Here is the deal as modeled after Kimbo Slice...feed him some 25 year d-bags so he can beat them up. But they look young and are "built" so it actually looks like he is beating the piss out of young, in shape, trained fighters. But in reality he is not. Then book him to a bigger show and people will buy tickets like crazy! Again, feed him a d-bag and he wins.....then repeat until his luck runs out and someone knocks his teeth out or pops his elbow in half.
As much as I'd like to agree with you here, Brett.....there's one thing stopping me from doing it. We're talking about HERSCHEL WALKER. The man's a machine. He's one of the top 10 athletes of my lifetime. He's got "some" MA background, and there's no way he isn't training with and against the best. He's going in with eyes wide open.....and he'd scare the hell out of anyone I would think. He has MUCH less to lose than ANYONE he will ever fight.
There are a lot of great athletes in the MMA game. Every bit as much and more than Herschel Walker Jeff. If we are talking great athlete because he was fast and strong, I agree. If we are talking a great athlete based on submission wrestling, judo, boxing, thai boxing, greco roman wrestling...then only time will tell. I can tell you this, I trained with athletes at my small gym that were every bit as good as an athlete as Herschel in terms of body control. Herschel did not have the best body control as a RB. In fact, in my humble opinion that is why he did not achieve greatness in the NFL. To be considered a great athlete in the MMA game, you have to possess great body control, both standing and on the ground.
Let me ask, then..... He's fighting a professional MMA fighter....20+ yrs his junior. He's quite the physical specimen....and this is his profession. Who wins this fight?
To me, he's got a 20 ft wide bullseye on his ass. Who wouldn't want to knock out Herschel Walker? You say he has nothing to lose, I see it as he has nothing to gain. He'll get embarrassed at the minimum, and possibly hurt. MMA isn't a sport for soon-to-be AARP members.
So if this professional fighter beats him.....won't everyone say he was supposed to? That's having nothing to lose (IMO). I know these guys are unbelievably talented (MMA fighters). Do you think Herschel DOESN'T realize this?
Depends on who the "professional" is..........heck, I could have beaten the crap out of some "professional" fighters when I fought as an amateur. On the other hand, some "amateur" fighters could have possibly beaten my butt. Heck, I used to fight out of the same camp as Brandon Vera when he was an "amateur". He now fights in the UFC. By the time he only had three amateur bouts under his belt he was as dangerous as any top 20 light heavy professional in the world. So again, it depends on which "professional" he is fighting. Heck, a guy could call himself a pro if he wins $50 for winning an MMA fight. MMA executives are out to make money, not promote the reality of the sport. They can slant the quality of his opponent any way they like to bring in the PPV or live fight purses. BTW, I wish him luck and I bet he hits hard as hell.....not only for his age, but any age.
If you are coming up through the ranks of the MMA, would you rather be able to say you knocked out a good fighter....or you are the guy that KTFO of HW?? I'm sure he does realize that, but I think his ego (all athletes have a huge one ) is writing a check his butt can't cash. I liked Herschel as an NFL player, but this is borderline insane IMO.
Dave.....wanna go $20? I'll take the gummer! I just can't see someone like Herschel being so stupid as to bring a spoon to a gunfight. I'm betting he's training his ass off, as we speak (and so is the other guy). His opponent is bio'd pretty well in the article (interview with him and his trainer). Kimbo? He doesn't give the appearance he's smart enough to know what he's getting into. I think we all saw that was true. But I can't help it. I think Herschel's too intelligent to get sucked in. I'm expecting to have the hell surprised out of me. And, that's gonna be tough. I have high expectations. Going to MMA fights, tomorrow night (ringside!). I'm gonna ask the promoters what they think.
So here is Herschel's opponent..he is 1-1 and.... "About two years ago, Nagy moved to Arizona, found the RITC training center, and fell in love with a new sport." So he is a pro after two years of training and with 2 fights. See what I am saying Jeff. I just watched Walker's open workout on youtube....he has some fundamental issues with his handwork and footwork. His trainer has him flatfooted as well. I blame the trainer for allowing him to continue some bad habits. On the flip side, the trainer may have told him to slow down and act like that so his opponent underestimates him prior to the fight.
He very well might win a few fights Jeff, but when he hits the real fighters, he's in for a world of hurt. When does he fight?
I htink it's Jan 30th. Doing a little research....I found that Walker posesses a 6th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Tae Kwon Do will help him Immensely but the guy Is just too old I think. I took Tae Kwon Do lessons for 10 years and worked my way to the top almost (brown belt) but the class got shot down the week I would've gotten my black belt, pissed I was!! If Hershel didn't have any karate expierence I'd say he'd be done very quickly. There are good athlete's and then there are great athlete's (fighters). Shall be Interesting though. For sure will draw good reviews.
Tae Kwon Do will not be much of a help to be honest. When was the last time a martial artist ruled the ring? The guy is gonna need a lot more balanced skills, look at Brock Lesnar the first time he fought Mir. The guy is almost 50 and has minimal martial arts training, sounds like a recipe for disaster in my book.
Not as useful as jiu jitsu or mui tai, I'll concede. But it probably separates him from a lot of people with his MMA experience (in terms of time into the sport). Should be interesting.
I will take a wrestler over a martial artist any day on a first fight. I am going to an amateur MMA fight this Thursday, I will observe and see how the amateur Ninja's fare against the Ground and Pounders.
I'm going tomorrow night, Raceway. We've been 2X in the last 4mos.. My eyes have been opened, some. These guys (local level.....3-4 states) are better than I ever dreamed they'd be. A guy that lives on my road is the headliner, tomorrow....and he'd supposed to be a beast on the ground. Looking forward to it. In my limited experience, I've seen the jiu jitsu/Mui Tai experts be the real killers. At the level we're seeing.......many of the fights are over in the 1st round. And, it's typically due to submission holds. I've only seen one stand up fighter look "great". His ilk have been the exception, rather than the rule. The "wrestlers" we typically see (and I'm in no way saying this is "typical" of the sport) seem to be the bulky brutes......and their lack of speed usually kills 'em.
We have some pretty darn good guys around here. There are a lot of MMA training facilities in the Chicago area such as Xtreme Couture, Team Curran, a couple of Gracie gyms and Keith Hackney's gym. The fight we are going to is an XFO Amateur event being thrown at a local bar. One of our friends trains at Team Curran, so we are going to watch the event and hang with his crew. There are usually a lot of first round stoppages so it should be fun. There was also a pretty good XFO card tonight but I couldn't make it.
