How dominate would a prime Aleksandr Karelin be in any time period of UFC/Pride?

[FrankDux]

Lets assume this guy "passes" any USADA testing. Does he get starched? Does he dominate?

 

[wrestlefan]

In before someone brings up his pro wrestling match with Maeda.

 

[Drugstore Cowboy]

Poor man's Randleman

 

[CerebralKnievel]

I dont know, but I'd have payed to watch him fight Couture or Randleman.

 

[eiyuu]

He'd probably maul some people up.

And since he was a Greco Roman wrestler, just being able to sprawl won't save you from him taking you down.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

There's a guy who mostly posts in Worldwide that analyzed Karelin.

The short of it is, his fight with Maeda (in Rings) may or may not have been a work, but either way it showed that Karelin had a lot of holes. His transition to MMA would not necessarily have been simple.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Artur Taymazov wouldve beat him down

 

[listrahtes]

There's a guy who mostly posts in Worldwide that analyzed Karelin.

The short of it is, his fight with Maeda (in Rings) may or may not have been a work, but either way it showed that Karelin had a lot of holes. His transition to MMA would not necessarily have been simple.

Please. No one ever took this crapfest serious. Karelin went for fucking wrist control when he could ve killed Maeda. Karelin with 1 year of mma training would still need to proof he had a chin but if thats the case holy cow he would obliterate near everyone as soon as its grappling range. The guys isometric strenght was otherworldly. Never again someone even came close to his power. Just think about him having even a little above sub game. Someone like Lesnar is a joke compared to Karelin and Karelin was way tougher on the mental side.

 

[Get To Da Choppa]

Dominant before 2003, especially under Pride rules. Imagine Karelin with knees to the ground like what Mark Coleman did to Igor, but 3 times worse.


However, if he doesn't develop any standup skills once the HW GOATS like Fedor and Nog entered, he won't be able to keep up. Shit, even Iron Head stiffened a prime Olympic gold medalist in wrestling with the testosterone level of a roided up horse

 

[Bruce Lee666]

Karelin make Khabib,DC, Cain Wrestling looks weak He eat Monsters in breakfast It's scary think him fighting MMA.

 

[Bruce Lee666]

Please. No one ever took this crapfest serious. Karelin went for fucking wrist control when he could ve killed Maeda. Karelin with 1 year of mma training would still need to proof he had a chin but if thats the case holy cow he would obliterate near everyone as soon as its grappling range. The guys isometric strenght was otherworldly. Never again someone even came close to his power. Just think about him having even a little above sub game. Someone like Lesnar is a joke compared to Karelin and Karelin was way tougher on the mental side.

comparing Lesnar Wrestling with Karelin Wrestling is like comparing a baby to an adult in physical strength.

Karelin destroyed the best wrestlers in the world, he made them look helpless.

 

[VinceArch]

Would've been awesome to see had he tried out MMA.

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

There's a guy who mostly posts in Worldwide that analyzed Karelin.

The short of it is, his fight with Maeda (in Rings) may or may not have been a work, but either way it showed that Karelin had a lot of holes. His transition to MMA would not necessarily have been simple.

I've watched a good bit of Karelin. I think any even half-decent striker would piece him up with ease. His hands looked slow and lumbering. That being said, in fairness we have to assume that he would at least work on his hands, if not focus on them. If he got even just solid striking defense, he could have been a real force.

 

[Koro_11]

I imagine he would be comparable to Dan Severn.

 

[wearetheromans]

Dominant*
The word is dominant.

 

[immyaxl]

Lets assume this guy "passes" any USADA testing. Does he get starched? Does he dominate?

Well seeing as how his prime fighting years would've been 1993-2000. I'd say he would've dominated the early UFC tournament days and early Pride depending on whichever Promotion he fought in. He would've destroyed Gracie. Fights with prime Shamrock, Severn, Coleman, Kerr, Frye Couture, Randelman and Taktarov would've been interesting. He was a better wrestler than all of them though. Karelin was an absolute beast. He most likely would have never fought under USADA so that's not really relevant.

 

[listrahtes]

comparing Lesnar Wrestling with Karelin Wrestling is like comparing a baby to an adult in physical strength.

Karelin destroyed the best wrestlers in the world, he made them look helpless.

Thats kinda what I was going for

 

[immyaxl]

There's a guy who mostly posts in Worldwide that analyzed Karelin.

The short of it is, his fight with Maeda (in Rings) may or may not have been a work, but either way it showed that Karelin had a lot of holes. His transition to MMA would not necessarily have been simple.

His fight with Maeda was a work. It was a worked strong style match which was what Maeda was known for. Karelin was paid a lot of money to do it. Karelin never had a real MMA fight. It's to bad that it wasn't a shoot. Maeda would've been a great first opponent for someone like Karelin. A winnable fight against someone with a name.

 

[CerebralKnievel]

There's a guy who mostly posts in Worldwide that analyzed Karelin.

The short of it is, his fight with Maeda (in Rings) may or may not have been a work, but either way it showed that Karelin had a lot of holes. His transition to MMA would not necessarily have been simple.

No one's would be, hence why it's hilarious every time some adolescent dork comes onto the forum shrieking about how LeBron James would be champion with 1 year of training.

 

[CerebralKnievel]

I've watched a good bit of Karelin. I think any even half-decent striker would piece him up with ease. His hands looked slow and lumbering. That being said, in fairness we have to assume that he would at least work on his hands, if not focus on them. If he got even just solid striking defense, he could have been a real force.

This was sort of the line of reasoning of my initial thought. I would be interested in seeing him in any number of matchups, but I believe he might fare better with guys like Severn and Randleman than Fedor and CroCop. But anything can happen (Randleman vs CroCop, for example).