How does Rico stack up against prime Hoost/Aerts/Schilts/Hari?

[JustOnce]

Rico has been the king of HW for a while. I wonder how Sherbros think Rico stack up against prime Hoost/Aerts/Schilts/Hari?

Hari did lose twice against Rico, but it felt like a fluke injury twice. Hari won the first round of the first fight before the elbow injury in the second, and Hari dropped Rico TWICE in the second fight before the ankle injury in the third.

Rico's kinda wierd in that he's not much of a finisher, for being such a big dude. I'd think Hari is better than Rico prime for prime, from what we've seen, and I don't think Rico would be able to win on points against prime Hoost/Aerts/Schilts, but what do Sherbros think?

 

[Robbocop]

If we are talking that both fighters are in their absolute prime I would say -

Schilt > Rico
Rico > Hari
Hoost or Aerts vs Rico are 50/50 fights in my mind

Prime Hari is good, but he never won a GP, and he squandered the GP that he had a chance of winning. Schilt was absolutely unstoppable in his prime, which is not to say Rico couldn't beat him, but I reckon Schilt would be a significant favourite. Aerts and Hoost, both legends, I would love to see that fight! I could see Aerts pulling off an upset with his epic grit and heart.

 

[JustOnce]

If we are talking that both fighters are in their absolute prime I would say -

Schilt > Rico
Rico > Hari
Hoost or Aerts vs Rico are 50/50 fights in my mind

Prime Hari is good, but he never won a GP, and he squandered the GP that he had a chance of winning. Schilt was absolutely unstoppable in his prime, which is not to say Rico couldn't beat him, but I reckon Schilt would be a significant favourite. Aerts and Hoost, both legends, I would love to see that fight! I could see Aerts pulling off an upset with his epic grit and heart.

I mean Hari was winning both fights before two freak injuries, but you think Rico > Hari?

I don't like Hari at all, but it feels like it's hard to say Rico> Hari since Hari knocked him down twice in the second fight, and won the first round as well in the first fight before the freak injury in the second.

Prime Aerts/Hoost was a beast, but I do feel like that Schilts was the most unstoppable one in his prime.

 

[Robbocop]

I mean Hari was winning both fights before two freak injuries, but you think Rico > Hari?

I don't like Hari at all, but it feels like it's hard to say Rico> Hari since Hari knocked him down twice in the second fight, and won the first round as well in the first fight before the freak injury in the second.

Prime Aerts/Hoost was a beast, but I do feel like that Schilts was the most unstoppable one in his prime.

There is no doubt that Hari is an amazing fighter, and in his prime he could beat anyone in the world, my gut feeling is just that Verhoeven is a more rounded, and slightly more physical fighter. I agree Hari knocked Verhoeven down badly a couple of times. That's the danger of Hari, if he lands on you you are in some serious trouble. But then I think of Verhoeven's most recent fight vs Big Ben Saddik, where he also got knocked down several times, rallied, and then won the fight. By Contrast, in Hari's most recent fight vs Wrzosek, he knocked Wrzosek down several times (badly), and then got brutally knocked out with a perfectly placed high kick. I think Hari has issues with heart, and his body is slightly too fragile and he's a bit of a glass cannon. Those are some reasons I reckon prime Verhoeven > prime Hari. Just my 5c.

 

[JustOnce]

There is no doubt that Hari is an amazing fighter, and in his prime he could beat anyone in the world, my gut feeling is just that Verhoeven is a more rounded, and slightly more physical fighter. I agree Hari knocked Verhoeven down badly a couple of times. That's the danger of Hari, if he lands on you you are in some serious trouble. But then I think of Verhoeven's most recent fight vs Big Ben Saddik, where he also got knocked down several times, rallied, and then won the fight. By Contrast, in Hari's most recent fight vs Wrzosek, he knocked Wrzosek down several times (badly), and then got brutally knocked out with a perfectly placed high kick. I think Hari has issues with heart, and his body is slightly too fragile and he's a bit of a glass cannon. Those are some reasons I reckon prime Verhoeven > prime Hari. Just my 5c.

Yeah that's probably hard to argue against. Verhoeven's super tough for sure and great fighter. He's just pretty odd case for a top level kickboxer I think, more volume than power.

I just feel like when it comes to great heavyweight striker, whether it's boxing, MMA, kickboxing or whatever, they are usually good at finishing people too, and not have to rely on getting knocked down a few times and winning on points, but I guess he's just the best out there right now.

I can't imagine prime for prime, Hoost or Aerts or Schilts losing after dropping Rico more than once tho. I think Hari's a bully who isn't as good at being the nail than the hammer, but those guys are just tough as hell on top of being skilled.

 

[JustOnce]

To be honest, I don't know what's more shocking, him being so big and being such a soft puncher for his size, or that he is at the top for so long while having such little power.

