Pure strikers in MMA as late as 2001

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

Seriously why did it keep happening so late and in high profile matches?
In Pride 9, Gilbert Yvel got GnP to hell by Vitor.
Around the same time, Semmy Schilt was getting GnP to hell and then subbed in like 2' by Josh Barnett in UFC 32.

Both Gilbert and Semmy were pure strikers. Didn't they know at that point what happens to dudes without wrestling/grappling?

 

[Dick]

Melvin Manhoef had a 27 year mma career and went 32-17 being a pure striker with no ground game.

 

[mkt]

Schilt had 6 submisson wins before facing Barnett. Granted, some may have happened because he was going against other pure stikers and he was able to control them on the ground with his massive size, but still....you don't have wins by RNC and guillotines if you're a 100% striker with zero grappling training. He had some basic knowledge he learned somewhere.

 

[cmw43]

Seriously why did it keep happening so late and in high profile matches?
In Pride 9, Gilbert Yvel got GnP to hell by Vitor.
Around the same time, Semmy Schilt was getting GnP to hell and then subbed in like 2' by Josh Barnett in UFC 32.

Both Gilbert and Semmy were pure strikers. Didn't they know at that point what happens to dudes without wrestling/grappling?

Schilt actually developed a competent ground game, 3 of his last 4 wins are by sub, pretty good for a "pure striker".

 

[KAZSoliloquy]

"as late as 2001" bro we had guys with absolutely no grappling/striking until like 2014. hell ryan hall is still around.

 

[PEDRO IVO RUSSO MIRANDA]

Lol, Alex Pereira is champion in two divisions in 2024 counting solely in his striking skill

 

[Bobby Boulders]

You really didn't earn the title The King of Pancrase back then without knowing how to grapple, it was geared towards grappling. He teaches people Pancrase style, today, he's an instructor lmao. He wasn't just a K1 guy, just a fighter who wanted to legitimately test himself, and did.

 

[The Boomerang]

Melvin Manhoef had a 27 year mma career and went 32-17 being a pure striker with no ground game.

Ultimate glass cannon

 

[2004 account]

Seriously why did it keep happening so late and in high profile matches?
In Pride 9, Gilbert Yvel got GnP to hell by Vitor.
Around the same time, Semmy Schilt was getting GnP to hell and then subbed in like 2' by Josh Barnett in UFC 32.

Both Gilbert and Semmy were pure strikers. Didn't they know at that point what happens to dudes without wrestling/grappling?

In Holland at that time they had a proud striking culture that would look down on grappling arts in some gyms

 

[PaddyO'malley]

Yo, that's just how a sport evolves, fam. Some guys might be all about kickboxing, but they chill with MMA heads and pick up a bit of grappling, thinking they're set. Then they jump in the ring – sometimes you get a James Toney, sometimes a Pereira. Other times, mans just go back to grinding in BJJ or NCAA and carve out a solid career.

Mans ain't just gonna come in and start buckin' vets when just dem hands,,, styll. Nobody's keeping it a buck if they're claiming mans a pure striker in high-level MMA. Even back in UFC 1 times when mans first discovered MMA scraps, fam, it's all about that mix-up game.

 

[IndyCovaHart]

semmy in mma wasnt much to brag about

 

[samuelsoncast]

People forgetting that Gokhan Saki was brought in.

 

[laleggenda27]

 

[mkt]

Schilt actually developed a competent ground game, 3 of his last 4 wins are by sub, pretty good for a "pure striker".

Even his first win in 1996 was by RNC. I'm not sure where he learned it, but I know there was a small Dutch grappling scene in the early days of NHB. There was a Dutch "Sambo" fighter named Frank Hamamaker in UFC 2 who won his first round fight by submission then pulled out of the tournament.

 

[Elvis.]

I think they just couldn’t help themselves, they would see the level of mma striking at the time and think

give me a break this is going to be a walk in the park .

 

[mkt]

"as late as 2001" bro we had guys with absolutely no grappling/striking until like 2014. hell ryan hall is still around.

Don't forget Roger "Van Damme" Gracie. I hear they banned he and Kron from kickboxing tournaments because they'd dominate them so easily!

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

Schilt’s grappling was good enough to have success in Pancrase…

And didn’t he beat Gan Magee with a triangle in Pride?

 

[WillyWill]

retty sure Semmy STARTED as an aMMA fighter then went to KickBoxing. Same with Reem, thought he was an esatblished K1 guy first, but really MMA was his first thing. Might be wrong about Semmy.

 

[WillyWill]

Yes, Semmy DEF was an MMA fighter WAY before he cometeed at the highest levels of KB

 

[pankrat]

Back then, Laverne Clark was one of the best boxers in MMA.
Yuki Kondo in Japan was the man