Judoka Christoph Leininger was in UFC3 I believe, and never made it past the first round.
You're right. But the guy who beat him (the 1994-UFC 3 version of Ken Shamrock) would have beaten Royce had they eventually met in the finals (at least, I think so). When Royce did eventually meet Shamrock again a year later, Royce could just hang on for the draw. So don't discount Leninger too much. Ken was probably the best mma guy in the world at the time of ufc 3.
Leninger fought Guy Metzger a few years later and faired pretty well, although he lost a decision. Guy went on that night to tap out Tito Ortiz.
isnt Oleg Taktarov ranked in Judo ?( i know he was an accomplished Sambo practioneer)
Cristof Leninger is the only guy that comes to mind. 
kumikata - You're right. But the guy who beat him (the 1994-UFC 3 version of Ken Shamrock) would have beaten Royce had they eventually met in the finals (at least, I think so). When Royce did eventually meet Shamrock again a year later, Royce could just hang on for the draw. So don't discount Leninger too much. Ken was probably the best mma guy in the world at the time of ufc 3.
Leninger fought Guy Metzger a few years later and faired pretty well, although he lost a decision. Guy went on that night to tap out Tito Ortiz.
Funny you mention that Tito fight...to me, that was always the best version of Tito there was...that raw scrapper. Aside from making a mistake and sticking his head in a guillotine, he was kicking the shit out of Mezger who was a beast at the time.
As time went on and as Tito "learned" more and more, he became bland and ever less effective.
Good call Moke. I used to think the same thing.
When he came in against Guy, I thought " this kid is the future".
He was throwing dogs.
Tito was also amazing against Bohlander, mixing five punch combinations with his trademark bodylock takedowns. I wonder if sparring with Chuck and getting beaten up is what changed his style.
khd29 - oh yeah, Jayflo said USA judo silver medalist, Joey Wanag, tried out but was denied to take part after beating others. No confirmation, though.
There were no tryouts that I am aware of. People sent in forms and video and they knew people.
moke-i agree, Tito had better hands in those early days as compared to now..how can that be??never made sense to me..
i always wonder how Oleg would have faired against royce..Royce would not have KOed Oleg like Renzo, so who would win the ground battle??i see it being a long draw..
Moke - Since there's a theme this week of comparing who would have done well against Royce/BJJ in the early UFCs's, let's be honest and remember that Royce was nowhere near the best representative.
If you want to go in hindsight and wonder how various Olympic judokas etc., would have done against BJJ, then you should be wondering how they would have done if Rickson or someone else was picked to represent in the UFC instead of Royce.
Even then, Royce did go on to beat Remco Pardoel...though not an Olyimpian, he was 260 pounds and no daisy.
Good points, but Remco was European Judo and not Japan so that didnt count.
Guy Mezger was glowing about Leinenger after their fight. He called him something like a combination of superman and ironman. I forget the exact quote but it was something related to a superhero. 
Yeah I remember Leininger was ripped and a tough mofo...hell, aside from no weight classes back then, 90% of the guys had steroids leaking out of their ears.
Leninger was the only man to ever hit a tomoe nage in the UFC (by grabbing Guy's speedos). Because they have now banned grabbing clothing, he is probably the only person who will ever have hit a tomoe nage in the UFC.
CharlesLewis -12SixElbow -facepalm.jpgScarecrow_Junkie - I was wondering if besides Royce if there was a grappling based martial artist in that tournament? Or since it was supposed to be a showcase for Jiu Jitsu, if Royce was the only one?
I would count Frank Shamrock as a grappler with submission experience in UFC 1.
(Although not a Judo player)
Fuck.
Doing too many things at once haha.
Frank, Ken, same shit right?
Brian Rule -Wow.............that is one polished up re-writing of history right there.................khd29 - Don't remember. I do remember some judo player player who had some guy in a crucifix and won by KO from punches.
big daddy? he did not rep judo and that was not ufc 1. shamrock was only real submission specialist at ufc 1 but he has also been linked to suspicious fights.
so basically there was no judoka, no sambo expert, or any other related art (aside shootfighting, repped by ken) nor was there another true force representing the other arts (no karelin for wrestling, no tyson for boxing, etc).
early ufc was essentially an infomercial for bjj, and although there were inherent risks taken, the risks were also strategically minimized
For later.
I believe it was Yosh's idea to send Wanag to the tryouts. I heard the same thing, he crushed everybody there.
There was Sumu but sadly no Judu.
Moke - Judoka Christoph Leininger was in UFC3 I believe, and never made it past the first round.I was just about to post this. He was pretty much smashed by Ken Shamrock.
Royce wasn't exactly a decorated BJJer.