UFC 1:Redux

Underground
1

If you could travel back in time and pick a new eight fighters to compete in UFC 1, who would it be? Try to keep it realistic, and keep it to people who would have been willing to compete. No Tyson, Holyfield, or Karelin.

I'm thinking mine would come from this list:

Ken Shamrock

Royce Gracie

Maurice Smith

Bas Rutten

Murillo Bustamante

Masakatsu Funaki

Chris Dolman

Akira Maeda

Rickson Gracie

Marco Ruas

Gerard Gordeau

Who am I missing?

2

Kimo, Tank and Oleg

3

Oleg

4

Rickson instead of Royce.

5

I think Rickson takes all of them. Possibly even by armbar :)

6

you're missing Yuki Nakai

7

How about Gokor what'shisname?  You know, the guy trained by Judo Gene.  He trained Karo.  That guy.

8

lol I forgot about that Scott Smith. Geez, what a difference in fighters.

9

And you need to add John Hess.

10

"For comedy, you need to keep the guy that went in there with a boxing glove on his jab hand. lmao."

  • You know what's really sad is that going in, I would have predicted Jimmerson to take the whole thing. I thought the boxer would rule.

Remember the whole point of the UFC in the beginning was style-vs.-style and to prove which specific martial art would come out on top.

So keeping those divisions in mind:

Gracie jiu-jitsu - Royce or Rickson obviously since it was Rorion's idea; Renzo would have been great, too

BJJ (non-Gracie) - Sperry/Busta/Liborio (someone from Carlson's incredible team)

vale tudo - Marco Ruas

Pancrase - Ken/Funaki/Suzuki/Yamada (Bas didn't become dominant until a little later, after Ken)

boxing - James Warring/Jimmerson/Melton Bowen (Warring had by far the best boxing credentials)

wrestling - Dan Severn

judo/jujitsu/sambo - Oleg/Ben Spijkers/Remco Pardoel

Muay Thai/kickboxing - Mo Smith/Orlando Wiet (Wiet was more Muay Thai, but Mo was one of the biggest names in American kickboxing)

karate - Gerard Gordeau/Pat Smith (Gordeau's background was in kyokushin, but he did compete in savate so they listed him as savate for greater variety; Pat was a Sabaki Challenge Champion)

kenpo - Keith Hackney

ninjitsu - Steve Jennum

kung fu - Jason DeLucia

TKD - Kimo (yeah I know, I know, but that's what Joe Son was passing him off as then)

streetfighting - Tank (yeah, I know he has a wrestling background but Tank was a brawler)

miscellaneous - Harold Howard (some kind of kung fu/karate and jujitsu)/Dave Beneteau (some kind of jujitsu)

11

Ranger Stott, RIP baby, woo!

12

Scott Smith was a teenager.

Scott Morris was the Ninja.

13

Kuk Sool Won - Gary Goodridge

14

I'd say Busta would win that tourney

15

Erik Paulson

16

well assuming the whole "time machine" concept... i'd go back and make sure BRUCE LEE didn't die...and enter him in the king of iron fist tournament, err ufc 1.