Old Guard Vs New Guard UFC matchups

[Serenity Now]

Whittaker Vs Randy, my initial thought was Randy. But maybe you're right, Whittaker did do ridiculously well Vs an amazing wrestler in Yoel. Still not sure though, Yoel turned into more of a stalking wrestleboxer and kickboxer, he doesn't exactly use his wrestling much compared to say, Kebab, or even DC. Randy would just relentlessly wrestle him.

I was the same..I was literally typing Randy's name then I realized Whittaker is actually around the same size as Randy before cutting...I mean Randy was what? 220ish?A Pretty small HW....Whittaker has to be around 205-210lbs when training(no cutting)...So the size difference is really little, I mean this is like the most even size fight from the options you gave.

Yeah Yoel vs Whittaker was alot of striking, Randy would try to take em down but considering how many times Randy has been beaten standing..I think whittaker might have the skills to stop the takedown and eventually just beat him standing....but Randy is a HW and way stronger so who knows how Whittaker reacts to that.

 

[FlowchartRog]

I was the same..I was literally typing Randy's name then I realized Whittaker is actually around the same size as Randy before cutting...I mean Randy was what? 220ish?A Pretty small HW....Whittaker has to be around 205-210lbs when training(no cutting)...So the size difference is really little, I mean this is like the most even size fight from the options you gave.

Yeah Yoel vs Whittaker was alot of striking, Randy would try to take em down but considering how many times Randy has been beaten standing..I think whittaker might have the skills to stop the takedown and eventually just beat him standing....but Randy is a HW and way stronger so who knows how Whittaker reacts to that.

Yep, good points. An oversight on my behalf. Tbh I should have had Usman as the cutoff, to make it fair I did say "significant size advantage" and as you just said, Whittaker and Randy are basically the same size sans weight cutting. Even a similar height. Guys at 185 are pretty big, they're not going to be that undersized against anyone without cutting weight.

Randy is fucking strong though, I feel like he punches above his weight (or wrestles above his weight ).

 

[mkt]

You read a thread proposing Mythical Matchups between early era UFC fighters, and current day UFC fighters.



Good point. None of those guys were unathletic. And don't forget Randleman, holy shit, he is one of the most athletic guys in MMA history. Incredibly strong and explosive, and tbh even his stamina was pretty good for a guy his size. Dominated Rutten and Rizzo over the distance.

Today we have guys like Derrick Lewis, Tuivasa and Ivanov.

One problem is that many here have only seen way-out-prime versions of Shamrock, Tank, Goodridge, Frye, Kimo, etc. from 2005 and later. Watch them in the mid-90s and you'll see that they're good athletes, even if their skillsets weren't as evolved or complete as modern fighters.

 

[Intellidamus]

I like this

 

[Intellidamus]

When you look into kinda some tough choices.

Right? The size & some specialized skill vs well rounded.

 

[Intellidamus]

Exact weight difference for reference would be a nice addition.

 

[Intellidamus]

Cejudo is the only modern win IMO
Randy vs Whitaker is the toughest one to call.

 

[An Uncertain Choice]

I've been enjoying some old school UFC events recently (1-12 are my favourite), and it got me thinking, how would the original guard do Vs the current crop of fighters in modern day UFC?

Obviously the sport has progressed a LOT. Today's fighters are so well rounded and polished, they bear little resemblance to the Tank Abbotts, Keith Hackneys and Scott Ferrozos of early UFCs. Or even Royce Gracies.

So to even things up a bit, the old guard have a big size advantage.

Pick a winner. UFC 1 rules.

Royce Gracie Vs Henry Cejudo (the original dominant force of MMA, vs a tiny well rounded manlet).

Kebab Vs Paul Varelans (The Eagle who wrestles bears, Vs the 330lb Polar Bear).

Conor McGregory Vs Tank Abbott (two of the most fearsome punchers in UFC history do battle, both with awful stamina).

Max Holloway Vs Ken Shamrock (a pretty good MMA boxer Vs shootfighting)

Usman Vs Dan Severn (Two really good wrestlers).

Whittaker Vs Randy (A solid all rounder Vs a beastly wrestler).

