as a freshman.

On top of that- he was enormous. He was 6'6 and had to cut to make the 275 limit in college. Probably would have rolled into UFC 1 around 3 bills. And he was legit. Truly elite. He did not just win in 1993, he ran the table going 41-0. And he was ridiculously dominant. In the 5 matches he wrestled at the NCAA tournament that year, he conceded a TOTAL of 5 points. He won 2 matches by pin, and and pitched 2 other shutouts, scoring 25 points in those 2 matches. He was not just the champ. He was in a class by himself.

By the way, he almost won in 1992 as well. He lost 2-1 in the finals to a guy by the name of Kurt Angle. Until that match, he had pinned every opponent in the tournament.

Interestingly, in the early 2000's Sylvester fought 4 times in K-1, and he also has a decade long pro wrestling career all over the world.

https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Sylvester-Terkay-9396

Cool post thanks for the info man.
He looks like a Mega sized version of Elias Theodorou

 

[the big marmot]

Wrestler without jj= Kevin randleman, you just get subbed by everybody

 

[Lax617]

Kerry McCoy was a freshman that year. He was an incredible wrestler.

 

[Human Bass]

Submission wrestling was a thing well before anybody knew what BJJ was. That said, most ammy wrestlers probably had zero sub defense. But a physicsally gifted, highly-skilled wrestler probably could've gnp'ed Royce into a tko stoppage.

No. Ground and pound is not just about athleticism, it requires technique and training, it relies on very specific mechanics. Dan Severn was a athletic wrestler, but didnt know shit about gnp and got triangled.

 

[mikesparrow]

http://nwhof.org/NCAA-Brackets/PDF/NCAA 1993.pdf

I see Kevin Randleman won the 177 weight class (roughly what Royce weighed).

I also see Rulon got third.

Are you serious? Dan Severn was a world champion HW wrestler. He fought and lost to Royce who was like 50 pounds lighter.. So, here is your answer..

 

[skylolow]

Chances are yes with just a some light JJ training leading up to it.

Look at Dan Severn's success in the cage shortly after that and all the heavy wrestlers that followed. Even though he lost to Royce, Severn wasn't training much in JJ side of at all at that point in his life.

 

[oscerthegrouch]

what is amusing is that all wrestlers are taught to fight smaller people thats why they are best are cutting weight... Usman on Joe show even said i walk around 205 210 then fight jones manlet... fight your class its not skill to man handle people smaller then U lol specially when all your doing holding them down.....

 

[Fluffernutter]

Are you serious? Dan Severn was a world champion HW wrestler. He fought and lost to Royce who was like 50 pounds lighter.. So, here is your answer..

By that logic, Royce lost to Hughes who was a wrestler that was his size and was not a world champion.

 

[Hotora86]

A top Sambo or Kosen Judo guy could as well.
Shame they never invited any.

 

[560ti]

By that logic, Royce lost to Hughes who was a wrestler that was his size and was not a world champion.

The same hughes that had over 40 professional mma fights at the time ? (how does that apply to a thread about wrestlers going straight from wrestling to a 1993 MMA tournament ?)

 

[Dbreiden83080]

In 1993 literally nobody knew what a submission was.. So no..

 

[mikesparrow]

By that logic, Royce lost to Hughes who was a wrestler that was his size and was not a world champion.

True, but Hughes was a much more of a complete MMA fighter than Severn.

 

[MileHigher]

I’m pretty sure every single one them that wasn’t tiny would have had a good shot at taking it.

 

[gono btw]

In 1993 literally nobody knew what a submission was..

Spoiler

 

[gono btw]

Marco Ruas would've won UFC 1 if he was invited and the luta livre craze would've taken over instead.

Huas invited means Horion swallowin´his pride & draftin´Hickson.

Then who knows...