Back in the early UFC's, which other martial artists could have done well. I know a variety of other combat athlete's were wanted to fight. Don Wilson on various occasions was wanted to fight in the UFC. He said if there was ever enough fan support that he would have, but never did. I remember seeing signs that read Mike Tyson at the early UFC's.
I'm honestly not sure either of those two would have done well in the early UFC's. Wilson, while a skilled kickboxer, was a bit undersized and untrained in grappling to be facing guys like Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, and Mark Coleman. Tyson, I'd only have put in a match with Tank Abbott, where he stood the best chance of winning. He always had a "puncher's chance", and would certainly not have been above utilizing the headbutts, knees, elbows, and groin shots allowed in early events, but his defeat would have been acedemic once the fight hit the mat. I would have liked to see "The Experiment" Alexandre Karelin. The man was THE force in Greco-Roman wrestling for a decade or more. He was almost 300lbs and had ungodly strength. I honestly believe he could rip someone's head off their neck if he wanted to. Train him for a few months in the Lion's Den or something to get him some submission experience, then let him dismantle everyone in his way.
Fights are won on defense; the fighter's whose defense that falls apart first is the one who loses the fight. In the early UFC's, you saw many strikers that had no clue how to defend against grappling losing to grapplers who had a good concept of how to defend against what the strkers were throwing. IF guys like Tyson prepared properly and learned how to defend against what their opponents would throw against them in the octagon, I think guys with that athletic ability and strength would fare pretty well. (BTW, before I get flamed for being "anti-grappling", it should be mentioned that I was a Jujitsu black belt a decade before the first UFC and have trained in submission grappling, including BJJ ever since). As for Don Wilson, a combination of his age, lack of activity of fighting, lack of serious training at the time, and his size/strength disadvantage would have been major factors against him. The only way I could possibly see him as being successful would be for him to successfully control the set-point in his fights. I'd like to address one other factor about the early UFC's though. If you look at most of the high level kickboxers and fighters of the 60's, 70's and many even into the 80's, you'll find that most were either Jujitsu black belts or had been competitve Judoka. It is true that many had retired from competition and were a bit "long in the tooth" by the time the first UFC came along, but it seemed that Rorion went out of his way to select strikers who had no idea how to defend against grappling. Now it may be in part due to the fact that the early UFC's were looked down upon by many at the time (they didn't have the pretige or name recogntition back then and were promoted along the model of pro wrestling) but if Rorion was trying to provide a "true test" rather than just market his school and systems, he could have done less to stack the deck.
i would have love to see karelin....fuzzy you are my new freind......i thought i was the only one who nuttrided him. (well you only mentioned him im gonna nut ride) i think this guy is one of the best ATHELETEs of all time...not just great wrestler but a great in the relm of pele, gretzky and jordan. he went undefeated for like 10 years....and of the top of my head i think no one scored a point on him for like 6 years. weighs about 300 lbs picked up an 800 lbs refegerator and could do the splits by the way i dont know if wilsons size would be a factor....im not sure how small he was but....royce was on the small side and so was gerard......who did well too.
Hey, I'll freely admit that I'm in awe of Karelin. I remember seeing him for the first time when they ran a profile on him for Barcelona. They showed him carrying a log on his shoulders and running (running) through waist-deep Siberian snow. He's like a Bond henchman or something. Found his stats: undefeated for 13years, no points scored on him in the last six, three gold and one silver Olympic medals, nine world championships. You know he's gotta be good when they name a lift after him. As for Wilson, I think the heaviest he ever fought was 195lbs. Most early UFC competitors were over 200lbs. While there was a laundry-list of scrubs at those events he would have manhandled, guys like Shamrock, Severn, and Coleman would have been too big. Royce could do what he wanted 'cause when he was winning, nobody else fought like him. Would Wilson have beaten guys like Fred Ettish and Zane Frazier? In a heartbeat. But unless he was in UFC 3, he would eventually have faced a grappler, and with the exception of Royce, they all had dozens of pounds on him as well as knowledge.
While Don Wilson was an awesome kickboxer, who knows really how he would've done? Maurice Smith was the first kickboxer to win the UFC, so it could've been possible. I wonder if Don Wilson really wanted to fight in the UFC, though? I mean, the lack of fan support is what made his mind up not to fight? Sounds like an excuse to not tarnish his kickboxing reputation, no disrespect intended to his kickboxing prowess. As for Mike Tyson, why would a boxer who makes millions per fight want to waste his time fighting for peanuts in the UFC? It's all about the money for them. Besides, everyone probably figured that he'd be taken to the ground and submitted eventually. However, watching for the "one punch" to turn things around would've been exciting to see!
Ah the land of speculation. Yeah I'd have liked to see Tyson get some basic ground tech under his belt and then enter. I think many people wouldn't have been able to deal with him. I don't think most people who haven't followed his career since his amatuer days realize just how fast and strong he was. A total monster at lighting speed. Like he always said... 'Everyone has a plan until they get knocked out'. And it was never more true than with Tyson. I figure if you take that basic package - great physique... great conditioning... solid jaw... uber aggressive... not afraid to mix it up... smart fighter... and added some ground skills - then you have a very scary opponent no matter how you slice it. With Tyson it doesn't take but one hit and your in serious trouble. Watch his early amatuer bouts... he was a punchers puncher. Fun idea to bat around. Now watch the Tyson haters come out of the woodwork. As for Don Wilson. Meh.
Would have been great to see Tyson after UFC made the shift away from "style vs style" and he had gone in there knowing a fair bit of grappling. Even with rudimentary ground defence I think he would have done very well. Still would not have cleared his debts though.
