The threads that speculate on hypothetical MMA fighters or fights are always entertaining. I'd like to hear all your thoughts about this:
Alexander "The Experiment" Karelin at his prime after one year of jiu-jitsu and kickboxing training.
True ... it's always unpredictable. But Olympic wrestlers tend to do well in general and this wasn't your average olympian. He is a specimen, a solid 275, the most dominant of all time in his sport. But, back to your original point, all it takes is a weak chin ...
We'll be able to approximate by seeing how well Brock Lesnar does.
Brock Lesnar? Can you really compare an NCAA champion to an Olympic Champion who remained undefeated for a decade or so? But maybe the WWF experience will give Lesnar the edge he needs ...
LOL @ comparing Lesnar to Karelin
did i just read that right??
please tell me your drunk, or it was a huge typo
lol @ Lesnar compared to Karelin
lesnar barely won the ncaa title his senior year
karelin dominated international wrestling for 9 years
Hahahah. Lesnar.
No way Lesnar even compares to Karelin, but I think a lot of wrestlers would argue the statement that Karelin was the greatest wrestler ever. He definitely was a monster on the mat, though. I think he could have been pretty dominant in MMA.
We already got a chance to see Rulon Gardner in the PRide Ring. Pretty much the same skill set, the only difference is that Karelin looks ripped while Gardner looks pudgy. In this day and age, he'll need more than just 1 year of striking and submissions to break into the top 10.
lesnar would beat karelin................with a bat well he was passed out on vodka
Karelin is one of the most dominant athletes in any sport ever, lol @ Lesnar being compared to him.
You might want to read my post more closely. Then go to dictionary.com and look up "approximate". Lesnar is a super-athletic superheavyweight wrestler with similar physical attributes to Karelin who is entering MMA. By seeing how he fares, you can APPROXIMATE how Karelin might have potentially done.
Now settle down, everybody--nap time.
Nope, it was just a silly comparison.
Karelin is a once in a lifetime athlete, with 1 yr of sub training and decent standup, would have been murderous.
and cp13, yes that is Karelin, he was 21 in that picture (seoul olympics).
Isn't Ibrahim the better example?
Not quite the size of Karelin, but he was utterly dominant at the last Olympics.
Great suplexes don't mean you have a chin. :)
Max
"I wish his opponents ass-crack wasn't ruining the picture, I can't stop looking at it for some reason." -- Is it lonely in the closet? Yah Karelin was a freaking beast, would have been nice to see him in MMA. Did he ever compete in freestyle at the international level?
karelin was a freak on so many levels; he was as powerful an individual as I have ever seen, but he was also extremely flexible, smart, ferocious, and hard-working. I think if he set his mind to it, he would have been a dominant mma fighter in rather short order.
Karelin is unquestionably the most accomplished wrestler ever.
3 Olympic Gold Medals, 9 World Championships - all in a row. Nobody else even comes close.
And not only did he just win, he absolutely DOMINATED. He wasn't just eking out close victories, he was literally tossing all the other 300 lbs. world-class wrestlers around. It was truly like watching a man among boys, except the other "boys" were giants in their own right.
And this happened in a truly WORLD-level sport - i.e., a sport where the whole world actually participates, not just a few nations.
His invincible, otherworldly wrestling dominance, his freakishly far superior physicality, and the fact that he was a dynamic, explosive, and conditioned athlete at about 300 freakin' pounds, would have made him extremely difficult to beat.
Definitely the greatest wrestler ever.
Using Lesnar to approximate Karelin is like using Harold Miner to approximate Michael Jordan. While each may have some shared attributes, their levels of degree are so far apart that any comparison is impossible.
Karam Ibragim did dominate the Olympics in Karelin-style fashion, but so far he only did so for 1 year.
Karelin did it 12 YEARS in a row, many of which no opponent ever even scored a single point on him.
That is domination like no other - definitely in wrestling, and probably in all world-practiced sports.
If Karelin had entered UFC 1, Royce would have been the only one to even remotely have a chance since he knew how to submit from the bottom, using the guard.
And still the only way Royce could have won would have been to make full use of the no-time-limit rule and eventually tire and catch Karelin after an absolute marathon.
good post whistleblower
"I wish his opponents ass-crack wasn't ruining the picture, I can't stop looking at it for some reason."
