Back in the alt.ufc days, I remember that judoka were angry not that judo was not represented, but that MMA was not a good testing ground for it because the throws did not necessarily do a lot of damage on a mat.
I remember a lot of judoka pointing out that Spijkers' throw on Renzo might have ended that fight on a street, but in an MMA fight, the BJJ guys (who spent more time practicing on the ground) were going to be thrown and then be able to win on the ground.
I remmber watching the Spijker's fight and not being that impressed. Then Renzo stepped on him. Now, that pissed me off. But the Warring/Paulson fight showed how much pure heart paulson had. Holy crap, I just remembered, Black Belt magazine had Renzo and Bart Whats-his-name on the cover to promote the fight...Oh yeah, Bart Vale...
judojon - I believe it was Yosh's idea to send Wanag to the tryouts. I heard the same thing, he crushed everybody there.
+1
Well, I distinctly remember Emanuel Yarborough, in his UFC 3 fight with Keith Hackney, coming in with both Sumu and Judu.
A poster above has already alluded to this epic strategy, but I think it needed expanding a bit for historical context.
what tryouts are these? UFC 1 fighters were hand picked, and didn't fight anyone to get there. This is all rather widely known...
The source about Chris Dolman was his instructor Jon Bluming. Bluming was the #2 Judoka from europe only behind Anton Geesink. Maybe it was a money issue. Dolman was 48 in 1993 so he was past his prime then. He wanted to fight Rickson to but it never came about. They use to call the Gracie family the crazy family. As far as how good Freek Hamaker was i have no idea.
PiousDevil -CharlesLewis - what tryouts are these? UFC 1 fighters were hand picked, and didn't fight anyone to get there. This is all rather widely known...
He is risen?
no, I'm the other one.