The historical legacy of NFL players at the highest levels of MMA and Kickboxing

[HHJ]

Lesnar -- Cant really call him an NFL player,he is just an incredible athlete,that he got the call to go.
Sapp -- He is over 100 lbs heavier than ernesto hoost. He isnt a high level anything,he is a freak.

Shaub -- Beating crocop at the time that he did doesnt mean much
Mittrione -- ditto here

Your thread is bad.

You are not a good person.

 

[soulsstealer]

He's beating piss poor fighters in a piss poor division.

there arent any manlets iin real sports

 

[The-AxeMurderer]

there arent any manlets iin real sports

Barry Sanders

 

[Kingz]

Lol, Lesnars cred was Vikings practice squad not being a dominant NCAA wrestling champion.

Ban

 

[dredd57]

Lol, Lesnars cred was Vikings practice squad not being a dominant NCAA wrestling champion.

Ban

Correct, his Vikings practice squad was the highlight of his athletic career pre-UFC, not his 106-5 NCAA wrestling record and championship in 2000.

 

[Kingz]

Also, how come all those hundreds of exceptional athletes(talking as good of athletes as the so called A level) that however lack the game skill to play football and basketball at the highest or even semi pro level aren’t taking over MMA? Even those meager examples you gave. Discounting Lesnar as he was a wrestler who dabbled in pro football in his late 20’s None of those guys you mentioned are/were elite.

I know some of those best athletes I’ve seen in mainstream sports never amounted to dog shit and aren’t making money. So the word should be out, each division, not just the historically shallow tough man division should be ran by otherwise great athletes from ball sports who never amounted to anything in their sports and just decided to do a few months of training and become MMA stars. But in the end, it’s all lifelong martial arts guys of varying athletic aptitude.

You ignore context of Schuab and Mitrione biggest wins. You ignore they basically only demonstrated power, not exceptional skill. You also make the bad faith argument that Juan Adams is a world class HW by perhaps mocking(in which case I’d agree) the fallacy that UFC is only high level fighters or at the very least mid level. No cans. Fact, UFC has the highest density of cans and past prime fighters out of all the orgs(also highest density of top fighters) They, like any promotion, need jobbers.

 

[BigGucciSosa]

No they don't. Brendan and Mitrione beat old great fighters. They would get smoked if CC and Fedor were in their prime back on the juice.

FTFY

 

[Mortal Wombat]

He's definitely correct. The average RB retires after 2 years in the NFL... 2 years lol
And the ones that last, like Frank Gore or Adrian Peterson, will become completely broken human beings after retirement.

LOL piss weak

 

[613]

As did I and I'm not sure I agree with that, how do you figure a running back takes more damage than anyone in sports?

Obviously getting crushed in the open field by a Ray Lewis is pretty brutal but so is getting run into the end boards by a Zedeno Chara at 35 mph.

Because they do. Zedeno Chara (who is MUCH smaller then a Defensive line men or even most line backers) doesn't hit you 20-30 times a game. Its not the open field hits that kill them, its running up the middle and having 4 300LB plus linemen smash you head on and jump on you. Why do you think there has never been a great RB over the age of 30, but there has been plenty of great hockey players? Why do you think the average career length of an NFL RB is only 2.5 years? RBs get FAR more injuries in FAR less games. Look up some studies on the physical beating NFL players (and RBs in particular) take. Hockey is my favorite sport BY FAR, but hockey players don't take a fraction the abuse RBs do. Its not even close. Especially these days were any big hit is called dirty in the NHL. Its not something you can argue. Its a fact that you take a bigger beating as an NFL RB then and NHL player

 

[613]

nah

You don't even follow football so your opinion means fuck all. Anyone who follows both knows RBs take a bigger beating. The whole HW division is full of 30-40+ year olds. Its basically unheard of for an NFL running back to physically make it to their 30s

 

[boss429]

Because they do. Zedeno Chara (who is MUCH smaller then a Defensive line men or even most line backers) doesn't hit you 20-30 times a game. Its not the open field hits that kill them, its running up the middle and having 4 300LB plus linemen smash you head on and jump on you. Why do you think there has never been a great RB over the age of 30, but there has been plenty of great hockey players? Why do you think the average career length of an NFL RB is only 2.5 years? RBs get FAR more injuries in FAR less games. Look up some studies on the physical beating NFL players (and RBs in particular) take. Hockey is my favorite sport BY FAR, but hockey players don't take a fraction the abuse RBs do. Its not even close. Especially these days were any big hit is called dirty in the NHL. Its not something you can argue. Its a fact that you take a bigger beating as an NFL RB then and NHL player

I must admit you make a valid point here and after reading that concede you're more than likely correct.

 

[Captain Herb]

It would be interesting to see how football players would translate to MMA in the lower divisions outside HW.

Obviously they wouldn't have any small guys, but some of the skill positions would have guys outside HW weights.

It's widely known that NFL kickers would dominate MMA

 

[Mortal Wombat]

You don't even follow football so your opinion means fuck all. Anyone who follows both knows RBs take a bigger beating. The whole HW division is full of 30-40+ year olds. Its basically unheard of for an NFL running back to physically make it to their 30s

nah

 

[ermac88]

Well to be fair those guys records aren’t so great....

