Tortoise boxing, the oldest documented martial art, was first referenced in the 5th century as a method of self-defense. It survives and is still practiced today, from prize fighting to special forces training!
Source: art compiled by martial historian Dusty Diamond
Gerald Ford vs. Teddy Roosevelt, no holds barred MMA fight. Who wins?
Despite his portrayal as a clumsy oaf, Gerald Ford was almost certainly the best athlete to ever serve in the White House. He was a legendary college football player who won two national championships at the University of Michigan, and was MVP of the team in his senior year. Ford turned down contract offers from the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers, but turned down a career in the NFL in order to attend law school. Ford was a avid skier until his 80s and continued swimming regularly for exercise into his 90s, and he would have had a notable size advantage over Theodore Roosevelt.
However, if someone genuinely knows what they are doing during a mixed martial arts fight, they are going to be very difficult to defeat -- even against an opponent who might be a superior athlete in every other sense. That has been a lesson learned throughout the growth of MMA as a mainstream sport dating back to Royce Gracie easily handling much bigger opponents in the early UFC with his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Or Rickson Gracie calmly controlling and systematically dominating literally everyone he fought in Japan, no matter who Pride FC threw at him.
Theodore Roosevelt would be giving up quite a bit of size and athletic ability against Gerald Ford, but TR was an early student of martial arts. As President -- in the White House itself -- Roosevelt kept active with wrestling (always the best foundation for a mixed martial artist) and boxing. And he was among the first Americans to actually train in jiu jitsu and judo, receiving lessons directly from the legendary Yamashita Yoshiaki. Because of that experience, I think Theodore Roosevelt probably would have given any of his fellow Presidents a rough day at the office if they had an MMA fight, no matter how big or strong or athletic his opponent might be.
First we got UFC 301. It’s in Rio. It’s not a bad card imo, but it’s not a PPV card. I like Erceg and we will see if he can rise to the occasion and being Australia home another UFC title. And Pantoja is always cool to watch fight. Shore-Brito, Brener-Orolbai, Pereira-Potieria, and KK-Lucindo are fun fights too. Also Aldo-Martinez.
Canelo vs Munguia. Mexico vs Mexico. Undisputed vs undefeated for the titles at 168lbs. Should be a good fight. And we got Figueroa vs Magdaleno on the undercard which is dope.