OT: Herschel Walker is a B.A.M.F.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:37 AM ^
I think this just proves MMA is not as tough as football. Herschel Walker hasn't been able to play pro football for about 15 years.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:48 AM ^
then do you believe in the tooth fairy and santa claus too?
January 31st, 2010 at 12:52 AM ^
That's not a fair comparison
January 31st, 2010 at 12:56 AM ^
I think there is probably a handful of guys in the NFL that could compete in MMA with the proper training and time, but I don't think there is a handful of guys in MMA that could train for a couple of years and play pro football.
January 31st, 2010 at 1:00 AM ^
Thank you.
I think it says a lot that someone who is 47 can compete in MMA. Someone that old can't play excluding kickers and punters.
January 31st, 2010 at 2:25 AM ^
Not to take any thing away from Walker's personal accomplishment, but I don't think it says too much about the respective sports that he was able to handle Greg fucking Nagy. That's basically the equivalent of Randy Couture showing out in a high school football game in Maine.
It's extremely unlikely that anyone who's focused on a different sport through their 20s could compete at the highest level in MMA, at least at 205 and below -- the skill requirement for beating a guy like Machida or Silva is just way too high. You might be able to get by for a bit on physical freakishness at heavyweight, but even Lesnar had a very impressive collegiate wrestling background, and I think it's likely that his skill deficit would have still caught up to him if he hadn't gotten sick.
January 31st, 2010 at 1:09 AM ^
Most guys try there whole life to play in the NFL (kid leagues, high school, college, etc.)Your dealing with a much larger pool of people....as opposed to the small pool of guys that want to make a living getting punched in the face.
Its a stupid comparison....they are all great athletes and IMO its silly to play the "who is tougher" game.
January 31st, 2010 at 1:12 AM ^
I don't think he meant which athletes are tougher. I think he meant it's tougher to make it to the NFL than find yourself on TV fighting in a MMA fight.
January 31st, 2010 at 10:58 AM ^
Strikeforce = Semi-pro league
Great accomplishment for Walker at his age and stage of his career but its not like he was fighting at an elite level unlike during his NFL career. You just can't make that comparison.
January 31st, 2010 at 2:41 AM ^
Johnnie Morton begs to differ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mniHJAQmNG8
January 31st, 2010 at 8:21 AM ^
Hershel Walker is a martial artist. He did martial arts competitions during his football career. He trained for this for years. It is just as hard to do, if you do it right...
January 31st, 2010 at 11:53 AM ^
It takes different skill sets. And you can't just take one outlier (Herschel Walker, who's always been a freak athlete) and apply it to a whole sport. One example proves nothing.
The best pro football players would get their asses kicked in high level MMA, and the best MMA fighters wouldn't be able to make an NFL team (Brock Lesnar).
January 31st, 2010 at 12:31 PM ^
Tennis must be so much harder than pro football, since 30 is way over the hill in tennis years.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:48 PM ^
Women's Gymnastics must be the most difficult sport on the planet. Those tasty young sluts are out of their prime by their early 20s.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:43 AM ^
He has very tiny ears.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:45 AM ^
It was more of an overpowering show against a guy that lacked good enough BJJ to handle it. But, the man is 47 so he deserves some props even though the fight was called on a bunch of shoulder punches.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:53 AM ^
Makes you wonder...like he's too good for bobsled now?
January 31st, 2010 at 12:53 AM ^
Dammit, now I have no more excuses.....
January 31st, 2010 at 12:57 AM ^
I dunno, you could always use the excuse of, "I didn't win the Heisman."
January 31st, 2010 at 1:49 AM ^
isn't the NFL. Top UFC talent would kill the schlub Walker faced alot quicker. The man is a freak however.
January 31st, 2010 at 3:31 AM ^
I follow mma very closely. Walker was fighting what is known in the mma world as a "can". Someone who has no history of finishing fights. Nagy was there for the soul purpose of making Walker look good. Also consider that as mentioned, Strikeforce is far from the UFC.
I've read a few interviews on the topic of mma vs more main stream sports, such as football. The popular opinion is that most really big athletic guys pursue a career in more mainstream sports. Which explains why the hw divisions are usually pretty thin in talent. The lighter the weight class, you'll notice a huge increase in talent and depth. This is explained by the fact that thier size isnt adequate for the nfl or nba. Thats the common theory at least.
January 31st, 2010 at 9:07 AM ^
this
Props to Herschel for excellent conditioning but this fight was an embarrassment.
January 31st, 2010 at 10:27 AM ^
So it's just like the losers Lesnar fought to get his "championship fight". None of these guys can beat Fedor though.
Props to Herschel for showing that there's hope for us old guys.
January 31st, 2010 at 1:47 PM ^
Lesnar beat Heath Herring, who has a 28-14 record and had fought some of the biggest names in MMA.
He was not a tomato can like the guy Walker was fighter.
Walker's conditioning impressed me and I give him props for the effort, but he was not fighting a credible opponent.
------
And he will never know if any of the top current guys can beat Fedor, because he will not be fighting in the UFC and he hasn't fought a top guy since he beat crocop in 2005.
January 31st, 2010 at 7:22 AM ^
Impressive for a 47 year old but he would get owned by top tier UFC...
January 31st, 2010 at 9:37 AM ^
Herschel dominated, he didn't win a close bout. I'm not saying he would win against upper talent but I'd put money on him. He came out with the 'Eye of the Tiger'; as was mentioned he has a history of fighting behind him, he's in great shape, and I think this is a win win situation for both him and the MMA sport. I can't get over how good he looks; I workout and people tell me I don't look my age (I'll be 47 in April) but he looks 10 years younger than I do! He will motivate me to continue working on myself :)
January 31st, 2010 at 1:13 PM ^
Machida, Evans, Shogun, Mousasi, any guy with the last name of Silva, et al each have a better chance of being struck by lightning than they do of losing to Herschel Walker.
January 31st, 2010 at 1:51 PM ^
like Cheik Kongo would outclass Walker.
Not to mention he is fighting Heavyweight at 215 he would be giving up 50 pounds to some fighters.
Maybe a Kimbo v. Walker fight could somehow be arranged.
January 31st, 2010 at 10:13 AM ^
like how he made it known he didn't want to lose. Unlike the canseco! Herschel came out and already said he won't compete for the title just wants to prove to himself he can still do it. I would like to see JCVD vs Herschel Walker now. Donated his purse winnings too, class act!
January 31st, 2010 at 12:26 PM ^
-1 for Dane Cook reference.
(kidding, but I really should neg you. You're safe...for now.)
January 31st, 2010 at 12:29 PM ^
Old man strength FTW
January 31st, 2010 at 12:33 PM ^
This is good bit different from Brocks situation. Brock beat two former ufc hw champs and a well respected veteran with a 28-14 record to get his belt. However i believe Nagy (the man Walker just fought) has a 1-3 record.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:38 PM ^
I wonder which personality showed up.
January 31st, 2010 at 5:39 PM ^
I would pay 2 see me some KIMBO v HERSCHEL