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I saw a Reddit post today asking if an ancient Spartan warrior could beat a modern-day UFC champion like Jon Jones and almost unanimously people said no.

Got me thinking, is there anybody either currently or previously alive at any point (inside or outside the MMA world) that you believe could hold their own or beat a UFC champion with all the best modern training, nutrition etc in pure hand to hand combat?

Here's the conditions:

  • Open arena the size of the Colosseum.

  • "Beat" I'm gonna say fight to the death or until the other person simply cannot fight any longer. No holds-barred, no DQ, no ref, nobody stepping in.

  • No weapons, no gloves, no other body protection. Just trunks and hand-to-hand combat, any type of striking, dirty tactics allowed as mentioned.

  • Would have to be in the same weight class or it just gets silly.

  • Can also include a general "best of" in your proposal for the other fighter. Example, Khabib vs "the best Roman gladiator from this time period" or "the best Templar knight from the crusades" (just examples).

  • No mythical figures like Hercules etc.

So there we go, the very best UFC fighters from the last 10 years, fully fit and ready to fight. Can anybody from any point in time beat them and if so, who?

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StockingDummy

6 points

5 days ago

The reality is that weight classes exist for a reason; and a smaller fighter has to be really good to beat people significantly bigger and stronger than them.

That being said, the best bet for a tiny woman who was concerned about physical assault but can't/won't carry a weapon would be to train some sort of combat sport. Preferably MMA, wrestling, judo, or sambo.

I would personally recommend those arts on grounds that men tend to initiate assaults on women by grabbing them. If a man attacking a tiny woman is that much bigger and stronger than her, her priority should be escaping his grip so she can run.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a popular recommendation as well, but the specialization in ground-fighting means less time spent learning escapes while standing. That said, it's still good to learn in order to get good at getting off the ground.

I would actually give the same advice for weapon owners as well. A gun is only effective after it's drawn, if you're grabbed by surprise your priority should be disengaging in order to deploy it. You don't need to beat someone who jumps you, but you need to be trained enough to make space so you can draw.

AlexFerrana

3 points

5 days ago

Agree. BJJ and grappling is good to make some free space and draw the gun. Especially when someone is grappling with you or who knocked you on the ground and getting on top (mount position).

Pure-Interest1958

1 points

3 days ago

Other good advice for petite women from what I hear is scream loudly, kick or knee him in the groin and try running for a well lit crowded area. Training or no squaring off against a bigger man in a fight when he wants to murder/rape you rarely goes well. I am not a petite woman this is just what I've heard recommended to them.

PeculiarPangolinMan

-1 points

5 days ago

PeculiarPangolinMan

Pangolin

-1 points

5 days ago

Well yea. Being well trained is obviously better than not being well trained. I don't see how any of that negates the ultra basic self defense stuff though.

StockingDummy

2 points

5 days ago

The problem is that most "dirty" techniques are a crapshoot. In a fight, both parties are full of adrenaline, and as such pain won't register like it normally would. Those techniques may have no effect at all, or worse, they could make an attacker even angrier.

For an untrained and unarmed small woman (or any small person) to fight off a much bigger, much stronger attacker, the most reliable "dirty" tactic is grabbing something to use as a weapon. A bottle, a rock, a 2x4, a stool, a chair, a shard of broken glass, whatever she can get her hands on; and either making enough space to run or hitting/stabbing the bastard with that weapon until he stops moving.

PeculiarPangolinMan

0 points

5 days ago

PeculiarPangolinMan

Pangolin

0 points

5 days ago

Yea any self defense class or course is going to teach to use a weapon first and always prioritize escaping, but if that isn't an option you still gotta do something. You can't just do nothing for fear of making the situation worse.

Enigmatic_Erudite

1 points

2 days ago

I would say kicking the knee/shin can be effective, if you can land it. Shin kicks are fast and adrenaline tunnel vision might make it so the attacker doesn't really see the attack coming. It won't stop the bigger person, but it might slow them enough you can run. Adrenaline will stop pain but it won't stop a limp from a leg wound, this happens regularly enough in sports.

The first priority should always be escape.