Throwback Just Bleed throwback - Dan "The Beast" Severn

[Bork Neslar]

Great fighter. Especially against opponents half his weight.

 

[Lawrence]

This one just popped up on my feed, so I figured what the hell, been a few since I reminisced the early UFC days and some of those pioneer warriors.

Holy, sh*t, I forgot how gnarly those early days were. How unrefined and one-dimensional most of the combatants were. The amount of blood spilled, and the endurance of the multi-match set up required to be champ back then.

Dan Severn looking back, was truly as his nickname suggested - A friggin BEAST.

No standup striking technique, but able to take strikes to get ahold of you, and when he did, he was a human meat grinding machine. Strong as hell with great wrestling, GnP and choke fundamentals.

His stamina and grind would be impressive even in this era, and particularly considering he was a heavyweight. Guy was a machine!

Dan, now 64 years of age, was one of the true pioneers of the sport, and went on to amass an incredible 101 wins, 19 losses record over the years. Hope you enjoy this throwback as much as I did...

If by “pioneer” you mean fighting guys at county fairs who are making their professional debut…. Than sure.

Dozens of his 100+ wins came that way.

Jeremy Horn is the 100+ fight pioneer.

 

[Bullitt68]

Great fighter. Especially against opponents half his weight.

Right, because the majority of the early UFC combatants weighed 125 pounds. You know a lot about MMA history and you're really good at math.

 

[MigitAs]

The GOAT. None of these HWs like Stipe or Francis have anywhere near the accomplishments on Severn. His skill level is on another planet. Imagine these dreadful UFC HW's today taking like 7 or 8 flush punches in over 120 fights, while making their MMA debut at 34 years old after thousands upon thousands of wrestling matches all over the world

All while sporting the greatest hair and mustache combo ever seen in the sport.

 

[AmonTobin]

I love Dan, worked out with multiple times and he gave me some solid wrestling tips, even had his home phone in the early 2000s, but we cannot forget this when discussing how he would do against modern fighters ...

He sure reacted poorly to that kick. It looks like a mixture of surprise and hurting like a SOB.

 

[AmonTobin]

All while sporting the greatest hair and mustache combo ever seen in the sport.

Nobody’s looked better in a UFC belt. He has a classic strongman quality to him like this pic could be colourized black and white photograph from a bygone time.

 

[modulus]

Fought until he was fifty freaking three!!!!

 

[Dr. Rose]

He sure reacted poorly to that kick. It looks like a mixture of surprise and hurting like a SOB.

It blew out his knee, iirc.

 

[Lee_]

This one just popped up on my feed, so I figured what the hell, been a few since I reminisced the early UFC days and some of those pioneer warriors.

Holy, sh*t, I forgot how gnarly those early days were. How unrefined and one-dimensional most of the combatants were. The amount of blood spilled, and the endurance of the multi-match set up required to be champ back then.

Dan Severn looking back, was truly as his nickname suggested - A friggin BEAST.

No standup striking technique, but able to take strikes to get ahold of you, and when he did, he was a human meat grinding machine. Strong as hell with great wrestling, GnP and choke fundamentals.

His stamina and grind would be impressive even in this era, and particularly considering he was a heavyweight. Guy was a machine!

Dan, now 64 years of age, was one of the true pioneers of the sport, and went on to amass an incredible 101 wins, 19 losses record over the years. Hope you enjoy this throwback as much as I did...

Actually, Severn had evolved by the point when he fought Tank. In his first one, UFC 4, he had no sub defense and no ground strikes, which is why he held Gracie down for a long time but could do nothing to him, eventually getting submitted. He got better after that even though his standup wasn't good. He improved over time with everything on the ground, GnP and sub defense.

 

[613]

You are like 60 man. Stop talking like a fucking idiot

 

[DaleBoca]

Severn and Frye. The Tom Selleck and Burt Reynolds of the MMA world.

 

[Lee_]

All while sporting the greatest hair and mustache combo ever seen in the sport.

Let us not forget the incredible image (and the amazing stache) of Dan Severn. I mean, who could be a look alike for both John L. Sullivan (the first HW champion) AND Freddie Mercury.

 

[mkt]

An important note on Severn: he got MUCH better after his first UFC appearance when he lost to Royce in the final fight. When he faced Royce, he didn't know what a triangle choke was and was very hesitant about using GnP, elbows, headbutts, knees on the ground, etc. He'd never done the before and though Helio would literally let Royce get beaten to death before he threw in the towel. Severn basically laid on top of Royce until he finally got choked out. After that he worked with Mark Tripp (judo/jiu-jitsu guy active on early NHB forums) and learned a lot more about submissions. He also got much more violent and active on the ground, as shown in the Oleg and Tank fights.

 

[mkt]

Actually, Severn had evolved by the point when he fought Tank. In his first one, UFC 4, he had no sub defense and no ground strikes, which is why he held Gracie down for a long time but could do nothing to him, eventually getting submitted. He got better after that even though his standup wasn't good. He improved over time with everything on the ground, GnP and sub defense.

Exactly. I just made a comment about that. Severn didn't even know what a triangle choke was in that fight. He worked with Mark Tripp (whose brother beat Rickson in Sambo) after that fight. The Severn who fought Oleg and Tank would've massacred Royce. The fact Oleg and Tank didn't quit shows how tough both were.

 

[mkt]

Right, because every modern fighter kicks as hard as the GOAT low kicker in MMA history.

Exactly. Who's going to kick Severn's legs like Rizzo? A 45-year old Arlovski? Derrick Lewis? We're also talking a 42-year old Severn vs. a 26-year old prime Pedro Rizzo. Both were great fighters, but hypothetically if both had modern training and were 26 years old, it would've looked a lot different. Dan would move and shoot much faster.

 

[MigitAs]

An important note on Severn: he got MUCH better after his first UFC appearance when he lost to Royce in the final fight. When he faced Royce, he didn't know what a triangle choke was and was very hesitant about using GnP, elbows, headbutts, knees on the ground, etc. He'd never done the before and though Helio would literally let Royce get beaten to death before he threw in the towel. Severn basically laid on top of Royce until he finally got choked out. After that he worked with Mark Tripp (judo/jiu-jitsu guy active on early NHB forums) and learned a lot more about submissions. He also got much more violent and active on the ground, as shown in the Oleg and Tank fights.

All I remember is him elbowing tank’s brain stem for 20+ mins straight and thinking that’s probably not good for your health lol.