Fantasy Matchups: Old School vs. New School

Though the sport of MMA is young and still evolving, there have been many notable fighters over the years that have brought a larger-than-life quality to the sport.  Unfortunately, the natural passage of time means that some of our favorite fighters from yesteryear can’t face off against intriguing fighters who are currently in their prime.  So, for my own entertainment and I hope yours as well, I present the first (and probably only) Fantasy Fighting Championships: Old School vs. New School!

Kazushi Sakuraba (2000) vs. Anderson Silva: MMA’s craftiest grappler vs. MMA’s most precise striker.  Before he became fodder for fighters who outweighed him by multiple weight classes, Kazushi Sakuraba was considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.  Not only had he knocked off four members of the Gracie family, all at their own game, he’d gone up against a who’s who of early MMA stars, including Carlos Newton, Vitor Belfort, and Guy Mezger.  Known, among other things, as the “IQ Wrestler”, Saku would outclass his opponents on the mat to the point of clowning with them, much to the delight of the native Japanese crowd. 

Silva, in recent years, has shown similar characteristics, playing around with opponents he should be able to put away at a moment’s notice, and it’s because he, too, is up for the status of the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world by virtue of his diverse, accurate, and often unorthodox striking style.  One could almost believe that, given their respective strengths and weaknesses, this fight would be one-sided, and probably dependent upon how the first ten seconds of the match went.

Mirko Filipovic (2005) vs. Brock Lesnar: Prior to his match with Fedor Emelianenko, “Crocop” was considered to be the #2 heavyweight in MMA.  Some pundits even put him ahead of the Russian.  For those who didn’t follow MMA at the time, his striking was Anderson Silva-level scary.  To date, he’s recorded nine victories where his kicks to the body, legs, and head ended or helped to end the fight.  You’ve seen MMA fighters take repeated kicks to the legs and body; imagine taking those kicks so hard that your legs refuse to keep you upright.  In addition, his ability to sprawl and punish high-level wrestlers was equally impressive, and he’d developed a solid if defense-oriented guard game.  Despite his relatively small size for a Heavyweight fighter, he was one of the most feared men in the sport in the mid-2000’s, much like Lesnar is today. 

Lesnar doesn’t get his intimidation factor by having the ability to KO an opponent with lightning-fast punches or kicks.  Rather, his great quickness and agility for such an immense fighter makes you almost believe he’s a force of nature.  Though still pretty green to the sport, he’s got a bulldozer of a takedown, dominating ground control, and giant fists that make even the shortest punches fight-changers.  The question here would be, could a prime Crocop stop Lesnar’s takedowns?  Could his counter-striking style put the fear of Mirko into Lesnar, or would the Minnesotan blow through the Croatian’s offense and end the fight with his [insert metaphor here] fists?

Hayato Sakurai (2001) vs. Carlos Condit: Hayato “Mach” Sakurai racked up a 20-fight undefeated streak, largely in the Japanese Shooto organization, before having that nearly-five year record snapped by Anderson Silva.  While an impressive record, most of his wins came over limited competition.  Many fans feel that after being injured in a car accident shortly after the Silva loss, he was never the same fighter again. 

Carlos Condit is in a similar boat that “Mach” was in shortly after his loss.  He’s a well-rounded fighter with a very good record, but many of his wins come over unremarkable opponents.  Both fighters are hard to finish, and this would no doubt be an exciting, up-and-down, back-and-forth fight that would have the fans salivating for more.

Bas Rutten (1996) vs. Quinton Jackson: Bas Rutten started as a heavy-hitting striker who quickly adapted a submission game to his arsenal.  After his third submission loss, he went completely undefeated.  Bas was the most feared striker of his generation, utilizing leg kicks, knees from the clinch, wicked palm strikes in Pancrase, and his infamous “liver shot”, which he used to defeat fighters like Jason Delucia.  But as dangerous as his striking game was, he evolved an almost self-taught, Catch/Shoot wrestling based grappling style that led him, over the course of his career, to rack up more finishes via submission than by strikes, including an unconventional cradle spine lock.  Bas’s offense was so varied that rarely won a match in the same fashion twice.  In 1996, he racked up wins against Guy Mezger, Frank Shamrock, and Masakatsu Funaki, all dangerous fighters in the early days of MMA. 

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson began MMA as a wrestling-based fighter, but has since turned into a very good boxer with a number of knockouts on his record, including Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, and Kevin Randleman.  Would Bas’s flat-footed stance result in him eating a punch combination, or would his combination of kicks, knees, and punches short-circuit Rampage’s offense?  Could Jackson successfully utilize a slam-to-ground-and-pound strategy against Bas’s notoriously weak takedown offense, or would he be caught in one of the Dutchman’s many unorthodox submissions?

