Hafthor Bjornsson - ‘I could’ve crushed McGregor in sparring session’

[Otto!]

WMMA level striking.

 

[ortizgnp]

No, but that’s where they post the Vince McMahon face all day long, isn’t it?

I don't know, I haven't been there.

 

[Loiosh]

Have you ever seen a really big guy with even an ounce of athletic ability grapple with a really small guy with legit skills?.....this plays out more often then i would have thought at my gym....the small guy though much more active, or trying to be, usually tires himself out trying to escape the giant. The big guy also refrains from gorilla smashing cause if he wanted to, he could.

Im 5'10 with ok all around skills but i would never ever want to face off against a 6'8 strongman type, even if they had never fought in their lives. Fck that. If you guys have never felt raw strength....then dont even respond.

I've grappled with untrained, incredibly big, strong guys.

It's a bad day.

 

[Godzilla3232]

Serious question, not trying to get personal here. Have you ever fought or competed in striking or grappling competitions?

Nope

 

[WARinsertname]

I've grappled with untrained, incredibly big, strong guys.

It's a bad day.

This...Not only do they seek to brutalize and hulk through you...Their lack of flow on the ground leaves you wasted.

It's why it's more enjoyable to grapple with experienced people.

 

[Universal Kombat]

This...Not only do they seek to brutalize and hulk through you...Their lack of flow on the ground leaves you wasted.

It's why it's more enjoyable to grapple with experienced people.

Experienced people will take it easy on you though. My Judo coach is a multiple National Champ, fairly young guy, pretty big guy as well. He uses technique to throw us around like ragdolls, and same thing for the ground grappling aspect of Judo, he will use technique to control us which makes it much more enjoyable to grapple against, than a big guy who doesn't know technique and only relies on strength, but my coach could easily, just by being an actual national competitive athlete, use his physical prowess to manhandle us like a big guy would, he just doesn't have to. My point, rolling around with a big guy doesn't have to suck, provided the big guy isn't a white belt dick.

 

[D 1 Wrestler]

I just seriously can't believe there are people who truly believe a LW MMA fighter who struggled with Mendez strength beats a 6'9 400 pound man who can deadlift near 1000 pounds. There is no doubt that technique/skill over come size/strength. But the delusion about how much it can overcome is on par with the belief that Bruce Lee could have beaten any man on the planet in a fight. Conor seriously can't even hurt the Mountain, the guy is too big and too strong. It would take HW/LHW MMA fighter or Manhoef to bring down the mountain.

no it wouldnt, you dont understand how weight impacts the joint. after gassing from chasing conor, conor would destroy his knees with push kicks to the knee joint, hyperextending the knee with 400lbs pushing down on it would reck him, to the point he would not be able to walk

 

[D 1 Wrestler]

People get too carried away with the idea training negates a size difference. It DOES, but only to a normal level. Training may get you through a fight with a guy say 30/40% bigger and stronger than you. It doesn't however negate a size difference of over a foot in height and 200lbs of weight. In the UFC, I think only the biggest MWs and up would have a chance against Hafthor in a standard MMA fight- most LHWs and virtually all HWs would murder him. I think anyone that has poor striking and focuses primarily on grappling would have a miserable time, because he's simply far stronger than a normal human being. I think anyone at WW or below would get soundly beaten, regardless of discipline.

I saw some people mentioning Pudz- firstly, he's nowhere near the size of Hafthor though he is every bit as strong- but size matters more than strength, here. If you can't reach their chin without jumping it's going to be a tough fight. And secondly, he was fighting other HWs- not LWs. He would most likely break any LW in half too.

This is the real world, not the movies. McGregor is a great fighter but he never beats that kind of size difference.

not true, how do you know how hafthor reacts to getting punched or kicked in the face? How does a 400lb frame handle a front kick to the knee joint? just because you are big doesn't mean you can take a punch, also being big doesn't increase your chin. it takes the same amount of pressure to knock someone out.

prince naseem summarizes it well

 

[Takamine86]

no it wouldnt, you dont understand how weight impacts the joint. after gassing from chasing conor, conor would destroy his knees with push kicks to the knee joint, hyperextending the knee with 400lbs pushing down on it would reck him, to the point he would not be able to walk

I do understand some of you live in a fantasy world. The Mountain is 6'9 400 pounds solid with abs. He isn't an ectomorph either, his joints are fine, especially considering the guy deadlifts of 1000 pounds and squats nearly 1400 pounds. How much force does Conor's little push kicks have behind them? The answer is, not enough to hurt a guy that big and strong. The mountain could lift conor entire body with knee raise with no effort. Seriously, how is a push kick from Conor going to hurt the Mountain. There isn't enough force or weight behind it. Stop trolling D1, you're better than this.

