Which country would have best MMA team?

[Newbie]

If MMA were an Olympic sport, which country would have the best team? Here are some possible teams I was thinking could be comprised for each country. What do you guys think?

USA:

205+ Randy Couture, Mark Coleman, Mark Kerr
205 Tito Ortiz, Frank Shamrock
185 Dave Menne, Dan Henderson
170 Matt Hughes, Pat Millitech
155 Jens Pulver, B.J. Penn


Brazil:

205+ Minotauro, Pedro Rizzo, Mario Sperry
205 Vanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort
185 Renzo G., Royce G., Rickson G.
170 Pele
155 Royler Gracie


I suspect that some of the Brazillians could choose to try out for the U.S. team as well depending on their citizenship status.

Japan:

205+ Kazuyuki Fujita
205 Kazushi Sakuraba(could possibly be 185)
185 Yuki Kondo
170 ?
155 Kaoro Uno, Sakurai


Russia:

205+ Igor Vovchanchin
205 Vladimir Matyushenko
185 Suolev?
170 ?
155 ?


Canada:

205+ Gary Goodridge
205 ?
185 ?
170 Carlos Newton
155 ?

[JaredExtreme]

I've thought about this myself. BTW, you forgot Wallid for Brazil's team! Hehe. But anyway, I think the U.S. would BARELY come out on top over Brazil, with Japan being a distant third.

[Newbie]

Just think about the tryouts alone.

Mark Coleman vs Randy Couture

Tito Ortiz vs. Frank Shamrock

Vanderlei Silva vs. Vitor Belfort

Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Nobuhiko Takada (just kidding)

Matt Linland vs. Dan Henderson

Pedro Rizzo vs. Minotauro

[Angel_of_Pain]

205+:
Gold- Mark Coleman
Silver- Igor Vov
Bronze- Rodrigo Nogueira

205:
G- Ortiz
S- Silva
B- Henderson

185:
G- F. Shamrock
S- Saku
B- Menne

170:
G- Miletich
S- Newton
B- Hughes

155:
G- Sakurai
S- Anderson Silva
B- Penn or Pulver

[rockinronnie]

For Canada as well as what was mentioned;


205+ - Dave Beneteau;

205 - Lance Gibson;

185 - Joe Doerksen / Stephan Potvin;

170 - Sean Pierson;

155 - Justin Bruckmann / Richard Nancoo / Curtis Brigham /
Wagney Fabiano Santos / Max Mairn / Frank Colcher and
more at this weight...

[Szczepankiewicz]

I would have to nominate Robin Patterson for the 155 lb class. Gold all the way baby!

[Bond]

Wow Newbie - good topic... Ill have to think and guit back to ya on my picks.

[Bond]

1st Place Team USA
Heavyweight Division- Randy Coutoure
Alternate- Mark Coleman
CruiserWeight Division- Dan Henderson
Alternate- Don Frye
Lt Heavyweight Division- Tito Ortiz
Alternate- Frank Shamrock
Middleweight Division - Dave Menne
Alternate- Matt Lindland
Welterweight Division- Matt Hughes
Alternate Pat Militech
Lightweight Division- Jens Pulver
Alternate B.J Penn

2nd Place Team Brazil
Heavyweight Division Mario Sperry
Alternate Pedro Rizzo
Cruiserweight Division Vitor Belfort
Alternate Riccardo Almeida
Light Heavyweight Vanderlei Silva
Alternate Rickson Gracie
Middleweight Divison Renzo Gracie
Alternate Allan Goes
Welterweight Division OPEN *

Lightweight Divison Royler Gracie
Anderson Silva
3rd Place Team Japan (Getting Tired F*ck Alternates from here on in)
Heavyweight- Fujita
Cruiserweight - Ogawa
Light heavyweight - Sakuraba
Middleweight - OPEN* ( cant remember guys name )
Welterweight- Sakurae
Lightweight - OPEN *
Alternate Uno
(Getting Tireder , will name only teams of runners up)
4th Place- Team Russia
5 th Place Team Holland
6 th place Team Canada
The rest ae only single digit countries- In the next ten years look for- Cuba , Bulgaria, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Mexico