Rickson Gracie (1995) vs. Dan Henderson: Rickson Gracie is a legendary name in the world of BJJ.  Expert trainers like Erik Paulson and top-level competitors like Paulo Filho speak of his grappling skills in awe.  Unlike many of his relatives, Rickson was athletic and aggressive in the ring, often taking top position and laying in some serious ground-and-pound before finishing his opponent with a submission.  In fact, he was considered by Rorion to be too good to represent the Gracie family in the first UFC, the notion being that nobody would buy into the idea of using leverage to beat a bigger opponent if Rickson tore through the competition.  In 1995, he won the Vale Tudo Japan tournament at age 36.  Though he was nearing the end of his physical prime, Rickson’s skills still shown through as he dominated the competition. 

Dan Henderson, arguably also past his physical prime, is a legend in his own right.  Renowned for his power, toughness, and clinch-fighting acumen, Henderson’s more evolved stand-up skills and wrestling prowess would be a challenge for Rickson, who was frustrated in fights by wrestlers far less decorated than Hendo.  Meanwhile, Henderson has only been stopped by BJJ black belts, including the Nogueira brothers and Anderson Silva.  BJJ is his kryptonite.  Two aging fighters, in good shape, with solid top control and ground-and-pound skills, would make for a battle of wills and skills.

Frank Shamrock (1999) vs. Rich Franklin: In his prime, Frank Shamrock was considered the prototype for the future of MMA.  He combined solid striking with good ground work, plus modern conditioning methods at a time when some fighters didn’t even consider that part of the game.  By the end of 1999, Shamrock had won the UFC “Middleweight” (200lbs) title, an Interim King of Pancrase title, and had beaten the likes of Bas Rutten, Tito Ortiz, Masakatsu Funaki, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, Jeremy Horn, Olympic gold medalist wrestler Kevin Jackson, Enson Inoue, and Minoru Suzuki (twice).  He also took Allan Goes and Kiyoshi Tamura to time-limit draws. 

Though Rich Franklin is arguably past his prime, he’s still a force to be reckoned with.  He’s well-rounded, like Shamrock, and known for his intense conditioning, also like Shamrock.  How this match would have played out is anyone’s guess.  Shamrock looks to be the faster of the two, while Franklin is probably stronger.  Other than that, it’s just too close to call.

Igor Vovchanchyn (2000) vs. Melvin Manhoef:

Newer MMA fans have never had the chance to see how devastating “Ice Cold” Igor Vovchanchyn was in his prime.  Arguably the hardest puncher in MMA history, Igor threw his (usually bare) fists with reckless abandon.  2000 was his most productive year as a fighter.  He racked up wins vs. Gary Goodridge and Kazushi Sakuraba on his way to the finals of the Pride Grand Prix, defeated a prime Mark Kerr in a rematch of their controversial Pride 7 meeting, and beat Enson Inoue into the hospital. 

Matching him up against “No Mercy” Melvin Manhoef, another powerful striker with no interest in grappling would make for fireworks.  Manhoef throws punches and kicks as if he’s trying to put a hole in his opponent.  He’s scored wins over Evangelista Santos and Kazushi Sakuraba, and is the only man to knock out Mark Hunt in MMA.  Both men have competed at 205, but Igor started his career as a heavyweight, and Melvin has moved down to 185.  Igor would have size, Mevlin would have speed.  The match would be fun, for the minute or so it would last.

Mark Kerr (1999) vs. Fabricio Werdum: Another unfortunate victim of the MMA lifestyle, as well as his own personal demons, Mark Kerr was Brock Lesnar-scary in the early part of his career.  A crushing wrestler with imposing athleticism, a burgeoning submission game, and fierce ground-and-pound, Kerr was considered unstoppable in the late 1990’s, with wins over Fabio Gurgel, Dan Bobish, and Hugo Duarte, not to mention winning the ADCC Submission Grappling tournament in 1999. 

Werdum is also an ADCC winner who has been honing his stand-up skills with the Chute Boxe academy in recent years.  Neither man has faced an opponent quite like the other during the course of their careers; Kerr’s BJJ-based opponents were always smaller than him, and Werdum’s defeat of a past-his-prime Erickson is the closest he’s come to facing a dominant wrestler.  Would Kerr’s takedowns and ground-and-pound be enough to defeat Werdum, or would the BJJ expert submit him from the bottom, or even knock him out from standing?

These matches are the product of my own whims.  The notion of matching up any two fighters in MMA history is a captivating one to long-time fans, and any number of possibilities can arise.  How would a Coleman of 2000 deal with a Couture of 2005?  Would a Matt Hughes of 2005 be able to defeat a Pat Miletich of 1998?  How about 2003’s Wanderlei and today’s Anderson?  The sad fact is that we’ll never know.  As corny as it is to quote a “Rocky” movie, I’ll steal a line from the third one: “You know what, Stallion?  It’s too bad we’ve got to get old.”  That’s a sentiment both fighters and their fans can get behind.