Brock Lesnar 5-3 (1)
Bob Sapp 12-20-1
Brendan Schaub 10-5
Matt Mitrione 13-6 (1)

Overall: 40-34-1 (2)

They only won 53% of their fights.

And Hardy’s opponents aren’t really UFC level, being 1-5 in the UFC outside their fights with Hardy. He is still very much unproven.

The point is these guys started mma in their 30s, in their 30s, and competed at the highest level of mma.

Many knocking out and hurting elite veterans.

It shows the incredible disparity in athleticism of these sports if nfl washouts and failures can destroy mma legends when starting so late in life.

 

[SCTwins]

Im talking about skill, if hw were the same size as LW, they will get destroyed with ease.

If you look at how a guy like TJ or Edgar in mma, Petrosan or holkzen in KB fight and Compare to HW in any combat sport fight, you can see the difference in skill level.

I know you NFL fans see big muscular dude and think that all there is to it in sports, but its not.

Many top level associations football player are 5’7 small guys, but they compete in much higher paying sports in much deeper talent pool.

Lol.

You realize if those LW's weighed 265 lbs, they wouldn't be able to move the same way, right?

 

[yookfarb]

Also, how come all those hundreds of exceptional athletes(talking as good of athletes as the so called A level) that however lack the game skill to play football and basketball at the highest or even semi pro level aren’t taking over MMA? Even those meager examples you gave. Discounting Lesnar as he was a wrestler who dabbled in pro football in his late 20’s None of those guys you mentioned are/were elite.

I know some of those best athletes I’ve seen in mainstream sports never amounted to dog shit and aren’t making money. So the word should be out, each division, not just the historically shallow tough man division should be ran by otherwise great athletes from ball sports who never amounted to anything in their sports and just decided to do a few months of training and become MMA stars. But in the end, it’s all lifelong martial arts guys of varying athletic aptitude.

You ignore context of Schuab and Mitrione biggest wins. You ignore they basically only demonstrated power, not exceptional skill. You also make the bad faith argument that Juan Adams is a world class HW by perhaps mocking(in which case I’d agree) the fallacy that UFC is only high level fighters or at the very least mid level. No cans. Fact, UFC has the highest density of cans and past prime fighters out of all the orgs(also highest density of top fighters) They, like any promotion, need jobbers.

MMA is littered with athletes that played ball in high school/college/semipro that switched over into MMA(or wrestling, boxing, bjj, etc.). In fact, it's the case for almost every single ranked american HW.

DC was about to play football for LSU but decided that wrestling was his passion.
Jon Jones has 2 brothers in the NFL, but he was too skinny for football.
Stipe was a semipro baseball player but couldn't make the majors.
Derrick Lewis was playing college football when a jail sentence ended his football career.
Blaydes was a good hs football player.

 

[welldone]

The point is these guys started mma in their 30s, in their 30s, and competed at the highest level of mma.

Many knocking out and hurting elite veterans.

It shows the incredible disparity in athleticism of these sports if nfl washouts and failures can destroy mma legends when starting so late in life.

they are old and washed up. stop saying elite.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Perfect example. Shaq is such an A level athlete that it's not even legal for him to compete in the UFC. The UFC literally sets rules to keep guys like him out of the sport. Schaub and Mitrione are the "manlets" of the NFL and NBA and KOd Fedor and Cro Cop. What do you think the HW versions of A level athlete sized guys like Shaq and Lebron would do to Fedor and Cro Cop?

bringing up Fedor and Cro Cop losses when they were clearly past it isn't a real argument. i mean, can you imagine what Francis Ngannou would do to A level athlete Joe Montana in 2019? it's basically the same thing.

 

[ThunderStruck]

Can't forget 50 year old Herschel walker was undefeated knocking dudes out in strikeforce.

Age doesnt matter when you have a couple litters of steroids in your veins.

 

[Kingz]

MMA is littered with athletes that played ball in high school/college/semipro that switched over into MMA(or wrestling, boxing, bjj, etc.). In fact, it's the case for almost every single ranked american HW.

DC was about to play football for LSU but decided that wrestling was his passion.
Jon Jones has 2 brothers in the NFL, but he was too skinny for football.
Stipe was a semipro baseball player but couldn't make the majors.
Derrick Lewis was playing college football when a jail sentence ended his football career.
Blaydes was a good hs football player.

I didn’t say it wasn’t. Playing multiple sports and going with one you most excel is not “switching over” and proving the point TS was trying to make. All of those guys except maybe Derrick Lewis(just a tough man power puncher) weren’t just guys that found out that their options were limited in ball sports and decided to pick up a martial art and immediately dominated. Jones, DC, and Stipe all were wrestlers since childhood. Simply playing football or other sports doesn’t make them ball sports players who switched over to MMA anymore than wrestlers who also played football or baseball. Wrestling(a vital art in MMA) is always what distinguished them.

The hamhanded MMA hater point is that a non experienced high level ball sports athlete can dominate but there is still no evidence of that since skill and art wise, there is every reason for the mentioned fighters success that has nothing at all to do with their background in ball sports