Kurt Angle is one of those wrestlers who have helped legitimize the pro wrestling business. Angle won his first WWE Championship in his rookie year due to his decorated Olympic background. After all, he won an Olympic Gold Medal with a broken freakin’ neck. However, Brock Lesnar once claimed that Kurt Angle would not be able to clear the physical test of UFC despite his accomplishments in the Olympics.
One of the most talked-about topics surrounding Kurt Angle is the idea of him competing in the UFC. The Wrestling machine’s long-time rival and friend, Brock Lesnar, once gave his take on Kurt Angle’s potential in MMA.
Brock Lesnar thinks Kurt Angle couldn’t make it in the UFC at the time of his pro wrestling career
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Without a doubt, Kurt Angle is as tough as they come. And his gold medals are a testament to his finesse in athletic competition. There was a time when Angle had no equal in WWE when it came to grappling. While acknowledging Kurt Angle’s toughness, Brock Lesnar claimed that he couldn’t hang in the UFC after his pro wrestling career took off.
In his book, Death Clutch, released in 2011, Brock Lesnar stated that a prime Kurt Angle, coming out of the Olympics in 1996, had a strong chance to make a name in the UFC. However, Angle had no chance in the world of Mixed Martial Arts after sustaining multiple injuries from pro wrestling.
Lesnar wrote, “Kurt could have turned to ultimate fighting right after the 1996 Olympics, but the timing would’ve been bad. The UFC wasn’t ‘happening’ in 1996, and the money was nothing like it is today.”
He added, “Kurt Angle was one tough son of a b*tch. Could Kurt in his prime have fought in the UFC? Absolutely. And he would have torn it up. Could Kurt fight in UFC now? Absolutely not. After all of his pro wrestling injuries, I don’t think he could even pass the physical.”
In all fairness, in 2011, Kurt Angle was inching closer to the end of his storied pro wrestling career. And considering the years of damage he took to his body from pro wrestling, Angle indeed would not have qualified to compete in the UFC. Make no mistake, as Lesnar pointed out, Angle had all the ingredients to become an ultimate fighter. However, he was just not in the right place at the right time.
Nevertheless, Kurt Angle stuck to pro wrestling and carved out a legitimate Hall of Fame career. The Olympic Hero and Brock Lesnar worked multiple fast-paced matches together. One of their most memorable matches was at WrestleMania 19 when Brock almost broke his neck after botching a Shooting Star Press. Furthermore, the duo once even locked up in a shoot-wrestling match.
Kurt Angle once defeated Brock Lesnar in a shoot wrestling match
When Brock Lesnar made his debut in 2002, he was pushed as The Next Big Thing. Lesnar’s size and strength combined with his NCAA background made him a formidable opponent for everybody he stepped in the ring with. But a young and brash Brock Lesnar once made the mistake of not taking Kurt Angle’s Olympic status seriously.
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During an interview with RF Video Vault, Kurt Angle revealed that Brock Lesnar once told somebody in the back that he could easily defeat Kurt Angle in a real wrestling match due to the disparity in their size. And so, taking umbrage, Kurt Angle stepped up against Brock Lesnar.
He said, “It was close. It really was. He had 90 pounds on me, but I probably took him down into the ropes a good 7-8 times. He used the ropes to say we’re out of bounds. That’s OK. I did take him down once. He didn’t take me down at all.”
Despite coming out on top, Angle also pointed out that if it was a “shoot fight”, Brock Lesnar would have dominated him.
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