Kurt Angle has made it official that he has set his sights on MMA, as he is tired of pro wrestling. He believes that there is not enough "competition" for him in TNA and has claimed that he'll be joining an organisation of MMA in a year.
Angle broke the news a few days ago, saying he wants to follow Brock Lesnar who is currently in the UFC.
- B/R Ticket Guide
The Olympic gold medalist has found his dream in the new business after being in TNA for about two years. This has clearly been a long time coming for Angle, and of course must be a life long dream. It may be that this is a wrong decision, but for him it must be the right one.
Yes this is a shocker for the fans, but whether you hate him or not, he is living the dream.
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about 1 month ago
Hes seriously going to give MMA a go?
I thought his body was fairly busted and broken as it was.
I dont know. . . I dont think hes cut out for MMA now.
from about 1 month ago
No, he's not going to give MMA a go. He's been making this same claim for 3 years now. The only surprise is that people still fall for it.
Even if he truly wanted to fight (which he doesn't), no commission in the world will license him to fight. His body is too broken and his neck has degenerated badly.
from about 1 month ago
Jeremy is right he has been making claims for years. He even told some radio station that if he trained for 6 months he would beat liddell. I think he would have a problem with the steroid testing policy.
from about 1 month ago
I think it would not be the smartest idea for Kurt to come into the world of MMA. Even though he would be the most decorated and best Greco Roman Wrestler to ever step in the cage or even into MMA, he would be beat because all the years of WWE and TNA, plus a broken neck which never fully healed.
about 1 month ago
Angle in MMA, sounds to me somebody is jealous about Lesnar's popularity and exposure in the UFC. I don't know what he's thinking, Angle is not cut out for MMA if you ask me, he's pretty old to start out in the sport and think he'll probably retire after 2 fights.
from about 1 month ago
i wuld probibaly agree wiv u ..... hes a wrestler !!
from about 1 month ago
I wuld says dat yous nees some dat Anglish class
about 1 month ago
ya I wrote an article about this a few weeks ago about a speculation for him going to MMA, and I'm glad it was not a rumor, he will be great, he has been in training for quite sometime for it, but he will not do it as a career, he will stay in TNA for a little while sort of doing like Randy Orton is now doing in the WWE, talking alot of trash and only wrestling on specific occasions like Sting does. I personally think Angle will be great, he is an Olympic Gold Medalist after all, so he knows the wrestloign end of it, but I am worried about his punches and kicks, he was never been known for that, he manily is know for his signnature submissions, so maybe a good match for him first out would be with someone like Brock Lesnar, they ae good friends so it may happen eventually anyway, and Lesnar is the same type of guy as Angle, more af a wrestler than fighter
from about 1 month ago
He would never fight in the same weight class as Lesnar. seriously
from about 1 month ago
I hope you realize that being known for submissions in a scripted environment doesn't mean anything in mixed martial arts.
about 1 month ago
He is a little too old to start in this MMA business
about 1 month ago
This story has been doing the circuit for a long time.
Angle went to TNA to get his body back in working condition, the lighter schedule suits him and has given him the chance to re-cuperate.
Angle trains at an mma gym, and is friends with many ufc fighters and has fought them in the gym many a time. His submission, wrestling, ground game is beyond compare. And even 12 years since winning the olympics he is still a world class wrestler. his speed is quite amazing.
when in wwe Lesner came in with a huge reputation after winning at ncaa level. he couldn't even compete with angle in the few amateur bouts they had.
So you would be right in assuming that angle has watched lesner's rise in ufc jealously.
if angle could get himself right he could compete, whether he would be a force is doubtful. as he comes into ufc with a wrestling / pro wrestling background the vested interests in ufc would not want to see him at top level.
from about 1 month ago
1. Kurt Angle has not recuperated his body, and he didn't go to TNA to get his body back in working condition. WWE fired him because they were afraid he was about to die. He has a massive addiction to painkillers and his neck is hanging by a thread. He re-broke his neck yet again while in TNA. He hasn't recuperated at all, and in fact his body is degenerating even more.
2. Angle does not have a submission or ground game at all, so please don't say it's beyond compare. Doing submissions in a scripted environment does not equal being good at submissions. Kurt Angle is a great wrestler, but that doesn't mean his ground game is good.
3. The only time Lesnar and Angle have faced off in a wrestling match, it was backstage at a WWE event, and Angle jumped Lesnar from behind. Angle scored the win in that friendly match, but they have never wrestled each other in the amateur ranks.
