Non wrestlers who got good enough to outwrestle wrestlers list

[ComfortablyNumb55]

Conor destroyed Holloway with wrestling.

And was starring to defend Khabib well before he gassed.

 

[lenbiasgoat]

bj had decent wrestling for his bjj background..

 

[yamahacrasher]

This is actually a common misconception. GSP was a freestyle wrestler back in Canada before his MMA debut.

Of course his first art was Karate though.

That's actually not true. He did no formal wrestling training or competing before becoming a professional MMA fighter.

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

In 2010, Phil Davis handed Gus his first loss by out-wrestling him. Gus then started training with Phil and became quite the wrestler (and very good friends with Phil)

This is the way

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

nobody has mentioned Ngannou. he outwrestled Stipe in their rematch. yes, Stipe was old but Ngannou didn't even participate in any real organized sports until he was an adult. his freak genetics and learning ability is what allowed him to do that to Stipe.

 

[OleBuffalo]

Alexander Gustafsson
Successfully took down both Jones and Cormier
Was very hard to take down for Jones
Cormier did toss him once though
And then Rumble happened

I’ve got that image of Alex’s head snapping back while Rumble murdered him on the ground burned in my mind forever

 

[KhabibPink]

Wasn’t Rory Macdonald one of the first guys to grapplefuck Woodley before his decline? Back when Canada actually had some amount of testosterone.

 

[Nathan LaMontagne]

Leon Edwards wrestling is quite good. Also managed to take down Usman. Used his wrestling to beat Nate if I can recall. Used it a lot against Colby offensively, albeit usually came out on the losing end.

The Nurmagomedov brothers were strikers primarily. They did grow up in Dagestan so they likely wrestled for fun which gave them a leg up, but they learned how to really wrestle after becoming fighters with Khabib.

Lyoto Machida out wrestled Tito Ortiz and probably took some other dudes down once in a while. Maybe he doesn't count because he did sumo.

A huge amount of each example is the implementation of clinch/Judo takedowns

GSP just straight out wrestled everyone. Koscheck may be the biggest douche in the world but he was a hell of a wrestler.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

A huge amount of each example is the implementation of clinch/Judo takedowns

GSP just straight out wrestled everyone. Koscheck may be the biggest douche in the world but he was a hell of a wrestler.

Clinching and wrestling are not binary.

 

[cereaI]

buckley?

 

[BigOlJeet]

NCAA Conor when he panicked wrestled against Nate and still got choked out like a can.

 

[Ube]

GSP was considered for a spot on the Canadian Olympic wrestling team….

 

[samko32]

Prime Fedor GOAT

prime fedor the can crusher

 

[wrestlefan]

Arona/Henderson

 

[RichardHarrow]

Conor destroyed Holloway with wrestling.

And was starring to defend Khabib well before he gassed.

 

[markys00]

Not sure counting BJJ guys as 'not wrestlers'. It's all grappling, afterall.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

GSP was considered for a spot on the Canadian Olympic wrestling team….

He was training to attempt to make the team. That isn't the same thing as being considered for the team.

 

[mister piscadinha]

DDP has been wrestling since he was 12, though. Judo and wrestling are his base. It was still impressive

ddp is a underrated grappler

judo, wrestling, very good positional bjj and submissions, probably the most brutal gnp in the division

 

[mister piscadinha]

Conor destroyed Holloway with wrestling.

And was starring to defend Khabib well before he gassed.

conor had a lot of potential in grappling

if only he really took his career serious after all that floyd money

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

Ngannou outwrestled Stipe in the rematch. Also used his wrestling against Fereira and Gane but neither of them are wrestlers.