Would the lowest ranked mw/lhw/hw today have won ufc1-10?

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

I know ken was absolutely legit. He won many of those first 10 ufcs along with Royce. Could the lowest ranked guys Today have won those tournaments and beat those guys? Conversely, how would ken shamrock have done in this era if he were in his prime?

It's a debate with no "answer" of course.

But way back in '05 or whenever it was that Hughes fought Royce, Joe Riggs famously said never mind Matt Hughes, but that he and everyone else in the UFC would Royce then and would have beat him back in '93. I'm pretty sure 170 was the lowest weight class at then, so it would have been the littlest guys in all of UFC.

He wasn't dissing Royce. He made it clear that he had respect for Royce, but that fighting had evolved so much - and everyone was so much more well rounded - that it was night and day. He did say, however, that Royce hadn't evolved.

He got very little shit for it, because most people quietly didn't disagree. Even those that took a bet and a prayer on Royce's -500 odds.

 

[IGotAHugePeckah]

Phil Brooks would've rekt Royce with that knee....

It's a good thing that bomb missed, poor Mickey's career would have been over before it could even get started.

 

[KingBeef]

I know ken was absolutely legit. He won many of those first 10 ufcs along with Royce

No he didn't lol

 

[CalvilloRay]

probably lowest WW too.

(except CM Punk, maybe)

I just realized that CM Punk would lose to Royce Gracie

 

[KingBeef]

UFC 1-4, I honestly give Punk a good chance

Nah bro. I can name plenty of guys from that era who would kill punk.
Royce Gracie
Ken Shamrock
Pat Smith
Gerard Gordeau
Orlando Weit
Kimo
Keith Hackney
Remco Pardoel
Dan Severn
etc

CM's only real chance would've been against Fred Ettish lol

 

[TheWalrusNo9]

Not if they had the same amount of training the guys had back then. Given today's training, yes and easily. But today's standard of training is where it is because of what the earlier fighters figured out.

Exactly! Imagine Saku training by today's standards in his prime.

 

[Mr T_712]

I know ken was absolutely legit. He won many of those first 10 ufcs along with Royce. Could the lowest ranked guys Today have won those tournaments and beat those guys? Conversely, how would ken shamrock have done in this era if he were in his prime?

First of all Ken never won any UFC tournament and Royce only won 3 UFC tournaments not many of them. As for the "lowest" ranked guys today (I'm not sure what that means worst HW in UFC or in MMA as a whole) I'm just going to say if a guy like Tuivasa was in UFC 1 then 1993 Shamrock and Gracie have a good chance. But a guy like Oleynik probably beats both Gracie and Shamrock, it's the overall evolution of the sport. As for Shamrock in today's era then he would struggle against today's top 15 UFC HW's. Especially Ken post 2000. Ken couldn't keep up with the majority of them.

 

[Thisisme2]

I know ken was absolutely legit. He won many of those first 10 ufcs along with Royce. Could the lowest ranked guys Today have won those tournaments and beat those guys? Conversely, how would ken shamrock have done in this era if he were in his prime?

No they fight with pussy rules now.
Today are athletes not fighters.

 

[egk]

Even the most one-dimensional fighters currently in the UFC would be extremely well rounded by early UFC standards.

True but sometimes skill can't overcome size and strength. Some of those early guys could just fight. Plus many were roided up monsters and had great amateur wrestling credentials. By UFC 10, a lot had already caught on enough to Royce Gracie so today's bjj wouldn't be totally unknown to them like it generally was before.

I usually don't like to take part in these kinds of discussions anyway because it's all a big "what if?" that leads to tons of other ifs and buts.

 

[theleerygoose]

Top 10 MW? Yes.

Worst UFC middleweight? Nope.

 

[NoSmilez]

Someone like Clay would have beat up Royce.

 

[tramendous]

UFC 1-4, I honestly give Punk a good chance

past that, yeah, you're right.

punk would not beat royce gracie or dan severn or ken shamrock (and some others)

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

True but sometimes skill can't overcome size and strength. Some of those early guys could just fight. Plus many were roided up monsters and had great amateur wrestling credentials. By UFC 10, a lot had already caught on enough to Royce Gracie so today's bjj wouldn't be totally unknown to them like it generally was before.

I usually don't like to take part in these kinds of discussions anyway because it's all a big "what if?" that leads to tons of other ifs and buts.

Ya, if TS is asking what I think he's asking he should have said UFC 1 & 2, not 1-10. A lot of evolution happened between 1 and 10.

I'm not sure any 185er today would beat Ruas at Ultimate Ultimate. And he didn't even win the damn thing.

 

[Blayt7hh]

The way I see it, and many people agree that I'm usually right about most things, is that CM Punk trained grappling for several years with techniques that Royce, Shamrock, etc. had never even heard of with grapplers way beyond their level. They bring nothing to the table that he's never seen before. He handily wins UFC 1 along with several women in the UFC.

Cm Punk is god awful. I’m convinced that I could beat him and I’ve never said that about a pro fighter

 

[Taric]

What does lowest ranked mean? Lowest ranked in the UFC? Lowest ranked professional in bum league MMA?
'Cause Shannon Ritch would probably still get his ass kicked from UFC 1-10 fighters.

 

[Oliver Rupcic]

To answer your question yes he is

 

[Wicked_1]

If course they would. But it's because of those guys that people learned to grapple etc. There are better supplements, trainers, etc now by a huge margin. There was no money in the business then, now there's plenty and so tons of good gyms, training partners, nutritionist etc. It's not even fair at all. The same can be said of all sports. If u time warped all the guys from then to now, and had them train now with nows benefits it may be different, but it's impossible for fighters of that era to compete with guys today.

 

[StoneWT]

Punk would beat the shit out of you virgin Sherdoggers. He only seems bad compared to other UFC fighters. Put him against normal slobs and he looks like Superman.

 

[iwillbebackin3weeks]

coelman vs romero would be a 50/50 fight.

coleman takes romero 100% down, but his cardio was never good ... so thats why 50/50.

it depends.

 

[seanb1979]

UFC 1-4, I honestly give Punk a good chance

past that, yeah, you're right.

I wouldn't bet on him vs a totally random guy off the street who was in good shape. Royce strangles him in less than 60 seconds.