4. Why would the people in UFC not want him to succeed because of his wrestling background? They pushed Lesnar to the moon, marketing towards those wrestling fans on Raw, Smackdown and TNA Impact.
Seriously -- Kurt Angle is NEVER GOING TO FIGHT a single mixed martial arts match. Not only is he full of shit, but no commission in the world is going to license him to fight with the state his body is in.
about 1 month ago
Kurt Angle is an idiot, and this story has no more validity to it than any of the other 100 times he's claimed he's going to be fighting. He's been claiming that he's going to fight for this MMA company or that MMA company for 3 years now. He's a BS artist, far more so than just about anyone in pro wrestling outside of Hulk Hogan. He's claimed that he's signed a contract with someone multiple times. I personally have heard him, with my own ears, claim that he has signed contracts to face Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Brock Lesnar and Tito Ortiz.
Before Angle signed with TNA, Dana offered him a contract with the UFC, but it stated he wouldn't be allowed to do both wrestling and fighting. Angle declined. But the truth is, I don't think he's ever going to fight, and he knows it, but he likes to keep his name out there. For what, I don't know, because he already works for the one pro wrestling company in the world that will overlook his painkiller addiction. He would never come remotely close to passing a drug test in WWE.
If Kurt Angle had gone into MMA after the Olympics in 1996, he would be a legend in the sport by now, because he has a perfectionist drive that is almost unheard of, even in pro athletes. He'd be like Randy Couture, except a gold medalist. He has an insanely high level of expectations for himself, which is what allowed him to become such a great pro wrestler within 2 years of starting. Dave Meltzer said a few weeks back that if Angle had gone into MMA out of the Olympics, he'd be one of the greatest of all time, a sure-fire champion.
Unfortunately, MMA was not an option where you could make a living in 1996, and it really didn't have much of a future. So Angle went into pro wrestling, where he became one of the best performers ever, and where he also degenerated his body to conditions where no true commission will license him to fight. It simply will not happen.
His neck is one fall away from breaking again, and he has a painkiller addiction that is legendary in the business. He used to take 60 vicodin a day. He says he's clean now, but listening to just one of his stoned-out-of-his-gourd radio interviews will indicate that he hasn't kicked anything.
This is a man who was fired by World Wrestling Entertainment because they feared he was about to die. They asked him to go to rehab, Angle refused, and they booted him because they didn't want another death on their hands.
People need to learn to take Kurt Angle's word with a gallon of salt. Everyone jumps all over this story every 3-4 months (when Angle makes the claim), and then we never hear anything about it. Even if Kurt truly wanted to fight, he wouldn't be able to get a license, yet he continues to make this claim as if it's a revelation of some sort. Like Brock Lesnar, he misses the feel of real competition, and while wrestling is an athletic and high-intensity gig for the guys in the ring, it is not competition. A lot of amateur wrestlers who turn to pro wrestling after college or international matches pretend like it's a competition to see who can put on the best matches, but that's still a far cry from testing yourself against another fighter.
I have been a pro wrestling fan for 25 years. The thing I like to tell people is that pro wrestling isn't fake -- it's scripted. The stuff those guys do in the ring for over 200 nights per year ruins bodies. You never see the veterans of wrestling walking around with their back straight, the picture of perfect health; instead, you see them hunched over with a cane or rolling around in a wheelchair. You also see them dead. The constant pounding your body takes in a wrestling ring may not seem like much to people who dismiss wrestling as hick entertainment (when in reality, pro wrestling hasn't been hick entertainment since Vince McMahon took over the WWWF in the early 80's and started eliminating his competition. Well, I guess WCW was hick entertainment right up to the end), but imagine falling on your back approximately 5,000 times per year, both in the ring and outside on the concrete or on a steel staging.
Kurt Angle was so driven to be the best wrestler in the world that he subjected himself to insane levels of pain, and then soothed those pains with a giant dosage of painkillers. A Kurt Angle who went to the UFC after the Olympics would have minimal medical issues, and he might have been great. But the Kurt Angle who has spent the past 9 years tearing his body up inch by inch wouldn't stand a chance against anyone
from about 1 month ago
ya I mean I agree a little, but on the comment you said ealrier, we all know that Angle is a "pro-wrestler" and its in a scripted evironment, but you got like his chances more than anyone who was a wrestler that jumped to MMA, he is an Olympic Gold Medalist, and that is NOT scripted, he didn't do it in gymnastics either, he did it in wrestling, I think with his great background in wrestling it will help him in MMA, he is a great grappler and that should help him in MMA, I'm sure he won't get the Angle Slam or Snkle Lock on anyone, but we will have to watch and see
from about 1 month ago
so you think angle would be good in ufc....right?
about 1 month ago
4 interesting points:
1- Kurt has DESTROYED Brock Lesnar in a (real) wrestling match they had before a WWE show once. Brock scored ZERO takedowns. Kurt schooled him in the most dominant way you can imagine
(Olympics > NCAA)
2- Kurt won his Olympic Gold medal with a broken neck, so his injuries are of no concern to him.
