Hypothetical Amateur Wrestling Tournament

[savemgs]

What if the greatest names in MMA history decided to settle their scores not in the cage, but on the wrestling mat? Imagine a mythical clash where Dan Severn, Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, and more, all with formidable amateur wrestling backgrounds, compete in an epic tournament.​

Obviously everybody is in their prime in this hypothetical.

Dan Severn:
NCAA Division I All-American.
13-time National AAU champion.

Daniel Cormier:
NCAA Division I All-American.
Two-time Olympian (2004, 2008), placing fourth in 2004.
U.S. National Championship runner-up.

Cain Velasquez:
NCAA Division I All-American.
2-time All-American at Arizona State.
2-time Pac-10 Conference champion.

Shane Carwin:
NCAA Division II National Champion.
2-time NCAA Division II All-American.
NJCAA National Wrestling Champion.

Brock Lesnar:
NCAA Division I Heavyweight Champion.
NCAA Division I All-American.
NJCAA National Champion.

Jon Jones:
JUCO National Championship.

Mark Kerr:
NCAA Division I All-American.
2-time NCAA Division I Champion.
1992 Pan American Gold Medalist.

Curtis Blaydes:
NJCAA National Wrestling Champion.
NJCAA All-American.

Mark Coleman:
NCAA Division I All-American.
1992 Olympian.

Randy Couture:
NCAA Division I All-American.
3-time Olympic alternate.

Muhammed Lawal:
NCAA Division II All-American.
U.S. National Championship runner-up.

Ken Shamrock:
NCAA Division I All-American.

Tito Ortiz:
Junior college wrestling background.
Accomplished mixed martial artist.

Ryan Bader:
NCAA Division I All-American.
2-time Pac-10 Conference champion.

Chuck Liddell:
College wrestler with a strong striking background.

Phil Davis:
NCAA Division I All-American.
NCAA Division I Champion.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

No Yoel or Chael? Or weidman?

Brock and DC sweep the competition imo

 

[Stuart0502]

I think Mark Kerr and Cormier took freestyle wrestling the furthest so I’d expect them to do the best.

I’m not sure who could score multiple times on Kerr.

Also wasn’t Kazuyuki Fujita a near Olympic wrestler? If that was in freestyle then I’d expect at 300 pounds he could do well.

 

[savemgs]

No Yoel or Chael? Or weidman?

Brock and DC sweep the competition imo

Don't you think they would be small? I also think you're really underestimating the beast.

 

[savemgs]

I think Mark Kerr and Cormier took freestyle wrestling the furthest so I’d expect them to do the best.

I’m not sure who could score multiple times on Kerr.

Also wasn’t Kazuyuki Fujita a near Olympic wrestler? If that was in freestyle then I’d expect at 300 pounds he could do well.

You know I'm honestly not sure how far Fujita got. What do you think of the matchups though?

 

[Ivaylo Ivanov]

You know I'm honestly not sure how far Fujita got. What do you think of the matchups though?

Fujita:
6x national champ as a student
2x national champ as an adult
1x national vice champ as an adult

 

[Stuart0502]

You know I'm honestly not sure how far Fujita got. What do you think of the matchups though?

I've only seen a couple of their wrestling matches so my opinions might be way off.

Severn vs Velasquez - No idea. Cormier would tech fall or pin Tito in 30 seconds. I'd give Lesnar an edge over Phil Davis. Couture Vs Blaydes not sure. Coleman over Carwin. Kerr would probably beat Jones 6-0 or something from what I've seen. Liddell was a better MMA wrestler than Shamrock but I had no idea Sharmrock was an all american. Mo lawal over Bader.

 

[savemgs]

I've only seen a couple of their wrestling matches so my opinions might be way off.

Severn vs Velasquez - No idea. Cormier would tech fall or pin Tito in 30 seconds. I'd give Lesnar an edge over Phil Davis. Couture Vs Blaydes not sure. Coleman over Carwin. Kerr would probably beat Jones 6-0 or something from what I've seen. Liddell was a better MMA wrestler than Shamrock but I had no idea Sharmrock was an all american. Mo lawal over Bader.

You know what I'm not actually sure about Ken's wrestling credentials this is just something that's has been said about him throughout the years but now that I think of it I don't know if he's ever actually confirmed that he was or was not.
I suppose I could try to ask him over Facebook he does occasionally answer questions. Although that might not be the most reliable source obviously. But at least it would be one.

 

[Fluffernutter]

Where's Carlton Haselrig, Cole Konrad, and Steve Mocco?

Haselrig - 6X NCAA champ
Cole Konrad - 2X NCAA champ Bellator Champ. Undefeated. Retired at the top of his game.
Steve Mocco - 2X NCAA champ. Had one loss before he retired to coach. I saw the match and think he won two rounds to one.

 

[dsdoubled]

No offense TS but your credentials listed are way off. For example, DC may have been a senior nationals runner up but he also won it like 6 times. He also won bronze at worlds and 2x JUCO champ

Kerr won DI nats once.

Carwin never wrestled JUCO.

Severn made a world team and was 2nd at the 84 trials.

Lawal won US nats and DII nats.

Also Yoel was Pan Ams at 96 kg so I don't think he'd be undersized. In fact he'd probably be the favorite for this tournament. I love the premise btw. Ken Shamrocks only meaningful wrestling creds, according to his book, are winning a couple matches at what he referred to as the Olympic trials but that has to be wrong so I'm assuming it was the US Open. Which is still very impressive if true. Fujita, in addition to his strong domestic results did have some moderate success on the world stage in freestyle.

 

[dsdoubled]

I think Mark Kerr and Cormier took freestyle wrestling the furthest so I’d expect them to do the best.

I’m not sure who could score multiple times on Kerr.

Also wasn’t Kazuyuki Fujita a near Olympic wrestler? If that was in freestyle then I’d expect at 300 pounds he could do well.

Kerr was really good at freestyle. He won a world cup and made 2 world teams. But, Coleman has the better credentials by making an Olympic team and winning silver at worlds. DC made more world and Olympic teams but his best placing was 3rd. He also won a Yarygin gold in Russia which is probably as tough to do as winning the Olympics. Severn, in addition to taking 5th at worlds, won junior worlds and beat Russian legend Lehri Khabolov at a world cup. This is the best single win out of anyone on this list for sure. Lawal also made a world team and was very close to making the 2008 Olympic team .

So out of the guys on this abbreviated list, the best/most accomplished freestylers, in order, are probably:

DC
Coleman
Severn
Kerr
Lawal