If YOU had organized the first UFC...

[cross_trainer]

Who would your 8 competitors be?

[SweetScienceFan]

Back before it was all mixed up, I would have liked to have seen a Top World Class Boxer (ex. anyone in the top 15-20), a world Class wrestler (ex. Mark Coleman), world class jiu jitsu (ex. Royce Gracie), world class Karate (Fred Ettish) (just to prove the point to the karate heads), world Class judo, world class kickboxer (ex. Maurice Smith), world class Muay Thai, and a street fighter the likes of Tank Abbott, Kimbo, ect. Also, you could mix and match for shoot fighters like Ken Shamrock, or Vale Tudo fighters like Marco Ruas.

Would have made for the most interesting match-ups. Then again, it would have been just about impossible to get and pay for world class guys from each sport, all coming together for an organization that is going out on a limb to begin with. I think that the UFC did great with what they had to offer at the time.

[Dostoevsky]

Maurice Smith is a world class kickboxer?

[cross_trainer]

Working within the budget constraints...

Rickson Gracie (the Gracies wanted to do this anyway)
Ken Shamrock (top shootfighter in the world at the time)
Pat Smith (won the Sabaki challenge, the most legitimate Kyokushin-style tournament in America)
Minoki Ichihara (#1 Daido Juku guy in the world at the time--mixed Kyokushin & Judo)
Emanuel Yarbrough (amateur world Sumo champion)
Maurice Smith (for reasons already mentioned; I might also shoot for a Rajadamnern/Lumpinee Thai champion)
Dan Severn (legitimate wrestler)
Some guy from the heavyweight boxing top 20 at the time

[cross_trainer]

With 16 guys we would have a bit more room to maneuver:



Karate
Pat Smith (Sabaki winner)
Minoki Ichihara (#1 in the world Daido Juku)
Tomio Imamura (#1 in kumite in the 1992 Shotokan world cup)

Jujitsu and Brazilian Jiujitsu
Rickson Gracie (Gracie family champion)
Remco Pardoel (European Jujitsu champion)

Boxing
Somebody in the heavyweight top 20

Professional (Japanese) "Shoot" Wrestling
Ken Shamrock (shootfighting, technically)
Bart Vale (obscure now, but rather important then)

Sumo
Emanuel Yarbrough (amateur Sumo champion)

Gongfu
Pick up a Shaolin monk...there must have been one of 'em somewhere. :yep

Kickboxing/Muay Thai
Lumpinee/Rajadamnern champion (Muay Thai--should come rather cheaply)
Maurice Smith (various championships)

Judo/SAMBO
Oleg Taktarov (Sambo champ of some sort)

Ninjutsu
Steve Jennum (because you HAVE to have a Ninja)

Mixed/Hybrid Arts
Marco Ruas (Ruas Vale Tudo)

Wrestling
Dan Severn

[dwilson]

Chuck Norris and Tyson. Seriously.