What happened to all the NCAA level wrestlers?

[mjfan23]

Khazmat can beat all D1 champs on the same night if sanctioned

 

[Ogata]

okay Joe! Thanks for the input!

You are welcome but I am not Joe.

 

[GOATtalks]

At WW, it used to be like Kos, Fitch, Hughes, Trigg, Sherk, Shields, Hendricks, Ellenberger, Story, Woodley.

And even without wrestling background, we had good grapplers like Rory, Dong, Maia.

If you look at WW now, I mean it's barren outside duo of Covington and Usman.

I can see Khamzat just running through everyone to the top. I mean for fuck's sake, Chiesa is ranked number 6 at welterweight. I mean what in the fuck?

What happened? What happened to all the high level wrestlers?

Wtf? Woodley signed with UFC 2 years after Hughes retired. Rory and Sherk aren’t from the same era as well.

As you have no sense of time, I could say that WW has plenty of grapplers- Usman, Colby, Khamzat, Burns, Maia, Askren, Woodley, Brady, Chiesa and many more

 

[ferrisjso]

Wtf? Woodley signed with UFC 2 years after Hughes retired. Rory and Sherk aren’t from the same era as well.

As you have no sense of time, I could say that WW has plenty of grapplers- Usman, Colby, Khamzat, Burns, Maia, Askren, Woodley, Brady, Chiesa and many more

WW should be renamed wrestle weight given it's history tbh.

 

[Garnet_StrongerThanYou]

U Fight Cheap prefers strikers, even if you wrestle, you better be striking LoL

i hope that’s not true.

MMA isn’t ultimate striking.

 

[rac2]

They all ran to Pro wrestling once the dagestanis came

USA vs USSR wrestlers not a thing in modern MMA?
I'm out.

 

[do a moniker]

Yeah I think people don’t realize how much different the college wrestling scene is now than it was 20 years ago.

What does this mean? It is probably at an all time high. Look at the US national team. We have never had a run like this, with this many world champs or world/olympic medals.

The growth of the the US freestyle scene is why the MMA landscape is barren of US wrestlers. The Regional Training Centers (RTC), where they pay 1-4 athletes per RTC to simply train for the international scene, means the top college wrestlers have a financial avenue other than MMA. Some will try the RTC thing and then jump to MMA. But they are now spending their top athletic years in wrestling and not MMA. Bo Nickal is a good example of someone who put a time limit on his time in wrestling and then stated he will jump to MMA with plenty of years left. But it's becoming more rare for this to occur

 

[do a moniker]

Outside the box suggestion: guys like Jordan Burroughs showed you can make a good living with sponsorships, seminars, coaching, etc — particularly in today’s more ‘online society’. That avenue was not available to wrestlers prior — it was either MMA or you had to stop competing and become a coach to make money.

I have no idea if this is true at all — just a thought that popped into my head right now.

See my previous post about RTCs. They don't make a ton with that, but they are basically paid a base salary to train for the international scene. This is relatively new and causing the top top guys to stay in wrestling instead of getting paid 10/10 to get CTE

 

[Luckyme]

What does this mean? It is probably at an all time high. Look at the US national team. We have never had a run like this, with this many world champs or world/olympic medals.

The growth of the the US freestyle scene is why the MMA landscape is barren of US wrestlers. The Regional Training Centers (RTC), where they pay 1-4 athletes per RTC to simply train for the international scene, means the top college wrestlers have a financial avenue other than MMA. Some will try the RTC thing and then jump to MMA. But they are now spending their top athletic years in wrestling and not MMA. Bo Nickal is a good example of someone who put a time limit on his time in wrestling and then stated he will jump to MMA with plenty of years left. But it's becoming more rare for this to occur

Didn't know this and it explains why someone like Jordan Burroughs who was tempted by MMA chose to stay put in wrestling.

 

[snackgod]

At WW, it used to be like Kos, Fitch, Hughes, Trigg, Sherk, Shields, Hendricks, Ellenberger, Story, Woodley.

And even without wrestling background, we had good grapplers like Rory, Dong, Maia.

If you look at WW now, I mean it's barren outside duo of Covington and Usman.

I can see Khamzat just running through everyone to the top. I mean for fuck's sake, Chiesa is ranked number 6 at welterweight. I mean what in the fuck?

What happened? What happened to all the high level wrestlers?

they go to bellator or wwe.

 

[hswrestler]

Gable steveson, prolly the best wrestler today is in wwe

 

[JustOnce]

Gable steveson, prolly the best wrestler today is in wwe

best wrestler today is Sadulaev, what u smoking

 

[JustOnce]

OP complaining about WW not having any NCAA wrestlers, meanwhile the top 2 WW in the world are NCAA wrestlers, just lmao.

which I literally mentioned myself but acting like I missed that very point not sure if fcking serious

 

[Pious Augustus]

At WW, it used to be like Kos, Fitch, Hughes, Trigg, Sherk, Shields, Hendricks, Ellenberger, Story, Woodley.

And even without wrestling background, we had good grapplers like Rory, Dong, Maia.

If you look at WW now, I mean it's barren outside duo of Covington and Usman.

I can see Khamzat just running through everyone to the top. I mean for fuck's sake, Chiesa is ranked number 6 at welterweight. I mean what in the fuck?

What happened? What happened to all the high level wrestlers?

WW is a weak division

 

[JustOnce]

WW is a weak division

now it's a shit division

 

[do a moniker]

best wrestler today is Sadulaev, what u smoking

I think he meant US based

 

[D 1 Wrestler]

At WW, it used to be like Kos, Fitch, Hughes, Trigg, Sherk, Shields, Hendricks, Ellenberger, Story, Woodley.

And even without wrestling background, we had good grapplers like Rory, Dong, Maia.

If you look at WW now, I mean it's barren outside duo of Covington and Usman.

I can see Khamzat just running through everyone to the top. I mean for fuck's sake, Chiesa is ranked number 6 at welterweight. I mean what in the fuck?

What happened? What happened to all the high level wrestlers?

Real answer. Flo Wrestling and increased exposure to wrestling on social media. These guys have lots of sponsors and shoe/apparel deals now compared to 10 years ago. And now with the NCAA rules change they can profit off their name in college, I expect less elite wrestlers going to MMA in their prime and continuing to go the world team/Olympic route

 

[JustOnce]

I think he meant US based

I want to see Snyder vs Gable

I wonder who would win

 

[do a moniker]

Real answer. Flo Wrestling and increased exposure to wrestling on social media. These guys have lots of sponsors and shoe/apparel deals now compared to 10 years ago. And now with the NCAA rules change they can profit off their name in college, I expect less elite wrestlers going to MMA in their prime and continuing to go the world team/Olympic route

The actual money these guys will make of the NIL change is minimal at best. Maybe a few national champs + AJ Ferrari can sign decent deals. But the prospect of potentially being one of those guys, will keep many elite wrestlers on the wrestling trains. But they definitely make more money post college with deals if they are elite, than before. Add in the RTC programs and their financial backing, and you have a far more attractive route to stay in wrestling.
And what is also not being said is that most wrestlers don't like being punched in the face. Although wrestling is a wonderful framework for an MMA fighter, it does not simulate getting smacked the chops. Short of BJJ, just about every other discipline doesn't have that threshold to cross, as striking is integral already.