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UnderGround Forum >> Rick Flair: Harley Race would have been MMA champ
| 12/4/12 11:36 AM | |
Underground Blog
20 
Member Since: 12/3/08 Posts: 10695 MixedMartialArts.com |
With the extraordinary success of Brock Lesnar, the idea of rasslers crossing over to MMA is no longer a joke. Rick Flair was recently interviewed by wrestlenewz.com and as is becoming standard in pro wrestling interviews, the line of questioning turned to MMA. WrestleNewz: If you were 21 years old today, do you think you’d go into MMA instead of pro wrestling? Rick Flair: No, I wouldn’t. I will watch MMA if someone I know is actually in it, but all the guys I know personally are gone. Liddell’s gone - he’s a good friend. Ortiz is gone - he’s a good friend too. Brock Lesnar is gone. The other guys now, I don’t watch, because I don’t care about them. But I’ll tell you: I have been in matches with Bruiser Brody that were tougher than any MMA match! Especially in Tokyo. Same thing with Stan Hansen. Try getting in the ring with him one time in Tokyo, brother. Good lord! And FYI, nobody in MMA could have beaten Harley Race or Dick Slater. Those guys were just that tough. And remember Haku? Don’t ever think that anybody would mess with Haku. If he was a young guy and he got into MMA, my god - he’d have done everything! He was the toughest son of a bitch I’ve ever met in my whole life. No lie, take my word for it. |
| 12/4/12 11:38 AM | |
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HOLLYWOOD-MO
Member Since: 5/30/03 Posts: 33549 |
He'll get the wrestling dopes to buy into this crap |
| 12/4/12 11:39 AM | |
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HOLLYWOOD-MO
Member Since: 5/30/03 Posts: 33550 |
Haku = Kimo He would have been and done the exact same |
| 12/4/12 11:39 AM | |
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Phisher
Member Since: 1/4/09 Posts: 2767 |
Voted down for misspelling Flair's name. |
| 12/4/12 11:39 AM | |
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kid chaos
8
Member Since: 7/24/09 Posts: 1398 |
(-_-) 
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| 12/4/12 11:40 AM | |
Hansumboy
Member Since: 10/10/07 Posts: 6861 |
Just another delusional old fool. |
| 12/4/12 11:41 AM | |
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Chaz Johnson
3
Member Since: 11/24/11 Posts: 575 |
That's interesting woooooo
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| 12/4/12 11:44 AM | |
JOB
59
Member Since: 1/22/05 Posts: 19263 |
It's always said that Haku was a tough bastard. I don't doubt it. But none of them are beating a trained fighter. Ever. |
| 12/4/12 11:45 AM | |
Kirik
477
Member Since: 1/1/01 Posts: 50166 The UnderGround, Mayor |
Phisher - Where did Chris spell the name wrong? |
| 12/4/12 11:46 AM | |
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Zed Wayne Zed
69
Member Since: 10/20/11 Posts: 951 |
Hansumboy - Just another delusional old fool. Quiet you! No, but in all reality, there's a lot of guys that just didn;t have the option or even the knowledge to get into something like mixed martial arts, because it didn't exist. Harley Race sure looked like one tough man. Bruiser Brody. Haku. You put any of those gents in an fight gym in the late-teens or early 20's and I think you'd have seen some formidable fights. The anti pro wrestling contingent comes off as insecure and somewhat try-hard. If pro wrestling sucks so much, why do so many top fighters openly speak about growing up watching Saturday Night's Main Event and AWA and all that stuff. Cue, Tom Lawlor! Pipe in, Tom! "What I’d like to have right now is for all of you fat, out-of-shape sweat hogs....." |
| 12/4/12 11:51 AM | |
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SonofJockstrap
Member Since: 7/18/12 Posts: 684 |
Haku ripped out someone's eye in a street fight and took on 5 officers and beat the shit out of all of them, it's documented. Street-fighting isn't what happens in the cage though. Harley Race and Dick Slater if they got ported to this decade as guys in the early to mid 20's probably could have been fantastic, might not have ever been champion, but there's no doubt they'd probably be good. Stan Hansen's a stretch, he was tough but I don't know how he'd do. The old guard of pro wrestling had a bunch of tough motherfuckers, but very few who would likely win championships. People are quick to forget Sakuraba's mma training at the time of his debut consisted high school wrestling and pro wrestling. |
| 12/4/12 12:02 PM | |
caseharts
311
Member Since: 7/18/11 Posts: 12374 |
There are guys that could have done it, but only a few.