3- Kurt may have serious trouble passing the medical, as he is on many pain meds at the present.
4- Kurt has made this claim of going into MMA for a while now.
about 1 month ago
Hate to say i told you so..but i told you so..wrestling fans will follow wrestlers..and fill seats and make money..(my article on the same subject)...invasion of wrestling fans because of the success of brock lesnar so next kurt angle..and then who THE UNDERTAKER????
from about 1 month ago
Kurt Angle isn't fighting. Ever. He says this every few months so that people will pay attention to him...nothing more, nothing less. He said in June that he had a contract to grapple Randy Couture in a submissions match, and when asked, Couture had never heard of such a deal.
Angle is a liar. He's not fighting, not now and not ever.
about 1 month ago
Alright, I was interested in the validity of these "Angle dominated Lesnar in an amateur match" claims, so I sent an email to Dave Meltzer to find out what he knew.
Here's his response:
"A scrimmage took place in Fargo, ND in 2002. I've talked with several who saw it. It was close. Some thought Lesnar won, more thought Angle, but nobody dominated."
There you have it, straight from the top pro wrestling journalist of the last 30 years.
from about 1 month ago
Jeremy,
According to Ricco Rodriguez in a recent radio interview, Angle and Lesnar had a wrestling match which was not attended by any journalists, but Ricco WAS there.
Ricco states that Lesnar scored zero takedowns, and got completely and totally owned by the Olympic Gold medalist. Ricco goes into more details leading up to the match as well.
Ricco > journalist.
Dave Meltzer has made completely idiotic statements in the past which have nothing to do with reality whatsoever; Like when he claimed that Fedor is afraid of Tim Sylvia and asked not to fight him...
I'd take anything that guy says with about 8 tons of salt.
about 1 month ago
dave meltzer never said anything of the sort. I have been a subscriber to his newsletter for ten years, and he's never said that. he's the most reliable journalist in mma or wrestling, and anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what he's talking about.
also, ricco rodriguez is not a very reliable source for anything. if you asked 100 people in the mma business who was more reliable between meltzer and rodriguez, 99 of them would say meltzer.
from about 1 month ago
Meltzer specifically said (this made front page of sherdog news and MMA Weekly) that Fedor DEMANDED not to face Tim Sylvia (should he sign with UFC etc)
this is 100% retarded, as Fedor didn't at all seem to be afraid, nor avoided Tim (dah :)
http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dm-fedor071108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
In this Meltzer article he claims Fedor demanded to not fight some UFC fighters etc I can find the Tim Sylvia specific article as well, but do you really need me to? I think it was Sept 2007, but I could be a month off.
Does it strike you as odd that Fedor would want to avoid anyone?
from about 1 month ago
Here is Meltzer's quote about Fedor avoiding Tim: Notice also that Fedor (apparently) avoided Bob Sapp too (LOL)
"Even though one of the roadblocks is Emelianenko's management wanted more power than a normal fighter in choosing opponents, they don't have any qualms with Couture.
According to those who have spoken with Emelianenko and his management, as shocking as this sounds and no doubt will be denied heavily once it's printed, the guy they want to avoid is Tim Sylvia, who Fedor himself says presents a bad style match-up. When Emelianenko was Pride champion in 2003, he turned down a title defense against Bob Sapp."
This just might be the dumbest bunch of garbage anyone has ever heard or read. Congrats to Dave Metlzer...
from about 1 month ago
It wasn't about "ducking" Tim Sylvia. I've got the issue of the Observer sitting right here. It was basically that Fedor's people wanted to be able to name which opponents he faced, with full veto power over any fights they didn't want to do. Dave never implied (at least in the in-depth writeup he did in the newsletter) that Fedor was ducking Sylvia or afraid of Sylvia in any way, shape or form. I have heard the "bad style matchup" claim before, but that's coming entirely from Dana White. Remember, at the time, Tim was one of the top UFC heavyweights, and Dana basically badmouthed anyone involved with Fedor when those negotiations fell apart. Which is why Lorenzo Fertitta now handles most negotiations. :-)
Fedor *did* turn down the title defense against Bob Sapp, by the way.It wasn't Fedor being afraid of the guy so much as it wouldn't really present him with that much of a challenge. Wasn't really a win/win for Fedor, as Sapp was beatable by that point and a victory over him wouldn't really do much for his career while a loss would damage him a lot. Of course, he fought the 7 foot Korean dancing giant a few years later, but in 2003 he still had good opponents to choose from and didn't need to do a freak show fight.
