Kurt Angle Talks MMA - "The One I Want to Fight for Is Dana White"
by Nick Thomas on Apr 23, 2010 2:59 PM EDT
in MMA News
Email
Print
"I just did my physical this past year with Dana White. The problem is I'm not allowed to wrestle and fight. Dana White will not permit that."
"I’m a UFC die hard. Strikeforce yeah, I looked that way... but the one I want to fight for is Dana White."
"I do want to do the UFC, the MMA thing and hopefully God willing it will be in the next year or two."
"I don't consider myself a pro-wrestler, I consider myself an Olympic gold medalist. Brock [Lesnar] and Bobby [Lashley] were great wrestlers but they weren't anywhere near where I was. I'm in the top 5 of the greatest amateur wrestlers of all time."
"Some of my fellow Olympians are Randy Couture, unfortunately he didn't walk away with a medal in the Olympics but he's still an incredible wrestler. I would love to see how I would fare against him."
"Brock Lesnar is the real deal, he's an animal. Bobby Lashley is up and coming and is going to be great. But I don't know where I'll be, light heavyweight or heavyweight. I can make either one like that."
"I train at the Pittsburgh Fight Club. My trainer is Eric Hibler. Not a lot of people know who he is, but that's a good thing. What I'm going to use is what I do best and that is wrestling and ground and pound."
HT: mmadiehards.com
Cage Side Seats has more background on Angle's fraudulent flirtations with the UFC and MMA.
65 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Odd...
I was at a party a week or two ago and somebody made a comment about wanting to see Kurt Angle try MMA…
Interesting.
I thought he had some issues with his neck or back from an injury in pro wrestling; but if he is good to go now; i wouldn’t mind seeing him try his hand at it. He is definitely an outstanding wrestler. He’s getting up there in years now though; he is what like 40. That’s pretty old to be starting out. Guess he just wants to do a couple interesting match-ups like Couture and be done with it.
My blah blah blah
My photography site
"expect us to take you seriously or think you’re even remotely intelligent?" - Luke Thomas
Everyone in pro-wrestling has a back injury.
I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.
by Llewdor on Apr 23, 2010 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
lol
true; I was just thinking he had been out for a while or something and was actually retiring; then I heard he went to TNA or something
idk, I don’t follow it closely enough
My blah blah blah
My photography site
"expect us to take you seriously or think you’re even remotely intelligent?" - Luke Thomas
He’s just so old and beat up I don’t think he will be able to do much in MMA. It’s a shame, in his prime he would have probably been a beast.
Toney doesn't have the awful neck issues of Angle.
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
MMA Editor - SBNation.com
by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 23, 2010 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions
or drug dependency issues
"Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment."
-Lao Tzu
Was referring to the the similarities given the term “old and beat up”.
I am. I think. I will. - Ayn Rand
Toney's problem
is more of an old and EAT up issue.
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
by Kid Nate on Apr 23, 2010 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
yes
"The greatest enemy will hide in the last place you would ever look." - Revolver
by flyingkneetoface on Apr 23, 2010 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
Can he stop talking about MMA already?
He’s not gonna fight in the UFC. It’s pretty well published his neck is fucked and he won’t get into the UFC. He’s also had problems with pain killers.
Support me in my campaign for Absolute Banning Power for Bloody Elbow
How many years has he been talking about getting into MMA?
It’s tiresome, he won’t do it, and even if he did fight against Randy he would probably get choked out.
is he not still involed in pro wrestling?
Follow me on twitter at Lancers25 i give insight on every sport. but hockey mostly
LOL. Exactly.
U mean WWF-lite? ‘WWF’ as in Nasty Boys, Orlando Jordan etc. Wayyy too many old timers getting pushed over there.
33 Wins. Yeah, I said it.
Wouldn't put much stock in it
For whatever reason Angle seems to feel compelled to throw out at every interview that he wants to do mma and wants to be in the ufc. It’s been going on for years and nothing ever happens. Maybe it’s part of his prowrestler street cred to say you want into mma.
This actually has a chance of happening.
Only because a match with his name on it brings the same curiosity that Kimbo, Lashley, Toney and Heschel bring. He won’t be successful, but he’ll bring in some money for sure. I just worry about his neck.
33 Wins. Yeah, I said it.
Until someone puts him in a Twister
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
he did win a olympic gold medal something brock and lashley never did
Follow me on twitter at Lancers25 i give insight on every sport. but hockey mostly
… so? What do Brock and Lashley have to do with this?
by StephenDedalus on Apr 23, 2010 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions
if you had actually watched the video, you would have heard him say that he considered himself in the top 5 of the greatest amateur wrestlers of all time at the end of a long answer to the question of whether the success of Lesnar and Lashley crossing over had anything to do with him wanting to get into mma. He also says in his answer that both are great wrestlers, but he thinks he’s a better amateur wrestler based on his credentials.
Good to see he remains humble
but they weren’t anywhere near where I was. I’m in the top 5 of the greatest amateur wrestlers of all time.
did you actually watch the video? he’s not trying to be a doosh about it, he’s stating the fact that his amateur credentials are better than theirs
There’s a difference though between claiming to have better credentials than Lesnar and Lashley (which is pretty much indisputable), and claiming to be in the same category as Alexander Karelin. That’s a very generous assessment of Angle’s standing in amateur wrestling, to say the least.
Alexander Karelin has no category…..no one is as good as Karelin was. and even if Karelin took up the 3 top spots himself, there’s still room for a 6 time national champ who’s also a world champ, and a gold medalist. but if Karelin is the measuring stick, then no one else is a good amateur wrestler.
by BradCr on Apr 23, 2010 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
How awesome would it have been if Karelin had gone to Pride.
