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They didn't have striking anywhere near his level and they wanted it to the ground. Severn wasn't in UFC 1.
No, Severn was in 3. Meaning Gracie beat a bigger better wrester who knew what he was getting into.
There were much better strikers than MJW in UFC 1. There were guys who could win fights without a script dictating it. Patrick Smith knocked out Andy Hug in K1. Gordeau was 1991 World Champion Savate and holder of the Dutch Champion Kyokushin Karate (same style as MJW's base) title for 8 consecutive years. Art Jimmerson was the former national golden gloves champ and a 29-5 pro boxer.
The only way anyone other than gracie was winning UFC 1 was if they knew more/better submission defense than a shoot wrestler of Ken Shamrock's pedigree.
In other words MJW may "impress" the pros in sparring, but he has nothing to offer that wasn't already presented and he wouldn't have been the best, most cross trained, or most pedigreed guy. And he'd have by FAR the least competitive experience.
He'd have lost.