What if UFC competition existed in 60's & 70's?

[Tames D]

Who would have been the top dogs if the "UFC type" competitions as we know it today existed in the 1960's and 1970's. Do you think Norris and Urquidez would have been effective? Who else? Bruce Lee? I would have liked to see Darnell Garcia compete. I think he may have been the "Top Dog". What are your thoughts?

 

[terryl965]

I know one thing for sure I would have had more fun.

 

[FearlessFreep]

Who would have been the top dogs if the "UFC type" competitions as we know it today existed in the 1960's and 1970's. Do you think Norris and Urquidez would have been effective? Who else? Bruce Lee? I would have liked to see Darnell Garcia compete. I think he may have been the "Top Dog". What are your thoughts?

I assumed that they did but they were underground, unsanctioned, and rather more ad-hoc

 

[Andrew Green]

Mixed Martial arts competition has been around longer then the UFC

This stuff has been going on in Brazil and in Japan for some time.

I'd guess though, that had it gotten really big 30 years earlier we would have seen a similar progression. Initially the submission fighters would have dominated. BJJ, Catch, Judo, etc. Then the wrestlers would have learned some basic boxing and ground and pound and dominated. We would have then got some kickboxers and boxers that learnt how to use the guard and stall wrestlers on the ground and beat them on there feet. And finally after a couple years, everyone would be a true "Mixed martial arts" fighter, able to function at any stage of the fight.

 

[Tames D]

I realize that MMA has been around a long time but not "as we know it today". I could be wrong as I was only in my early teens in the 70s. But I don't recall seeing anything like we see today in the way of MMA competition.

 

[Andrew Green]

It was around, just not so much in North America. But the roots of the UFC go back farther then UFC 1, that sort of event had been happening in other places for years.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Mixed Martial arts competition has been around longer then the UFC

This stuff has been going on in Brazil and in Japan for some time.

I'd guess though, that had it gotten really big 30 years earlier we would have seen a similar progression. Initially the submission fighters would have dominated. BJJ, Catch, Judo, etc. Then the wrestlers would have learned some basic boxing and ground and pound and dominated. We would have then got some kickboxers and boxers that learnt how to use the guard and stall wrestlers on the ground and beat them on there feet. And finally after a couple years, everyone would be a true "Mixed martial arts" fighter, able to function at any stage of the fight.

*** SHOCK! ***
*** UTTER SHOCK! ***

No!

It cannot be. You mean people would spar and fight full contact before the UFC and the others now on TV?

WOW!

I guess I will have to go tell my friend(s) that the Karate/Muay Thai/Judo or Ju-Jitsu full contact fighting they did in the 60's and 70's was real, and it was not just a dream. (* Given the time period some might wonder depending upon the source and what else they might have been exposed too. *)

I know it was popular in the mid to late 70's in south east Michigan and the midwest region. I did not compete. But I know some who did. I even know one who quit is job for a while and tried to give it a go to be a professional fighter.

 

[Omar B]

If UFC was around and as previlant as it is now then it would by now would have grown and evolved. Maybe it would have gotten better, maybe it would run it's course and fall into obsucrity, maybe it be an olympic sport. A good way to judge is to watch how it grows and see what it does. In a couple years we'll see how the initial fad phase ends and see if it has staying power.

 

[jks9199]

If UFC was around and as previlant as it is now then it would by now would have grown and evolved. Maybe it would have gotten better, maybe it would run it's course and fall into obsucrity, maybe it be an olympic sport. A good way to judge is to watch how it grows and see what it does. In a couple years we'll see how the initial fad phase ends and see if it has staying power.

Years ago, there were lots more opportunities for fighters from various styles to mix it up, with rather different rules. More than 30 years ago, kickboxing/full contact tournaments were being held, with sweeps and similar techniques allowed. When I first started training, more than 20 years ago, our system's in-house "middle-style" tournament was known for hard, relentless contact. (One year, we had to shut the tournament down several times because we didn't have medics on site!)

One of my teachers has told me of arranged events and closed-door, underground tournaments where participants reserved hospital beds in advance... I have no reason to believe he was lying.

However, with the advent and spread of the various safety-punch gloves & kicks, and the increase in popularity of point-style tournaments, I think you saw less of some of the other techniques being used or permitted. Also, I think with the increase in kid-oriented martial arts programs, some of the rougher events were buried.

 

[Razul eaox]

Yeah of course its been around... my instructor did bare knuckle fights on the docks in florida similiar to todays mma

 

[punisher73]

There have always been limited rules, full contact fights prior to the UFC in the 60's and 70's. You have to look at a couple of things though that the UFC brought.

People in THIS country didn't take the fight down to the ground and grapple/wrestle outside of sporting events for the most part. Even Rickson said that if he lived in the US and got in a fight he would not go down to the ground. WHY? Because in the US, other people get involved, in Brazil the people would stand around in a circle and watch the two people fight. That changes the dynamics of your main strategy immensly as to "what works".

The UFC proved that groundfighting and grappling are excellent tools when you have someone in an enclosed space and can close the distance and take them down and wear them down to submit them. It also illustrated the need to learn groundfighting to protect yourself.

I think MMA, as a sport, would look the same as it does now. People would find what works best in that venue and would excell at it. I think you would still have persons that would highlight certain aspect like you do now (sprawl n' brawl, ground and pound, etc.) based on their likes/dislikes and attributes.

 

[CuongNhuka]

When Cuong Nhu started (in the 60's) it was seriously popular in the only dojo that existed at the time (University of Florida). Infact, it was so popular that the school trained on the Univeristies Football field for some time. The reason? The campus hippies liked the philosophical aspect. So, with that thought in mind, I don't think it would have been too popular.

 

[Errant108]

When Cuong Nhu started (in the 60's) it was seriously popular in the only dojo that existed at the time (University of Florida). Infact, it was so popular that the school trained on the Univeristies Football field for some time. The reason? The campus hippies liked the philosophical aspect. So, with that thought in mind, I don't think it would have been too popular.

MMA is still unpopular with hippies. During the 70s, people who wanted hard contact martial arts studied things like Muay Thai and Kyokushin. Those same people would have been very interested in MMA.

You can't judge the impact based on such a limited sampling.

Had MMA existed in the 70s, I'm sure you would be much more likely to get practitioners from the Gators' football, wrestling, and rugby teams, rather than the hippies.

 

[sgtmac_46]

To answer the question as the poster asked......i.e. if the UFC style competition were as popular in the 1960s and 1970s as today, and martial artists from many disciplines then were involved......who would be good?

I think Chuck Norris.....Joe Lewis.....Bruce Lee. Definitely 'Judo' Gene Labell!