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| 12/4/12 12:05 PM | |
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Festus
46
Member Since: 10/20/07 Posts: 11050 |
Kirik -Phisher - there's no "k" Ric |
| 12/4/12 12:05 PM | |
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Zed Wayne Zed
69
Member Since: 10/20/11 Posts: 954 |
El Gigante vs Struve! |
| 12/4/12 12:06 PM | |
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okiebug
12
Member Since: 8/18/06 Posts: 858 |
Danny Hodge would have been a legit MMA champ. |
| 12/4/12 12:07 PM | |
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chawkins
17
Member Since: 12/14/05 Posts: 2426 |
To be fair to Flair, we need to bear in mind that when he says a young Harley Race or Haku would make waves in MMA today, he's not saying they'd step out of a time machine and take on the MMA world with nothing but their pro wrestling skills. He's saying that if you took those guys with their raw toughness and natural gifts and they had decided to train for MMA the same way they'd trained for wrestling, they'd make waves. |
| 12/4/12 12:07 PM | |
UGCTT_Reco Groman
99
Member Since: 7/22/09 Posts: 1528 |
I've known Harley for over 30 years now, and there's no doubt he's one of the toughest dudes I've ever met, and he would be near the top of the heap if he had competed in MMA. |
| 12/4/12 12:09 PM | |
JustPeed
20
Member Since: 12/20/09 Posts: 10871 |
lol at "I've had matches that are tougher than any mma fight" yeah, sure. not hating on Flair but that line was ridiculous. 
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| 12/4/12 12:09 PM | |
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Willy the Coyote
57
Member Since: 10/9/05 Posts: 8005 |
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| 12/4/12 12:11 PM | |
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timmyfront
2
Member Since: 3/12/02 Posts: 5292 |
Flair makes some sense. Tough ass dudes who start training at an early age and can handle the pressure of a huge audience could be champs. Also, keep in mind that a lot of the old school wrestlers came from a catch-as-catch-can background. They had legitimate submission and grappling experience. And I fucking hate pro wrestling. |
| 12/4/12 12:11 PM | |
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Willy the Coyote
57
Member Since: 10/9/05 Posts: 8006 |
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| 12/4/12 12:12 PM | |
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UGCTT_mrzipplokk
150
Member Since: 7/31/02 Posts: 42940 Mixed Martial Arts LLC, Moderator |
lol @ Kirik ratting out Chris. |
| 12/4/12 12:13 PM | |
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Ramsey
2
Member Since: 5/10/07 Posts: 2021 |
JustPeed - lol at "I've had matches that are tougher than any mma fight" Gotta remember you are reading what he said. I'm sure he was laughing as he made the comment. He's a smart well thought our person (when sober) WOOOOOOO! |
| 12/4/12 12:15 PM | |
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Willy the Coyote
57
Member Since: 10/9/05 Posts: 8007 |
Hansumboy - Just another delusional old fool.
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| 12/4/12 12:16 PM | |
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Festus
46
Member Since: 10/20/07 Posts: 11052 |
JustPeed - lol at "I've had matches that are tougher than any mma fight" not necessarily. Wrestlers bodies go through hell. I know mma is relatively a new sport and we haven't seen how people hold up in the twilight years but it is well documented wrestlers later years are spent in pain. I can believe that pro-wrestling is tougher than mma. in long term health. |
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