 

[jono83]

Rico fought old man Schilt and old man Aerts and he didn’t have a chance against past prime Semmy. He did beat over the hill Aerts but barely so prime for prime I think Aerts wins most of those fights as well. Ernesto might struggle with his size a little so I feel like those fights would be back and forth. Even though he isn’t mentioned I think prime Lebanner probably destroys him faster than the others considering Rico isn’t known to be a power puncher. Really tough to say how he would match up exactly against the top tier guys from what’s considered heavyweight kickboxing’s golden era considering how weak the division Rico came up in has been. No doubt he’s an awesome fighter but most the modern heavies are a joke compared to the late 90’s early 2000’s.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

Rico fought old man Schilt and old man Aerts and he didn’t have a chance against past prime Semmy. He did beat over the hill Aerts but barely so prime for prime I think Aerts wins most of those fights as well. Ernesto might struggle with his size a little so I feel like those fights would be back and forth. Even though he isn’t mentioned I think prime Lebanner probably destroys him faster than the others considering Rico isn’t known to be a power puncher. Really tough to say how he would match up exactly against the top tier guys from what’s considered heavyweight kickboxing’s golden era considering how weak the division Rico came up in has been. No doubt he’s an awesome fighter but most the modern heavies are a joke compared to the late 90’s early 2000’s.

To be fair, Rico was only 22, so not really in his prime either when he fought Schilt.

 

[Snubnoze707]

I mean Hari was winning both fights before two freak injuries, but you think Rico > Hari?

So he was winning, but didn't? That means nothing. Rico has two wins over Hari, not the other way around. At best you can say it's a wash because "we don't know what would have happened" had he not been injured, but you can't put Hari over Rico, he had two chances and failed both times.

I put Rico in the mix with those guys easily and I'm sure he'd have mixed results like they all do with each other, Schilt obviously being the toughest task.

 

[Blazeblack]

So he was winning, but didn't? That means nothing. Rico has two wins over Hari, not the other way around. At best you can say it's a wash because "we don't know what would have happened" had he not been injured, but you can't put Hari over Rico, he had two chances and failed both times.

I put Rico in the mix with those guys easily and I'm sure he'd have mixed results like they all do with each other, Schilt obviously being the toughest task.

In the second fight Rico looked half dead before Badr fucked himself up with that spin kick. Though he was definitely going to win that first fight after badr blew his load in the first round.

As far as prime Rico in k-1? I think he would have been one of the top guys. He would have struggled against a prime Schilt, (and to a lesser extent) Hari and Aerts. I think he would have been big and smart enough to pose real problems for Hoost and Remmy.

He would have beaten the rest of the top names more times than he would have lost. Running down the mental list- Hunt and Sefo were powerful and strong, but were short and lacked reach. Worse still, they weren’t busy enough to keep up with Rico. Hug was too small to be effective imo. Le Banner, Bernardo, and Greco would be dangerous in the first round, but would be in trouble if they couldn’t hurt Rico early. Pilho and Feitosa were both skilled and crafty enough to make things interesting against Rico. Musahi, Kyotaro, and Satake would all get wrecked. Branko would be bonned if he couldn’t land his right hand. Leko much like Branko, had a good right but also had a devastating spinning back kick, neither would find a home on Rico. Cro Cop is an an interesting match up. He was awkward and explosive enough to catch and hurt Rico, but he was also kind of inconsistent.

 

[Blazeblack]

*Rico would have gotten wrecked by the 4 kings- Sapp, Man Choi, Butterbean and Smoke’n Joe. Joe is still wrecking shop in ONE, which is why Rico is sticking with Glory.

 

[JustOnce]

To be fair, Rico was only 22, so not really in his prime either when he fought Schilt.

Def Rico didn't hit his prime back then, it kinda puts into perspective how special kyshenko was at 22.

 

[JustOnce]

So he was winning, but didn't? That means nothing. Rico has two wins over Hari, not the other way around. At best you can say it's a wash because "we don't know what would have happened" had he not been injured, but you can't put Hari over Rico, he had two chances and failed both times.

I put Rico in the mix with those guys easily and I'm sure he'd have mixed results like they all do with each other, Schilt obviously being the toughest task.

well I mean, it was a freak injury both times. And both times Hari was beating the shit out of Rico, knocked him down TWICE in the second, so Rico likely needed to finish Hari to win that one with that pillow punches of his.

Yeah it's true that he lost both times, but you know, if you look at the how fight went, Hari was winning and it wasn't even close both times.

 

[JustOnce]

In the second fight Rico looked half dead before Badr fucked himself up with that spin kick. Though he was definitely going to win that first fight after badr blew his load in the first round.

As far as prime Rico in k-1? I think he would have been one of the top guys. He would have struggled against a prime Schilt, (and to a lesser extent) Hari and Aerts. I think he would have been big and smart enough to pose real problems for Hoost and Remmy.

He would have beaten the rest of the top names more times than he would have lost. Running down the mental list- Hunt and Sefo were powerful and strong, but were short and lacked reach. Worse still, they weren’t busy enough to keep up with Rico. Hug was too small to be effective imo. Le Banner, Bernardo, and Greco would be dangerous in the first round, but would be in trouble if they couldn’t hurt Rico early. Pilho and Feitosa were both skilled and crafty enough to make things interesting against Rico. Musahi, Kyotaro, and Satake would all get wrecked. Branko would be bonned if he couldn’t land his right hand. Leko much like Branko, had a good right but also had a devastating spinning back kick, neither would find a home on Rico. Cro Cop is an an interesting match up. He was awkward and explosive enough to catch and hurt Rico, but he was also kind of inconsistent.

