The YouTube algorithm hooked me a couple of days ago and sent me down memory lane. There was a video of Don Frye fighting against Ken Shamrock from the early 2000's.. It was good fight, with both appearing to almost win the bout at times.. Frye landing a right to Shamrock's chin that appeared to turn out his lights for a moment, and Shamrock twisting Frye's leg and ankle into a pretzel, etc.
Anyway, this brought up several other recommended videos.. Royce Gracie vs Kazushi Sakuraba. Anyone who watched the original UFC's knows Royce, and I was pretty impressed to see Sakuraba hold his own and even win the fight (IIRC). He ended up challenging and beating a couple of other Gracies too. There was apparently this huge backstory there too, which I was unaware of, where Japan and Brazil had a decades-long rivalry over whose version of jiu-jitsu was the best. This is a loooong read but very interesting: https://sports.yahoo.com/mma/articl...dest-blood-feud-25-years-later-144452800.html
There is obviously way more money in MMA today, but I'm not so sure how today's best would match up with some of those guys from the 90's. For one thing, I don't think anyone would've beat Rickson Gracie at his prime.
Anyway, this brought up several other recommended videos.. Royce Gracie vs Kazushi Sakuraba. Anyone who watched the original UFC's knows Royce, and I was pretty impressed to see Sakuraba hold his own and even win the fight (IIRC). He ended up challenging and beating a couple of other Gracies too. There was apparently this huge backstory there too, which I was unaware of, where Japan and Brazil had a decades-long rivalry over whose version of jiu-jitsu was the best. This is a loooong read but very interesting: https://sports.yahoo.com/mma/articl...dest-blood-feud-25-years-later-144452800.html
There is obviously way more money in MMA today, but I'm not so sure how today's best would match up with some of those guys from the 90's. For one thing, I don't think anyone would've beat Rickson Gracie at his prime.
