FUNAKI-How would he have done in the UFC?

i remember watched an earier Ufc and they threw up a promo for an upcomng Pancrase event..then they showed Funaki and hinted that he might be coming to the Ufc down the road..i also remember an interview with Frank Shamrock, right before he fought Tito where he said that Funaki, if he came to the Ufc would basically blast through everyone..

so, lets say prime Funaki entered the Ufc 5 tournament..how would he have done?could he run through Oleg and then beat Severn to win it all?how about Ufc 6?could he submit a guy like Tank?how big was Funaki and how would he have handled guys like Ruas and Royce Gracie?

he'd have done ok. IMO I dont think he'd beat the top guys like Royce, Ken, Ruas, Severn, etc tho. also, he was at ufc3. he was offered a spot at an upcoming event. he didnt like the punching to the face aspect of it, were his words. (per Meltzer). that being said, I think Tank beats him bloody.

He would have done just fine at 205 or 185. Top contender at least, imo Phone Post 3.0

THERE WAS A GLITCH IN THE MATRiX - he'd have done ok. IMO I dont think he'd beat the top guys like Royce, Ken, Ruas, Severn, etc tho. also, he was at ufc3. he was offered a spot at an upcoming event. he didnt like the punching to the face aspect of it, were his words. (per Meltzer). that being said, I think Tank beats him bloody.

Respectfully disagree.

As much as I love Tank, he lost to every good fighter he fought, including a decision to Ferrozzo. I wouldn't count Tank out, but Funaki would know the danger going in and plan accordingly.

Funaki was a stud and one of the top 2-3 Japanese fighters ever.

I think he would have beat all but the very best guys from that early UFC era; and would have at least been competitive with those he might not have beaten.

Funaki was big, strong, experienced, and well versed in submissions.

There would have been some interesting matchups.

Sasae53 - He was a great grappler and hurt rickson bad standing Phone Post 3.0

Funaki is really Rickson's claim to fame in MMA.

While ANY tournament win is impressive in its own right, the Vale Tudo Japan events just did not have top fighters.

With all due credit to the legendary toughness and heart displayed by Yuki Nakai; Rickson was the clear favorite. Royce had a much tougher task in his early UFC career than Rickson did in JVD.

But Funaki is and was VERY legit. ANYBODY should be proud to have that win on their record.

"VTJ" Vale Tudo Japan

Personally I think he is middle tier and would get destroyed pretty quickly by the top fighters of his days. The fact that he doesn't like to get hit wouldn't fare to well in the early days of the UFC. If you take the competitors in the first Ultimate Ultimate as a benchmark I don't know if he would be able to defeat any of them.

Surprisingly his best performance against a top tier fighter of the time would probably be Royce. Royce was not a knock out artist and I do believe Funaki's ground experience can keep him at bay for awhile.

People usually attrbute their love of MMA with watching Royce in UFC 1.  I attribute it to seeing Funaki vs Bas.  Funaki was my Royce.

That being said, if he had gone to the UFC around the mid 90's he probably would have faired ok.  Definitely wouldn't have won tournaments, but would have been able to hold his own.

indeed

I think Funaki just didn't like getting hit.( not as bad as Suzuki though.. jeez he was bad about it.)
his submission wrestling was awesome.
Love the old Pancrase PPVs.



Be Like Bas

The Real Asian Cowboy - 


People usually attrbute their love of MMA with watching Royce in UFC 1.  I attribute it to seeing Funaki vs Bas.  Funaki was my Royce.



That being said, if he had gone to the UFC around the mid 90's he probably would have faired ok.  Definitely wouldn't have won tournaments, but would have been able to hold his own.


just watched part of Funaki vs Bas and the grappling made me cringe

This tells the story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQKkbHDEjRM

truewrestler -
The Real Asian Cowboy - 


People usually attrbute their love of MMA with watching Royce in UFC 1.  I attribute it to seeing Funaki vs Bas.  Funaki was my Royce.