Keep Firing, Assholes!
The world on a string doesn't mean a thing.
It's only real in the way that I feel from day to day.
Its tough to compare Angle to Karelin since one was Freestyle and one was Greco. Personally, I think Freestyle translates better to MMA, since the double and single leg are such important takedowns.
by IWillPartyHard on Apr 23, 2010 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions
The sad thing is, is that five or so years ago, Kurt would have the potential to be a UFC champ. But repeated neck and back injuries are severely damaging any sort of relevant chance to compete in MMA. He already appears to be a less-intense version of Mark Kerr and the last thing I want to see is another great athlete follow down the same path and destroy his reputation and legacy, whether it be MMA, pro wrestling or anything.
Kurt would be interesting to see in MMA. I mean is he any where near what he was in the late 90s? nope not even close, but he is still a Olympic gold medalist. I think he should take it one step at a time like walker. Train let his coaches make the decision if weather he is fit enough for a fight. The only other wrestling medalists i can think of off hand that took part or are currently active in MMA are Matt Lindland and Roulin Gardner (sp?)
Also Kevin Jackson, had a promising start but retired after six fights, and Istvan Majoros who fought Kid in K-1…. that didn’t go so well for him though.
The thing about Kurt is, it’s not just about him not being what he was, he hasn’t competed in over a decade in anything, and reportedly his neck is so messed up that the WWE, of all people, weren’t prepared to take the risk of him killing himself while under their contract. He also has reportedly had problems with painkillers. Frankly, I don’t think he’d get sanctioned to fight even if he is serious about it.
I heard that Angle beat Lesnar in an amateur wrestling match backstage in 2003 during their time in the WWE.
A few years ago he probably would have been champion but his body is a mess today.
Heard that too...
…interesting if true, though it’s unverifiable as far as I know.
Actually its not unverifiable, if you look hard enough you can find the interviews from b oth Lesnar and Angle stating both sides to the story on what really happened. According to Lesnar, yes its true angle took him down an did something or other, which really doesnt mean shit as Danel Puder(who?lol) apparently did the same thing to Angle resulting in their Rivalry. But yes, apparently back in the day, Angle wasnt someone to f*ck with. Met him once a few years back an he’s a real cool, down to earth guy for most part., seemed sinecere back then(4yrs or so ago) about wanting to do MMA though but said his body was to wrecked. But then a year or so later, him an Couture announced they had signed on to fight one another(what happened to that contract?) which ofcourse amounted to nothing, much like will happen with Angle an MMA now..
How do you Know where Im at? If you dont Know where Ive been...Understand where Im coming from??
Good to know...
I had assumed it was just one of those things Jim Ross said back in the day to hype things up. I remember him when I used to watch WWE and found Kurt entertaining. It is kind of a shame time has passed Kurt by on this as several years ago he possibly could have made an impact on the sport. Now, with additional wear and tear on his neck and back from continued pro wrestling, as well as simply aging, I just don’t like his chances in any of matches he’d be likely to get. Plus, he’s been harping on for so long about making the move to MMA and not doing it, that interview excerpts like this are just bound to become comical.
it will be interesting to see if he can get a license to fight in any state with his injury history.
If Russia attacked Turkey from the rear, Do you think Greece would help?
Too Old.
…and he’s saying we should expect to see him in MMA in the “…next year or two”. He looks good, and I don’t doubt he must also fell good, but come one ‘dude’. He’ll be 42-43 by the time he’s ready.
It seems some former high level athletes think they’re invincible or something?
I don’t doubt it’s possible to stay in good shape and health well into your 50s, but whether one can withstand the rigours of a MMA fight, that is highly unlikely.
I think all that play acting involved in Pro Wrestling has him feeling like he is really is a bad ass that can get punched in the face with bare knuckles and not bleed.
"I'm Nobody's FanBoy" - higgledy-piggledy
by higgledy-piggledy on Apr 23, 2010 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions
He wants to try MMA!
Oh its true, its true!
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on Apr 23, 2010 5:24 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Normally I would think Kurt Angle’s dream of fighting in the UFC would be ridiculous, but the UFC just signed James Toney. I love Kurt Angle as a pro-wrestler, he is amazing both in the ring and as a character (before Kurt Angle, no one else could pull of both being an extremely credible badass heel and a total dork simultaneously). One Wrestlemania match where he and Chris Benoit improvised super fast-paced amateur style wrestling for 10 straight minutes to start the match was one of my favorite matches of all time.
If Angle had gone into MMA in 1997 he could have been a legend in the sport. Today he is going to get murdered. He would be a gimmick. It’s amazing how much American MMA is starting to emulate Japanese MMA when it comes to freakshows. I wish Angle would just be content with his legacy the way it is, and not put himself into a situation where he’s going to have the shit beat out of him and end up diminishing it.
He can’t be that banged up atm, he just did this like a week ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3ZyxmIGjhA
If you think you're free, there's no escape possible.
heres another take in hd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3ZyxmIGjhA
If you think you're free, there's no escape possible.
Despite Angle’s neck issues, he could probably go into MMA and still do alright for himself.
At this stage of his life he’d never be a champion, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get some noticable wins if he was serious. The guy’s wrestling is insane and according to Jim Ross, Angle beat Lesnar in a wrestling contest backstage.
I doubt Angle will ever go into MMA though.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" - Philippians 4:13
No..not at all
But hes a top 5 american wrestler
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
MMA Rankings
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
