Thankfully I’d never have reason to end up in that situation.
I think in our lifetimes people will be fighting to the death for money
Oh, I see the problem. We live in different universes. I live in one where Funaki chose to retire at 31 after that fight. And the one where it was actually Sakuraba who beat Funaki when he came out of retirement.
I’ve never heard of it either but if one of them’s Randy I guess the others are all fucked.
2 Likes
The first Takada fight made sense when you consider the Japanese push.
The second, I’m guessing he was well paid.
Pride in some ways echoed the “growing pains” that Pancrase had years earlier.
It’s a cultural thing that doesn’t make much sense to westerners in hindsight.
Pride had some exhibition grappling matches, and both Newton and Sak would have been fun to see Rickson tangle with.
Grappling matches with these guys, with no points to the finish, would have been amazing to see.
Those rules would favor Rickson.
Maybe have a real fight rematch clause in the contract?
Could have been cool.
Rickson might have subbed Dan Henderson, but Hendo was so damaging in transition, I’d pick him in a real fight.
Guys like Coleman and Igor, in real fights, were probably a bit much to expect from Rickson at that age.
Yes Sakuraba stepped up in weight and got thrown to the wolves.
But I think the logical aspect of these risks at Rickson’s age, has been pointed out enough in this thread, by knowledgeable guys other than myself.
I mean, look what happened.
Rickson is not the only legend who didn’t do some of the dream fights.
Remember when Frank said he would "wait for everyone to catch up"?
I’m not fully on the Rickson bandwagon, and I’m not a hater either.
I do have the utmost hespect for him, relative to a person I don’t know.
I tend to think I look at it realistically – but am always willing to respect to those with greater experience.
At the end of the day, it’s all unverifiable opinion.
You seem to be leaning towards a more extreme side of the Rickson detractor spectrum.
IMHO, reality can generally be found somewhere in the grey area between 2 extremes.
3 Likes
Wouldn’t be the first time.
Dark web shit?
LOL.
Funaki retired in 1999 after fighting Tony Paterra due to injuries. He was dragged out of retirement as a moderately well known name to feed Rickson’s record.
He collected a payday against Sakuraba SEVEN YEARS later.
2 Likes
I’m not on the dark web but I think degenerate shit like this will become more common
I actually agree with this but I don’t think it’ll happen in our lifetimes. It’ll probably take longer.
Gentleman, we have an update that gives us an empirical answer on the winner of this hypothetical fight. Breaking news.
2 Likes
I had to stop reading after the Relson quote.
With all due hespect, the self promotion is off the charts.
Give it another 10 years and Rickson with be tied with Helio at 5000.
3 Likes
I believe Rickson was the best Gracie based on the people that have trained with him and what I’ve seen in his fights…. but counting practice or sparring as actual fights is fucking crazy. Gracie Jiu Jitsu has now proliferated American culture to a significant degree… no need to keep doing this at almost 70 years old.
2 Likes
There is a good argument Carlson was superior.
Carlson was a better striker and wrestler than Rickson. And he fought the best in his time.
Hendo/Rickson would have a certain possibility of looking like Tito/Royce
I appreciate the response…
But can you elaborate?
Tito didn’t fight like Hendo, and Royce didn’t fight like Rickson.
I don’t think Rickson does well against Hendo. Hendo keeps it standing and KOs hom
3 Likes
to be fair, he does claim his 400-0 includes grappling matches
maybe he is counting out of competition rolls too
I believe so, he says he could count up to 1,000
Kerr handles Rickson, imo. He took Sperry who has much more credentials than Rickson.
1 Like
It’s a shame Sperry never fought Rickson, that is a great match
3 Likes