That being said, if he had gone to the UFC around the mid 90's he probably would have faired ok.  Definitely wouldn't have won tournaments, but would have been able to hold his own.


just watched part of Funaki vs Bas and the grappling made me cringe
In what sense? I haven't seen the fight. Phone Post 3.0

scourge - indeed
LMFAO VU for Smackdown's number one announcer Phone Post 3.0

THERE WAS A GLITCH IN THE MATRiX - he'd have done ok. IMO I dont think he'd beat the top guys like Royce, Ken, Ruas, Severn, etc tho. also, he was at ufc3. he was offered a spot at an upcoming event. he didnt like the punching to the face aspect of it, were his words. (per Meltzer). that being said, I think Tank beats him bloody.

ahh so the Gracies werent afraid of top japanese grapplers like some mention on this forum?some pretend the Gracies never invited top Sambo, Judo, other grapplers into the early days of the Ufc..these people were wrong as i suspected..

Bry Bry - 
THERE WAS A GLITCH IN THE MATRiX - he'd have done ok. IMO I dont think he'd beat the top guys like Royce, Ken, Ruas, Severn, etc tho. also, he was at ufc3. he was offered a spot at an upcoming event. he didnt like the punching to the face aspect of it, were his words. (per Meltzer). that being said, I think Tank beats him bloody.

ahh so the Gracies werent afraid of top japanese grapplers like some mention on this forum?some pretend the Gracies never invited top Sambo, Judo, other grapplers into the early days of the Ufc..these people were wrong as i suspected..

You're taking one comment by one poster and running with it as absolute fact, and then trying to build a whole extended story around it.

There are fighters who have said this. Oleg being one. Bart Vale told me that he and his organization were basically banned also. I'm not so sure the reality is so cut and dry as you think.

Who did Funaki fight - Bas, maybe? - where he got dropped *5* times over the course of ~20-25 minutes before finally being unable to get up?

Getting knocked on your ass hard 4 times and getting up and continuing to fight - Funaki had guts and toughness in addition to his leglock skills....

calpolkid - 
truewrestler -
The Real Asian Cowboy - 


People usually attrbute their love of MMA with watching Royce in UFC 1.  I attribute it to seeing Funaki vs Bas.  Funaki was my Royce.



That being said, if he had gone to the UFC around the mid 90's he probably would have faired ok.  Definitely wouldn't have won tournaments, but would have been able to hold his own.


just watched part of Funaki vs Bas and the grappling made me cringe
In what sense? I haven't seen the fight. Phone Post 3.0

Just not on the same level as bjj practitioners I guess. In their second fight funaki gets mount and seems to not know what to do with it and just stands up. Yes, he had a striker mounted and just stands up trying to do some stuff from standing mount (?) and lets Bas up. Granted this was pancrase without closed hand strikes but still comes off as strange. Still some good fights to watch for historical reasons but have to keep the location, rules and possibility that it is a work in context.

William C - 
Bry Bry - 
THERE WAS A GLITCH IN THE MATRiX - he'd have done ok. IMO I dont think he'd beat the top guys like Royce, Ken, Ruas, Severn, etc tho. also, he was at ufc3. he was offered a spot at an upcoming event. he didnt like the punching to the face aspect of it, were his words. (per Meltzer). that being said, I think Tank beats him bloody.

ahh so the Gracies werent afraid of top japanese grapplers like some mention on this forum?some pretend the Gracies never invited top Sambo, Judo, other grapplers into the early days of the Ufc..these people were wrong as i suspected..

You're taking one comment by one poster and running with it as absolute fact, and then trying to build a whole extended story around it.

There are fighters who have said this. Oleg being one. Bart Vale told me that he and his organization were basically banned also. I'm not so sure the reality is so cut and dry as you think.

it isnt just what one poster said though..Ruas and his camp said they tried to get into early Ufcs but Rorion wasnt having it..there are several camps out there which say this, who knows if they are telling the truth?i side with the Gracies on this, that they invited all masters of their disciplines to come and fight whether it was Tyson from boxing or Karelin from wrestling..

would have been 185 or 205 champ Phone Post 3.0