sad things didnt go well in mma for him
one can only think of what he could have done
if he joined a proper mma gym
maybe also one of the best natural athletes to go into mma as well
if only khabib’s dad trained this guy for mma
wow
Karam Gaber (EGY) | Bridge-suplex master...was he the most accomplished wrestler ever to go into mma
1 Like
Yeah ! It’s too bad …
we’ve had high expectations for his mma career before his fight vs Fujita …
An olympian with crazy athleticism who ran through his opponents and was willing to enter mma in his physical prime ! Never understood why he chose to strike with a more experienced mma fighter with heavy hands and concrete head…
A shame he didn’t give it another try after his KO loss …
yes very good point actually but when someone is new to the sport its a little werid
you sometimes a pure grappler like him try to strike
and a pure a striker clinching…
i agree i think he should given it another go
the guy was a legit freak
I remember the hype before the Fujita fight. I was pretty pumped to see him against ol block head. Too bad Gaber had the stand and wang syndrome.
I think Mark Schultz was more credentialed.
1 Like
if you put what they did side by side
you may change your mind
but yeah that is another great wrestler
Jesus that dude was a specimen. I thought he could be something special in mma but it wasnt for him. Credit for stepping in and trying it out though
1 Like
I am pretty sure Karem gaber is cousins with Ali abdel aziz
Interesting about Gaber too. It was widely speculated he threw the finals match at worlds the year before he won the Olympics. He lost 15-11 or something but at the Olympics beat the guy he lost to by tech fall. Part of why this is probably true is he nearly defected to the US, his brother lives or lived in New York. The reason he didn’t was because the Egyptian government paid him a lot of money to not leave.
well, on paper, he may be…
however, he won his gold medal in 1984 Olympic games. It was during the Cold War and USSR boycotted these games. USSR was one of the best nation in wrestling and the fact that they didn’t participate kind of water down the competition level (in wrestling at least).
Mark may have won anyway, but still ! it’s like the 100 meters sprint without the US of A or Jamaica.
On a side note, Shultz had the perfect strategy in his fight vs Big Daddy ! Using his superior wrestling coupled with his bjj instead of doing like Gaber and try to strike with a much more experienced fighter/striker?
1 Like
Mark won worlds the next year in 85. The only American to win that year. Plus he took out the reigning European champion in the Olympics, albeit by sort of dubious means. So it wasn’t as if he won just because the Soviets and others weren’t there. Here’s what I mean about his sort of win against Karabacek from Turkey.
yes very good point about the Olympics but mark was an awesome wrestler
Mark indeed was. One of the best Americans to compete.
That was a work. A long life athlete known for his insane training regimen comes into MMA and doesn’t train MMA. This dude wouldn’t have wrestled a second grader with out training like an animal but he goes into MMA with no clue?? Japan was working everything then. Pride went belly up because they were associated with mafia and Were working fights. You don’t think he was a work? Horseshit
What made him good in Greco, his ability to lift and throw, didn’t translate as well to MMA as guys who are less explosive who made their living in the clinch hand fighting and grinding it out by wrestling physically. Couture and Henderson were never seen overseas as being particularly technical, but they were extremely tough and would just physically beat you up to win. Lindland was like that too. When those guys entered MMA they had already been in a lot of matches that were about as physical as anything in MMA. If you watch high level Greco, it basically is an ugly street fight without closed fist punches. Gaber was extremely good, but if he couldn’t get to his lock or position he was beatable. The guys who did beat him legit were guys who slowed him down and made it a dogfight. Not to say Gaber was weak or couldn’t wrestle tough, but that wasn’t his thing. He had the big moves and if he could hit a 4 or 5 pointer, you spent the rest of the match opening up to attack and he could counter and make you pay for it. If he hadn’t tried to stand and trade with Fujita and just got into the clinch and dirty boxed, he would have had a much better chance.
1 Like
Some people can wrestle, some can box, some just can’t do both.
Schultz and brother went to Russia shortly after the Olympics and gave the Russians a shot at beating them
That’s why they get so much respect from that part of the country
Coleman was with them for that tour
do you think that Gaber
never did any freestyle wrestling?
i am sure he could shoot a double leg a lot better
then randy couture