Adesanya Vs Randleman (a tall skinny kickboxer Vs a short highly explosive and powerful wrestler).

Mighty Mouse Vs Gerard Gordeau (A 6'5 kickboxer Vs a well rounded tiny little manlet. MM would have the advantage of being able to run between Gerard's legs, to disorient him).

Keith Hackney Vs Amanda Nunes (WMMA's best, Vs a very crude early UFC competitor)

Dustin Poirier Vs Don Frye (a good MMA boxer Vs arguably the original "wrestleboxer").

Cejudo via wrestlefuck
Khabib via eagle stomp
Tank via RNC
Shamrock via living death
Severn via help from Higgins
Whittaker via KO
Randleman via Suplex from hell
Gordeau via eye collecting
Nunes via teabagging
Poirier via getting to go home to this...

 

[Tsar]

randleman would destroy adensanya.

 

[FlowchartRog]

Right? The size & some specialized skill vs well rounded.

Exactly, it's interesting to me. Surprised at some of the negative replies.

We know MMA has progressed, and fighters today are way more well rounded. I'd like to know how far that extra skill and well roundedness would take them before size and strength takes over. Obviously if it was bums off the street, actual fighting skill trumps all, but these aren't big bums - they were good pro fighters for their time, just not as polished and well rounded as today's.

I tried to pick matchups that would make you think. Well, most of them anyway.

Exact weight difference for reference would be a nice addition.

Done But tbh, the modern day weights were largely a guess of what they'd weigh in an open weight fight.

 

[Joshuagilbert91]

doesn't matter.... Ricardo Arona beats them ALL!!!!

while surfing in Brazil and banging 10s

 

[Intellidamus]

Exactly, it's interesting to me. Surprised at some of the negative replies.

We know MMA has progressed, and fighters today are way more well rounded. I'd like to know how far that extra skill and well roundedness would take them before size and strength takes over. Obviously if it was bums off the street, actual fighting skill trumps all, but these aren't big bums - they were good pro fighters for their time, just not as polished and well rounded as today's.

I tried to pick matchups that would make you think. Well, most of them anyway.



Done But tbh, the modern day weights were largely a guess of what they'd weigh in an open weight fight.

I think it was a thought encouraging thread. And thank you! I seriously enjoyed it. A lot of people picked Khabib but I think the size difference is way too much. The guy still could fight.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

I don't know about most of those matchups, but the GOAT Dan Severn would beat any current fighter on entire UFC roster.

 

[Bobbybackpack]

Hackney signature move doesn't work on Amanda Nunes

It actually does

 

[Bobbybackpack]

I don't know about most of those matchups, but the GOAT Dan Severn would beat any current fighter on entire UFC roster.

Absolutely not

 

[cheesus]

I love this thread.

I'd go with
Cejudo, he'd beat Royce standing and Royce was way too slow to land a takedown on Cejudo.
Khabib vs Varelans - Khabib, somehow...he would struggle but eventually get a takedown. I'm sure he's taken down DC & Rockhold in practise so he could take Varelans down and he would be next to useless of his back.
Tank - Too strong, big, in his prime he had decent cardio for a man of his size and good wrestling. Conor hits hard but I see no evidence he could ko a heavyweight.
Shamrock - Too big, too strong, good submission ability he'd get a takedown on Holloway.
Whitaker - Way quicker than Randy, Yoel struggled with takedowns on Whitaker and he's a huge MW who's more explosive and stronger than Randy.
Randleman/Adesanya - Hardest match up out of all of them, I'd pick Israel. He's faced good wrestlers before, maybe not of Randlemans calibre but he's got a lot more grappling tools up his sleeve than people realize when compared to the old guard. I could see him getting back to his feet and Randleman would be clueless in striking exchanges.
MM - Too fast for GG.
Keith - He was scrappy big guy and had a decent chin, Nunes is a beast but there's no way she'd be able to take a punch from a 200lb man.
Porrier vs Frye - Another hard one, Frye was well rounded for his time. I don't think there would be a huge size difference between the two at open weight, Porrier has bulked up a lot lately he probably walks around 180 or so. I'd give a slight advantage to Dustin.

 

[Roljo]

Hard choices except maybe for Khabib. Size matters