Muhammad is really popular in the UFC (Khabib, Usman, Adesanya, Khamzat, Macachev etc). He made an appearance in the NBA (70's/80's Kareem). He did just fine. Don't know how he'll be welcomed in the college wrestling scene
Key word is "bonkers" (mad/crazy)...If we are to believe the word was used correctly it would be something of the magnitude of a Terry Brands, Brock Lesnar, or some random dude off the street taking a head coaching position in the Ivies. My guess is it wont be so bonkers
No, not that I'm aware of. It was part of the curriculum when I was a youngster. Might be a regional thing now. I can ask friends & family who live in central PA if their kids still have it.
Maybe wrestling needs an Enter the Dragon or Karate Kid movie to spark interest. Bo Nickal starring in Bloodsport 2
1) I thought 2023 was the best year the UFC has ever had. Viewership was up and they brought in over 1 billion in revenue.
2) Haven't gone through all the comments. Is this based on the theory that wrestling will grow if it's presented more as a team sport? I've always found that theory fanciful. Would love to be proven wrong.
I've been a broken record on this but my belief has always been that wrestling's best strategy is to follow the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blueprint and piggy back off the UFC. He might get a lot of hate but someone like Bo Nickal being extremely successful in the octagon is important to the future of wrestling. Then comes the work of the community capitalizing off of it. Living in the Philly area, despite it being in PA, I've talked to countless dads who would have gladly signed up their kids for wrestling but didn't know where to start. Luckily for them there's a bjj school on every corner.
He'll be a contender but I think '97 next year will be similar to '25 this year. Cardenas took 6 losses on the year and placed 4th. You can also throw Little's name into the mix
I think Cael vs AB is much closer to a toss up than what most would like to believe. The year prior down at 184 Cormier gave the mythical Cael quite a scrap and got a takedown in the 3rd to make it a 1 point match prior to Daniel having a brain fart and giving up the reversal. If Cael wrestled AB in their primes 10 times I wouldn't be surprised if they split. AB is going into WTT as an underdog to DT and although unlikely most won't or shouldn't find it shocking if he pulled off taking the spot. That's how good he is
WKN, here's a fascinating one. UPenn's Rchard DiBatista won titles in '41 & '42 at 175. Transferred to Navy and AA'd in '01 '02 at 141. Snuck into the tournament under the alias Mark Conley. Maybe @cowcards has the back story
https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/bio/98