So, did Alexander Karelin, the great wrestling champ ever
compete in MMA? I was thinking he did.....but I could be
mistaking him for someone else. Even if he didn't, what are his
stats(weight,height)?
thanks,
Hump
I recall him doing one fight few years ago in Japan.
He did fight in RINGS but the resident UG experts assure me that it was a work.
He had a pro wrestling match in RINGS.
Hey thanks guys......were these fights works or real shoots? I
couldn't find his name under sherdog's fighter database.
yeah he did in RINGS but it was a "work" .
work
He did a work vs. MAeda in Rings
He fought once in RINGS, but it was a work.
Apparently, his RINGS fight was a work. I don't remember where I heard that, though.
I wouldn't call myself a conspiracy theorist and ESPECIALLY not a Japanese fight fan hater (that's pretty much the only MMA I watch), but Karelin/Maeda was about as obvious a work as you can get. You twist the facts around a lot.
Karelin landed his signature throw, but he didn't even slam Maeda. He set him down nice and gently, and Maeda writhed around in pain like he just got dropped from a second story window. It didn't look real at all.
The biggest tip off was that Maeda scored a single leg takedown without even getting good penetration. Karelin was never taken down in the Olympics, you're telling me a guy with average wrestling skills is gonna take him down with a weak single leg?
Not to mention Karelin lying belly down while Maeda worked for a leg lock, with Karelin looking back like "Ummm, do you have it yet?" When he felt Maeda secure the lock, Karelin immediately grabbed the rope for a rope escape.
And yes, Karelin won the match, but Maeda looked superhuman for getting a submission and even a fucking takedown on the legend. It made Maeda look like a total bad ass, and he can always say his retirement match was against the greatest Greco Roman wrestler of all time.
To my knowledge, Maeda never once fought in a shoot.
Humpadelic, don't believe foolofmma. Karelin/Maeda was worked.
Yup - obvious work. Not quite WWF-style, but not up to UWFi, BattleArts, or old RINGS either.
All the submission attempts in RINGS were pretty shitty looking. One guy would try to pretzel up the legs, and the other guy would just sit there and look at him like "DO YOU HAVE IT YET" allways... shit looked awfull. They could have taught them how to transition better, and smoothly, so one guy wouldnt sit there with that dumb look in his face all the time.
Remember DICK VRY, or Volk HAHN?!
Those matches were the shit.
isnt it true that karelin is also a pretty good boxer. i think his dad was an amateur boxing coach or something and karelin has boxed since he was a kid. not sure, just saw it a long time ago on this forum.
Work city.
Worst work eva!
Thanks to all you who replied! Wow, godofmma and RyanG-
thanks for the insight......very in depth. Now I have to see that
match, so my next search will be for Rings videos. Oh yeah, how
big was Karelin?
Thanks,
Hump
I have the Karelin highlight video that has clips of his RINGS match. He did alot of reverse body lock throws, which is what he was known for in Greco-Roman wrestling. Karelin had incredible strength, it's scary how strong that guy is.
ttt