If you've gone down the rabbit hole of mma you'd know this is a frequent topic of discussion that resurfaces every couple of years. At one point the jiu-jitsu community agreed that a measure of a blue belt is a person being able to beat - Mike Tyson, a silverback gorilla and a pitbull! Likely not at the same time tho.. Because they kept it realistic!
Mike Tyson was once considered the utmost dangerous man in the world however he personally admitted he watched UFC and believed Royce Gracie could've beaten him. He said as quoted by bjjee.com:
“Well, in ’93, I was in prison, so there wouldn’t have been a fight, but there is no way I would have won. I had no idea what was going on with that type of fighting and would’ve been taken by surprise”, Tyson said.“I would have had to train in that particular art of fighting before that happened. That’s a particular art. You’re not going to go in there with just your hand and not have a great ground game. You also need a great wrestling game to be successful, and you won’t be exciting, as well. You have to have both games. You have to know how to wrestle and box. That’s just the truth.
Tyson admitted that if he had been offered the opportunity to compete in the first tournament (and if he wasn’t in prison) his ego would likely have forced him to accept.
“My ego would have told me I’m the best fighter in the world with all the particular fighting aspects, and I would have tried it.”
Of course Royce Gracie is, and was at the time, long time black belt. A far cry from the average blue belt of today.
When we think about a blue belt there’s a huge gap in time. A blue belt in the early 2000s was very rare and in many academies there were much different promotion practices. Carlson Gracie Sr notably had a very hard core system when it came to assigning rank.
As per his son:“In my day in order for the guy to get promoted a black belt had to retire. At the blue belt there were several who wanted to be the number 1 blue belt, so the black belt had to retire so that the number 1 brown belt could go to black, in order for the number one purple to go to brown, and for number 1 blue to move to purple....It was a very arduous path but also a very serious one, which is why the greatest team of all time emerged. ”And as for blue belts of today, over at Gracie Barra you can get yours if you only attend twice a week for about a year regardless of your efficiency. For a while there you could also get your blue belt via the internet:
In the day A standing fight? Mike 90% probability win
On the ground? Mike 100% loss.
My pick is my Ukrainian brother Fedor Emelianenko! http://www.fedoremelianenko.tv/eng/fightstats/ or Randy Coutour! . . http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/stats/_/id/2335338/randy-couture
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I honestly think there is almost zero chance for average bluebelt beating Mike. We shouldnt fall into this mindset that our martial art is 10 times better than the others and think of ourselves as unbeatable. I mean - the dude was a monster. And on top of that a heavyweight. Putting away heavyweights with one touch. I mean, everything is possible. But bluebelt is nothing. I would for sure give my money on an average brownbelt above welterweight. But I honestly think Mike would KO most of blues. Especially in a streetfight where there is no cage which helps with closing the distance. Just my opinion though!
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I don't think assuming a blue belt could win is the same as thinking bjj is 10x better than anything. Remember, all the condition was is blue belt. You don't think there are big, tough, heavyweight blue belts that could take Mike down before a huge KO punch lands? It's very possible. Boxers do not know takedown defense. However, boxers and strikers do know movement and range. Mike was a monster, and standing he would win, but taken down, he would lose I think.The the question is, can they get the takedown before a clean punch lands?
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hah btw it wasn't meant as an answer to you :D I just coincedentally replied on your comment ...so I've deleted it and commented on post as I've wanted. Haven't even time to read your comment this time, I'm at work :D Soo I hope noo offense was taken :D
Yepp yepp, you're right, heavyweight bluebelt has pretty good chance. I just reacted more in general, cuz I feel some bjj guys are putting our art too high compared to the other ones :D
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Never any offense taken. This is an age old important convo! Def didn't mean to make it seem that way if I did :) Also, a huge consideration, what if they know wrestling? What if it wasn't even a bjj blue belt but a wrestler with the same years of experience?
I think that's why I don't give Tyson as much of a chance. Almost every striker vs grappler scenario seems to play in favor of the grappler. But we all know how difficult it really is to close that distance for a takedown. But we also know how difficult it is to strike off your back and get up if you have no training.
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Yeah, I get your point...would for sure be interesting to see. I've read somewhere he turned down a fight with Royce.
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Never any offense taken. This is an age old important convo! Def didn't mean to make it seem that way if I did :) Also, a huge consideration, what if they know wrestling? What if it wasn't even a bjj blue belt but a wrestler with the same years of experience?
I think that's why I don't give Tyson as much of a chance. Almost every striker vs grappler scenario seems to play in favor of the grappler. But we all know how difficult it really is to close that distance for a takedown. But we also know how difficult it is to strike off your back and get up if you have no training.
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That is too open ended to know. There are many different levels in blue belt. There's a huge difference in a blue belt with no stripes, and a blue belt with 4 stripes. It will also vary from school to school. Some give out blue belts like candy, and some you must be very skilled and attend way more than 2 classes per week, to include drilling only, and live rolling. I've met blue belts that can tap purples, browns, and blacks. And remember, it's a new age of jiu jitsu where kids begin training very young and may be blue belt between 16-20 years old but their overall time training is way more than an adult who's been training 1-2 years and received a blue belt. You can feel the difference rolling with those kids who have many years of training.
So, could a blue belt beat Mike Tyson? It's possible, yes, or they may also get their teeth knocked in. Even long term black belts can fall prey to great striking. Once it goes to the ground grappling has an advantage, but striking on the ground changes jiu jitsu, as we see in mma and combat jiu jitsu.
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Yes "could" and "would" are two totally different things. I think I would take Mike Tyson vs. your average blue belt assuming the fight starts standing :)
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I probably couldn't LOL, but maybe a guy of similar weight and with boxing skills could? Hard to say...
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Here's a great video that explains my theory why grapplers always have a higher percent chance of beating any striker, much less Iron Mike:
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