I know right? He was beating the shit out of Rico before the freak injury.

Man, good ol' times for sure! When kickboxing was the shit! As good as UFC is now!

One thing that makes it hard to back Rico for me is that he's a big dude, and he got volume, but he's not a hard hitter at all, so when he goes through the cream of the crop, prime for prime, back in the hey days of k-1, I wonder if he would've really been near the top of the pack, cuz I don't think he can do I got dropped but I will win on points anyways against those k-1 guys.

 

[JustOnce]

Rico fought old man Schilt and old man Aerts and he didn’t have a chance against past prime Semmy. He did beat over the hill Aerts but barely so prime for prime I think Aerts wins most of those fights as well. Ernesto might struggle with his size a little so I feel like those fights would be back and forth. Even though he isn’t mentioned I think prime Lebanner probably destroys him faster than the others considering Rico isn’t known to be a power puncher. Really tough to say how he would match up exactly against the top tier guys from what’s considered heavyweight kickboxing’s golden era considering how weak the division Rico came up in has been. No doubt he’s an awesome fighter but most the modern heavies are a joke compared to the late 90’s early 2000’s.

Yes Lebanner doesn't get enough love around here, but I can totally see him lay Rico out, and even if Rico get up, I don't think he will let him pitter patter away to victory like he does.

I wonder if K-1 was still around, we'd have a lot better heavyweight division, maybe or maybe not. Perhaps it's just that during the golden era of k-1, we just had much superior talent regardless of prize money available.

 

[jono83]

Yes Lebanner doesn't get enough love around here, but I can totally see him lay Rico out, and even if Rico get up, I don't think he will let him pitter patter away to victory like he does.

I wonder if K-1 was still around, we'd have a lot better heavyweight division, maybe or maybe not. Perhaps it's just that during the golden era of k-1, we just had much superior talent regardless of prize money available.

Totally agree. Jerome def doesn’t get enough love and the level of talent at that time was incredible for the heavies. I still rewatch a lot of fights from that era and wonder what happened haha.

 

[JustOnce]

Totally agree. Jerome def doesn’t get enough love and the level of talent at that time was incredible for the heavies. I still rewatch a lot of fights from that era and wonder what happened haha.

Yeah I wish K-1 didn't fold... oh well....if it went on we may have seen k-1 max with competition field of
Souwer/Buakaw/Petro/Yod/Grigorian/Kyshenko/Masato/etc

 

[Snubnoze707]

well I mean, it was a freak injury both times. And both times Hari was beating the shit out of Rico, knocked him down TWICE in the second, so Rico likely needed to finish Hari to win that one with that pillow punches of his.

Yeah it's true that he lost both times, but you know, if you look at the how fight went, Hari was winning and it wasn't even close both times.

I wouldn't say Hari was beating the shit out of Rico in the first fight, and you could argue that wasn't really a freak injury as it was Rico that caused it.

The second fight ya Hari was laying it on Rico, but take away the freak injury he caused himself and it still wasn't a sure thing - just look at his fights against Benny and Wrzosek, he was dominating those as well before getting finished, and you can look at Rico vs JBS fights where Rico was badly hurt but came back to win. I don't think you can just call that a win for Badr because he was ahead when he injured himself.

 

[Blazeblack]

I know right? He was beating the shit out of Rico before the freak injury.

Man, good ol' times for sure! When kickboxing was the shit! As good as UFC is now!

One thing that makes it hard to back Rico for me is that he's a big dude, and he got volume, but he's not a hard hitter at all, so when he goes through the cream of the crop, prime for prime, back in the hey days of k-1, I wonder if he would've really been near the top of the pack, cuz I don't think he can do I got dropped but I will win on points anyways against those k-1 guys.

I think Rico would have been a top fighter in k-1. He would have traded wins and losses with a few of the top guys, but would out class most of the competition. Schilt would probably be his toughest fight and I think he would probably lose 6 or 7 times out of 10 to a prime Badr. I’m not saying Badr is a better fighter, but he clearly has a tricky style for Rico to deal with. Aside from Rico, I think Plazibat, Sadik, Rigters, and Benny could all have been good contenders.

 

[Blazeblack]

I wouldn't say Hari was beating the shit out of Rico in the first fight, and you could argue that wasn't really a freak injury as it was Rico that caused it.

The second fight ya Hari was laying it on Rico, but take away the freak injury he caused himself and it still wasn't a sure thing - just look at his fights against Benny and Wrzosek, he was dominating those as well before getting finished, and you can look at Rico vs JBS fights where Rico was badly hurt but came back to win. I don't think you can just call that a win for Badr because he was ahead when he injured himself.

That is true, Badr’s chin is shot. Not that it was ever good.