Fedor is an amazing fighter. He's the best ever, at least at this point in time. I personally think Anderson Silva is the best in the world right now, but Fedor will go down as one of the best fighters of all time, if not the absolute best. He just has an interesting viewpoint on the MMA business, and that viewpoint is what prevents him from going to the UFC. The demands his people made were never going to be met (signing other Red Devil fighters, picking opponents, non-exclusive contract), but they weren't willing to meet in the middle to get the fight done. I get the feeling that he's basically at a point where he will do what he wants, and things have to be done on his terms. And he's earned that right, totally, but I still want to see him in the UFC, to really cement his legacy. There are three gigantic potential fights for him there, with Couture, another Nog fight, and a Lesnar fight, and it would probably make him a boatload of money. But he's only going to fight on his terms, which unfortunately means he's probably not going to fight top-shelf competition for the most part. But that doesn't mean that his previous legacy is null and void, because it totally isn't.
But yeah, anyone who says Fedor is overrated really doesn't know what they're talking about and should be ignored. :-) Plus, I am terrified of his brother.
As for Meltzer: If you ask anyone involved in MMA or MMA journalism who the most respected journalist covering the sport is, 9 out of 10 will tell you Meltzer. He's earned that reputation because he just covers the sport and leaves opinion out of it, and he's been doing it for longer than anyone else. He's easily the most connected journalist out there and talks to a huge amount of company guys and fighters on a pretty regular basis. Unlike others, he's never been accused of making stories up, because he treats news the way any other journalist would: by double checking with multiple stories before publishing. He's very often the guy where the truly in-depth stories come from; people like Kevin Iole will break news, but then Dave talks to all the people involved with the news, gets different viewpoints, and then writes 20,000 words about it. I trust him more than I trust anyone else covering the sport.
This isn't to say that there has never been another Angle/Lesnar amateur match...Dave just said he'd only heard of one (the one from Fargo), and he had talked to multiple people who saw it. They may have had more -- it's just that only that one has been confirmed by different sources. I'd never heard the Ricco Rodriguez claim, but given Ricco's history I'd be cautious about listening to anything the guy says. Where would he have gotten the chance to see Angle and Lesnar in an amateur match? Was he backstage at a WWE show? It certainly wouldn't have been in a MMA gym, because by the time Lesnar started training for MMA and Angle started claiming he was going to fight, they were worlds apart with Angle in TNA and Lesnar in Minnesota.
I can't believe I've written this much in regards to Kurt Angle. I swore I wouldn't do that anymore. :-)
If Angle could somehow get a miracle clearance from a commission somewhere and was matched up against Lesnar, it wouldn't even be close. When Angle and Lesnar had their amateur exhibition in Fargo, Angle weighed about 240 pounds, since that was before WWE started testing for steroids. These days, with his arms and legs degenerating badly from the neck injuries, he's probably 215 pounds at most. If you look at pictures of Angle from 1996, 2000 and then 2008, you'll see that his arms and legs have become tiny from the nerve damage. He'd be a light heavyweight facing the biggest, strongest heavyweight out there. It would be a mismatch. But an Angle who went into MMA after the Olmypics instead of breaking his body down in wrestling? That would be a dream match.
This is good discussion. It's why I love Bleacher Report, because for the most part, everyone seems to have a good sense of the MMA business. Well, except for those people who believe Angle is actually going to fight. :)
about 1 month ago
fedor ducking people ?? sounds right to me...look at his list of no name opponants..and old gatekeepers..lol....just jking anthony ..truce buddy. lets not go there again ok...hahaha../stoker
from about 1 month ago
stoker,
Your Fedor-hate comments have prompted me to join here and point out the historical inaccuracies that your articles suffer from.
Strangely, I have to thank you now, as my Fedor Myths article has made the front page of M1 website (they even translated it), Sherdog has several threads devoted to it with 1 thread being 40 pages long and around 20'000+ views, google has dozens of pages on it and it has way over 3000+ reads here.
Obviously people can question what I wrote and i can easily respond, and they can question me again, and I can correct them again etc etc etc. But without you this would not have happened :)
cheers,
p.s.