 

[MacGregor]

In a street fight I'd take DC over Mountain in any scenario but if Mountain got a hold of Conor it's not ending well for Conor.

 

[WARinsertname]

Experienced people will take it easy on you though. My Judo coach is a multiple National Champ, fairly young guy, pretty big guy as well. He uses technique to throw us around like ragdolls, and same thing for the ground grappling aspect of Judo, he will use technique to control us which makes it much more enjoyable to grapple against, than a big guy who doesn't know technique and only relies on strength, but my coach could easily, just by being an actual national competitive athlete, use his physical prowess to manhandle us like a big guy would, he just doesn't have to. My point, rolling around with a big guy doesn't have to suck, provided the big guy isn't a white belt dick.

Experienced grapplers also want to flow technically...Be it big or small. It allows you to learn better and learn to flow yourself.

I meant rolling with a big strong inexperienced guy in my original post.

 

[DysDave]

not true, how do you know how hafthor reacts to getting punched or kicked in the face? How does a 400lb frame handle a front kick to the knee joint? just because you are big doesn't mean you can take a punch, also being big doesn't increase your chin. it takes the same amount of pressure to knock someone out.

prince naseem summarizes it well

I disagree about the chin part. It absolutely doesn't take the same amount of pressure, your neck muscles play a huge part. If your neck is weak, a weak blow will still snap your head about and knock you out. A guy like Hafthor is going to take a fairly heavy shot to put him away, even with no combat training- sure, LHW+ would have that power, but a 170lb guy- even one that hits like Conor- won't. Not to mention the absurd height difference- if Thor stood up straight, all the power in Conor's punches would have dissipated by the time it reached his chin. He could definitely work some body shots to good effect, but the guy is a brick shithouse. He hardly needs to exert himself much to toss Conor around like a ragdoll.

Again I respect martial arts as a great way to equalise size and strength, but there are limits.

 

[ImNotSurpisedDonks!]

That guy outuweighs the HWs by 200 pounds.

This is we need a Super HW division and to scrap the manlets or roll them into one division. I guarantee you that Mountain fighting any other 400 lb man outsells Mighty Mouses whole career.

 

[ticho123]

Experienced people will take it easy on you though. My Judo coach is a multiple National Champ, fairly young guy, pretty big guy as well. He uses technique to throw us around like ragdolls, and same thing for the ground grappling aspect of Judo, he will use technique to control us which makes it much more enjoyable to grapple against, than a big guy who doesn't know technique and only relies on strength, but my coach could easily, just by being an actual national competitive athlete, use his physical prowess to manhandle us like a big guy would, he just doesn't have to. My point, rolling around with a big guy doesn't have to suck, provided the big guy isn't a white belt dick.

I'd like to add to this that while not necessarily enjoyable, I think it's important to experience and be able to handle brute strength as well. In a competition the guy you're facing won't be going easy and might try to simply overpower you in certain situations if he feels he can get away with it.

I don't recall if it was Bruce Lee or perhaps some Gracie who said that there's a flow to the fighting of a completely untrained person in that they're not trying to recall techniques so their mind and body is one in the same way a high-skilled fighter has a flow to his fighting. I don't think very highly of martial arts systems which only work against people using the same fighting philosophy. That's why I love MMA.

 

[Rav7n]

Prime Shatner wins at least 2 belts in the UFC.

If he went full TJ hooker mode, he's a triple weight crown holder, all at the same time.
straw weight, welter and heavy weight all in a 6 month time slot...

 

[Universal Kombat]

I'd like to add to this that while not necessarily enjoyable, I think it's important to experience and be able to handle brute strength as well. In a competition the guy you're facing won't be going easy and might try to simply overpower you in certain situations if he feels he can get away with it.

I don't recall if it was Bruce Lee or perhaps some Gracie who said that there's a flow to the fighting of a completely untrained person in that they're not trying to recall techniques so their mind and body is one in the same way a high-skilled fighter has a flow to his fighting. I don't think very highly of martial arts systems which only work against people using the same fighting philosophy. That's why I love MMA.

Indeed, yeah inexperienced people are dangerous in their own way, they'll do things you never expect. Hell, even as an MMA fighter, fighting untrained people can catch you off guard. Had a new guy who had only been grappling for a few months go for a Guillotine from the weirdest, unlikeliest position. Needless to say I tapped.