4 th place Team Russia

[macdawg]

Barnett is better than Kerr and maybe even Coleman

[Bond]

No way Mac Dawg- Barnett lacks speed- He is a very tough kid with a decent chin, good striking and grappling. He and Ricco Rodriguez would be a great match up. Coleman is too explosive for Barnett.
There were other amrican Guys I personally lthink are underrated- Vernon White Tony Galindo and Joe Hurley are 3 Lions den guys that deserve Title shots.

[kuroshio]

Because of their ancestral backgrounds, Mark Kerr, Ricco Rodriguez, Sean Alvarez and Eddy Rolon could all compete for Puerto Rico if they wanted. And Bond, I believe you - Cuba has some great athletes down there. All they need is some training. Great wrestlers and judo players. I'm trying to go down there this year with Manny Yarbrough to teach some sumo.........

[Bond]

LOl Kuroshio- Ancestral Backgrounds? There would be NO American team at all if that is how you assess things- Rodriguez , Kerr et al are as American as they come. Rodriguez went to school in Staten Island N.Y. and the others I am 99% sure did not attend school in P.R- .
-Peoples from Puerto Rico are themselves a Mix of Spaniards , Portugese, Africans , Native Indians, and anyone else that floated in there over the last 1000 year or so. .Brazil is no different, having a mix of nationalities that ultimately came to be called Brazil .
And on Brazil - Yes I did forget Wallid- ut he would have to rop to cruiserweight for me to rank him as an alternate.

[kuroshio]

Bond:

I was simply pointing out that the four aforementioned fighters can and do trace their ancestry to Puerto Rico. All four have at least one parent or grandparent who was born there, making them eligible to compete in the Olympics according to the rules set forth by the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee. The annals of Olympic and international athletic competition history are full of people from America who invoked an ancestral (or other) connection to qualify for the Olympics or other competition (such as soccer's World Cup) for another country because for whatever reason, they could not compete for the U.S.
IMHO, the history of Puerto Rico and Brazil, both of which I am intimately familiar with, have no bearing on the point I was making.
Like Brazilians and Puerto Ricans, every American comes from European, African, Native American, Asian ancestry, or some combination of all of these. What does that have to do with the point we are discussing on eligibility? Wallid is 100% Brazilian, but his ancestors are from the Middle East. The Gracies are 100% Brazilian, but their most famous ancestor was Scottish, and their bloodlines also include African, Portuguese and Brazilian Indian.

[Bond]

Ahhh Kuroshio, a cultural anthropology buff amongst our midst- Interesting. I thought maybe you were segue ing into a Puerto Rico heritage day. I as unaware that PR even had a separate team in the Olympics. I thought the Island was part of the U.S. and so theathletes fought under the U.S.A flag. No mattr- Neither Kerr or Rico sound Puerto Rican to me- They sound American.
Emmanuel Yrorou? The 600 lb guy from Rahway NJ that fought in UFC? It is getting cold here , you are better off going where it is warm. Have a good trip-

[kuroshio]

Yeah, it's true - Puerto Rico was annexed by the U.S. after the Spanish-American War, and Puerto Ricans were given U.S. citizenship in 1917 (just in time for WWI). But for some reason, the island has always had its own Olympic teams, which leads to some schizophrenia among athletes. There was a terrible case a while back of a U. of Miami point guard named Maria Rivera. She had played for the P.R. women's team, but then the federation disbanded it. So she petitioned to play for the U.S., but was rejected because she had already represented P.R. Even though she had been a U.S. citizen from the beginning.

BTW - Rodriguez has a Puerto Rican father, Italian mother, and Kerr's mom is Puerto Rican.

Ay, le lo lai, le lo le, le lo lai..........That's traditional P.R. singing, if you're wondering what that stuff is...............Que bonita bandera, que bonita bandera, que bonita bandera, la bandera puertorriquena...........