I'm considering Part 2, thanks to stoker lol
about 1 month ago
Glad to be of help Anthony...i'm sure you will be a senior writer before long ...you got guys like jeremy writing whole essays in the comment column.Stirring up controversy is what i was trying to do with the Fedor fiction (part truth)..im glad to see someone else has taken over the position of stirring the pot!!..keep on writing dude!!..sorry for causing you so much stress../stoker
from about 1 month ago
Sorry about that. I tend to write way too much, but it's mostly because I love discussing the subject.
from about 1 month ago
Jeremy,
Thanks for the comments.
I would only like to correct you on something:
I have worked FOR the Official fedor's website. I know pretty much every single fact, rumor, date and insider regarding Fedor Red Devil, or Russian MMA scene all together. I was the one who broke the Tim-Fedor fight 3 weeks before the official sources confirmed it. (Go to sherdog or google "RUssian informant kusokidiota" that's me). I assure you that Fedor has never turned down Bob Sapp, fedor would LOVE to armbar that can.
Fedor did ask to postpone Crocop (in 2005) due to a pretty much broken hand, but Pride insisted that Fedor fight or they'd take his belt, so he did.
I can't agree that Anderson is the best.
He is amazing! But he is a HUGE man, 220-230 lbs 6'2 according to himself on radio sherdog, but he cuts lots and lots of weight to dominate the weakest division in the sport with his reach and leverage. And he lost before to 3 cans. I would love to see Anderson fight Choi, Hunt, Crocop, Tim, Schilt etc before we compare him to the guy who dominated the sport for 6 years.
cheers,
from about 1 month ago
I'll take your word for it regarding Fedor. It's just that Meltzer has been one of the most trusted sources for MMA news for a long, long time, and his track record is very good. If you have access to Fedor, that's great, but it seems like every single story I hear regarding Fedor has 5-6 different versions. I don't know if that's because Vadim spreads different versions of the story or if it's just a case of the signal getting lost in the noise, but it seems very tough to get anything remotely similar to a concrete answer to any question that involves Fedor. The Bob Sapp story wasn't just reported by Meltzer -- there were several outlets saying the exact same thing, that Fedor didn't want to fight Sapp because Sapp didn't present an interesting enough challenge for him. I guess there's no real way to find out the truth on that one.
I'm not one of those guys who believes that if Fedor doesn't come to the UFC, then his legacy is tarnished. Fedor could have retired when PRIDE was purchased and his legacy would be intact, and nothing can tarnish the incredible run the man had. And I will also love Fedor forever because of the way he dismantled Tim Sylvia; that was like a Christmas gift for me. I want Fedor to come to the UFC because I want to see him fight good competition, and while there are a few good fights outside of Zuffa right now, those are going to dry up quickly. A Josh Barnett fight would be interesting, but Barnett's already ducked Fedor once and I can't see him being thrilled about the prospect of fighting him now. Arlovski would be interesting just because of the nationality of both guys and because Arlovksi is a star, but I don't think he poses any threat whatsoever. Outside of those two guys, there are literally no fights I want to see Fedor in that would take place outside the UFC. I don't want to see him fighting Roy Nelson or Ben Rothwell. I would much rather him sign with the UFC and fight Couture (a fight that I believe would be over within 30 seconds), Big Nog again, and perhaps Lesnar down the line. Those fights are much more intriguing to me than almost anything he can do outside of the UFC.
Silva has only recently gone up to 220 pounds, before the Irvin fight to be specific. For the duration of his middleweight run, he's always said that he walks around at 205 before camp, then cuts to 200 during camp and then cuts the final 15 pounds before weigh in. So in reality he's walking into the cage at 200 pounds, not 220, and most middleweights cut about the same amount.
The thing that impresses me the most about Silva, and the thing that I believe makes him so dangerous, is the accuracy of his striking. I've been keeping up with stats since Compustrike started keeping MMA fight stats, and Silva's accuracy is terrifying. The average UFC fighter lands roughly 35% of his strikes...and Silva lands slightly over 70%. He has absolute pinpoint accuracy with his punches and kicks and knees, and I think that's the difference maker in his fights. Watch the two Rich Franklin fights and you'll see that Silva landed almost every punch and kick he threw. It's tough to compete against that. He's got great power with all limbs, too, and when you combine that with his striking accuracy, it makes for a deadly package. I firmly believe that he's the best pound for pound fighter in the world right now, but I would love to see him move to heavyweight to fight Fedor. That's a dream fight. :-)
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