Is the best fighter there has ever been living now?

Or did he live sometime in the past in a Chinese monastery or a Spartan village or somewhere else?

The training now is probably more scientific and intense than it has ever been with all the legal fight leagues, but in the past hand to hand combat was more widespread and necessary

Remember UFC 1 where Royce destroyed everyone because they didn't know what he was doing with Jiu jitsu? And then 13 years later Matt Hughes smashed him with ease? Soon after that Matt Hughes got beat by BJ, Kos and Thiago Alves. And those 3 are pretty irrelevant at this point. I think you get my point - I think the evolution and knowledge we have now would counteract any other advantages of our ancestors.

nice

Darn, we almost went a full year without seeing this type of thread…

At least we almost made it to December Mister, LMAO!!!

I almost went a full year without seeing this type of response...

As much as I like MMA it has some of the most smug, condescending posters in the forum world

Give him a break Mr. We've got a philosopher heeuhh... Hahaha good garbage.... What if Hercules was actually a ninja?? Woah dude, woah... 

LOL

Obviously some guys in here borrowed some money from mommy to pay some hack MMA coach, but after 1 minute of beginner grappling their cardio was so spent they couldn't even lift a hand to tap.

So now they troll the MMA forums to display their smug superiority, making fun of those who attempt to engage in discussion so woefully beneath their level of "expertise".

You guys should all get together and do what comes naturally.  You know, have some high level MMA dialogue and tirelessly practice your rear naked moves on eachother.

Good answer, thanks

I think what you have seen relatively recently with the evolution of the UFC has happened before though.  There is no new equipment being used, still just the human body, so to contend that over several thousands of years of hand to hand combat multiple civilizations haven't discovered, perfected, and forgotten every submission and striking technique we see today might be misguided.

No problem. I think it's a fair question which is why I answered it. Based on the responses I was wondering if I bit on a troll as a newb here but based on your replies, it looks like your intentions are sincere. I don't know why we can't have a discussion like this because I'm sure there are discussions in the other forums here with questions like "Lebron or Jordan in their primes?" Or "pats better dynasty than Niners?" Etc. while not fully gambling related, I think it can be worthwhile to discuss.

Anyway. Ken Shamrock had been rolling and fighting his whole life when he was choked out by Royce because he had no knowledge of the techniques. While he had been in similar positions countless times, he hadn't drilled those techniques and escapes because it hadn't been presented to him. While some techniques have been presented by several disciplines for centuries - sambo in Russia, judo in japan, Krav Maga in Israel to name a few - we now have the knowledge to blend the best from every discipline, if trainers have a baseline knowledge of the various arts. And there continue to be new techniques and modifications coming out all the time.

If you look at the guillotine choke, for instance. The baseline knowledge i first was taught was to wrap the throat in a front headlock with a palm grip on the inside ear area with the opponents head in your armpit, pull guard, then extend your body while pushing their hips away with your guard. Then, a few years later I was taught to curl the body with your choking arm elbow down to your own hip before extending. Then I was taught to finger grip and turn the non-choking elbow over the opponents shoulder. The perfection of the techniques is never ending and most disciplines have a very standard way to apply each technique. Hell, most Gracie academies shun modifications to techniques developed 70 years ago by Grand Master Helio Gracie. And these modifications have a very big difference in real world practice (sparring and competition).

In addition to all that, we also know much better ways to train and eat and have better athletes.

I'd have to second the last statement above, as one that has studied sport academia and competed at the collegiate level. Training, proper diet and mindset play the largest roles in being successful.

Ok gotcha.  I misinterpreted you first post probably because it came soon after the other smartass posters.

Yeah I think the major difference today is the easy access to info from diverse sources, whereas no matter how skilled a civilization became at their art, it was isolated from those other arts you speak of.

On the other hand, I think throughout our past fighting was more important and a higher percentage of the population trained, therefore the sheer numbers would at least somewhat offset advantages of today.

[Quote: Originally Posted by TheIrishCarBomb] I'd have to second the last statement above, as one that has studied sport academia and competed at the collegiate level. Training, proper diet and mindset play the largest roles in being successful. [/Quote]

Alberto Del Rio (Dos Caras) vs Art Jimmerson, no gloves allowed. Who wins?

LOL! Let's get it done. Dos Caras -240 Uno Glove +180