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

[ThaiSexPills]

Rulon Gardner by KO.

 

[NoSmilez]

He's not too fast

 

[Bruce Lee666]

He's not too fast

fast or not if he grabs you you're dead, it would be nice to see a divine athlete in MMA where level B,C,D athletes reign.

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

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).

LOL Randleman vs Cro Cop 1 & 2, as no one thought Randleman would KO Mirko, but in the rematch no one thought Cro Cop would guillotine Randleman.

 

[Glove]

Considering Rulon Gardner had beaten him and fought in Pride just one time beating Hidehiko Yoshida by UD......i guess average.

 

[Texan6533]

Depends if he could take a punch.

 

[TheJohnnyWalkerEra]

Depends on his cardio and chin. Wrestling is hard work so most have good cardio, and he looks like the type of guy to have a good chin

I think he would have mauled pretty much anyone

 

[MCS]

He has some sketchy MMA-like exhibition where the no striking shows. Cain is pretty much the perfect HW for Karelin's style and for most. You can't get pins in MMA. Early UFC he would dominate all and maybe snap Royce in half, but there is the not knowing locks. Like Severn witnessed. Even "modern" UFC he would beat most guys with just the wrestling and insane strength. But put him against Cain or in Werdum's guard and he'd need to know more than wrestling.

 

[Katsushyro]

It depends on how he reacts to getting punched.

 

[ryun253]

Karelin vs Royce would've been a good match

 

[eighterumg5]

Has it been six months already?

 

[immyaxl]

Just thought about who would be favourite against him and who would have a chance. You make a good point.
His achilles heel would be fast heavy handed movers like Fedor & his brother. Someone like JDS is too one dimensional and lacks the angling to really avoid the clinch vs any top wrestler.

Out of UFC Miocic could very well outmaneuver him imo and win comfortable on points. Prime Timmy maybe but he also often ended in a clinch position for some time.

Cormier & Velasquez would have no chance with their style.

Man looking up the HW top10 nowadays can make you cry. Such a crapfest.

He would've fought in the 90's if he competed in MMA. He'd have been retired before those guys came along.

 

[cade187]

The key is passing USADA. He was called “The Experiment” for a reason. Karelin is the pinnacle of what doping can accomplish, even more so than Ubereem. If he never used peds he probably would have been average.

 

[CerebralKnievel]

LOL Randleman vs Cro Cop 1 & 2, as no one thought Randleman would KO Mirko, but in the rematch no one thought Cro Cop would guillotine Randleman.

It was an inverse twist of reality.

 

[Blayt7hh]

As great as he was he was also a Greco Roman wrestler. That is the least useful form of wrestling in MMA. I’m not saying that makes him suck but it’s a real factor that a lot of people are overlooking

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

It was an inverse twist of reality.

I'm sure some psychopaths made some serious money landing both those bets.

 

[AndrewGolota48]

Rulon Gardner looked like a natural with his hands, considering his lack of experience. He could probably sprawl and brawl Karelin into next Tuesday.

 

[Grappler111]

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

Vs another greco roman wrestler with a lot of pro mma fights...

 

[Grappler111]

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.

He he see Fedor or Cro Cop results outside Japan...

 

[immyaxl]

He he see Fedor or Cro Cop results outside Japan...

Fedor and Cro cop would've been the era after him. There was no drug testing anywhere when he would've been fighting MMA. He was the best Greco Roman Wrestler in Olympic history. Wrestling is a the best base for MMA. He would've been fighting in an era that didn't have well rounded fighters for the most part. I'd say he would've been a better version of Randy Couture.