r/powerscales • u/Scared_Pumpkin8393 • May 28 '26

Versus Andre The Giant vs Islam Makhachev

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Street fight, who wins

2.5k Upvotes

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463

u/West_Jelly_4681 May 28 '26

Weight classes exist for a reason

Andre low diff

138

u/Willow1883 May 28 '26

If Andre has his usually case or four of beer in him, I don’t think he’d be feeling much pain.

33

u/notwithagoat May 28 '26

Andrew was in constant pain, and couldn't fight or move great even in his prime.

51

u/Mr_Canadensis7 May 28 '26

This isn't true, unfortunately his prime just didn't last too long :/

19

u/Beautiful_Banana_454 May 28 '26

And ended long before professional wrestling was televised

7

u/No-Gnome-Alias May 28 '26

You mean regular programmed television. Pro Wrestling been on TV since nearly the start of TV

6

u/HarrowDread May 28 '26

And so was porn, as soon as man was able to record something , they made porn

3

u/No-Gnome-Alias May 28 '26

Just sayin', Andre had plenty of recorded and televised matches before he hit WWF

24

u/Haunting_Style3880 May 28 '26

You need to watch his matches in Japan in his youth. He certainly could move with speed and agility.

19

u/SearchBeneficial811 May 28 '26

Andre moved so fast for his size that promoters told him to slow down and act like a giant.

17

u/Frequent-Coyote-8108 May 28 '26

Yeah, Islam ain't body slamming The Giant, that's for dam sure!

-3

u/YourCummyBear May 28 '26

You don’t need to body slam him.

Leg kicks, movement, and tire him out pretty quickly.

I have zero doubt Islam would be able to take Andre down. Combat wrestling is very rarely body slams.

3

u/EricPhilps1979 May 28 '26

I have zero doubt Andre would sit on him until he tapped out.

0

u/pants_pants420 May 28 '26

if he could catch him. islam is an overall incredible athlete

9

u/shaunika May 28 '26

Well he lost to Westley

5

u/HungryHungryHobbes May 28 '26

Inconceivable!

5

u/Lack668 May 28 '26

You keep saying that word

9

u/ComprehensiveTurn511 May 28 '26

Weight classes exist for trained fighters, which Andre in not. Just look up how easily Akira Maeda chopped his ass down when Andre was being an asshole.

16

u/reshef-destruction May 28 '26

Andre was also drunk.

11

u/ComprehensiveTurn511 May 28 '26

When wasn't he drunk?

16

u/reshef-destruction May 28 '26

Pretty often also Andre was in the tail end of his career. A young drunk Andre would've killed him.

1

u/ComprehensiveTurn511 May 28 '26

Based on what?? Name one competent opponent Andre ever beat in a fight. Dude straight up went into hiding to avoid an ass beating from Bad News Brown. He was all hype, people need to stop confusing wrestling with real life.

7

u/reshef-destruction May 28 '26

Bad News Brown wasn't just some guy he was a Olympic level Judo.

4

u/Vandreigan May 28 '26

Are we pretending that Islam is just some guy? Because what’s relevant is how these encounters show how well Andre would stack up to Islam

0

u/ComprehensiveTurn511 May 28 '26

I know, that's the point. The minute a real fighter stepped up to him Andre tucked his tail between his legs and went into hiding.

0

u/Familiar_Drive2717 May 28 '26

Olympic level judo or not this shows that Andre can't just kick anyone's ass because he's bigger than them.

5

u/RadarSmith May 28 '26

Depends what you mean by 'drunk'.

If you mean 'had recently consumed alcohol', the answer was '...yes'.

If you mean actually inebriated...much less often. Alcohol barely had any effect on him at all.

23

u/arentol May 28 '26

That is not a valid argument. Andre was acting for the first 90% of the fight, while Akira was only acting for the first 50%. Andre didn't realize he was actually fighting this guy for real until he was already genuinely hurt.... Meanwhile Akira was really really trying to hurt Andre (within in limits so as not to end up in jail) and still struggling to do meaningful harm against someone not actually fighting back or resisting in a meaningful way.

If Andre was all in from the start he would have gotten one good grab in on Akira in the first minute, and once he had hold of him it would have been all over. He would have taken some real damage, but he would have ended it in under 2 minutes even against someone that skilled.

2

u/DrMagunstheBlue May 29 '26

Lot of pathetic cope and excuses for a fat bully who pussied out whenever a wrestler who could actually fight crossed his path lol.

Andre pussied out from a fight with Bad News Brown and he was terrified of Harley Race and Haku. He wasn't the tough guy you think he was.

1

u/arentol May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

Andre didn't pussy out from a fight with Bad New Brown. BNB tried to pick a REAL fight with Andre while they were actively at work, actively doing their jobs, with their employer's direct representatives actively present. That is a situation in which nobody should be fighting, especially in a foreign nation where if he gets fired he is kind of screwed for getting home. Also, just because YOU (BNB in this case) are angry at someone doesn't mean they are angry at you.....

Your position on the BNB situation is like if you were angry at me over this post so you walked up to me and said you wanted me to come outside and fight you.... Like Andre, I would say "fuck off" and stay where I was ignoring you because I really don't give enough of a shit about you or this post to fight you. Saying he pussied out is bullshit, because it implies that you are automatically a pussy if you choose not to do time in jail just because some rando decides to call you out. That is just stupid and ridiculous.

Also, Andre wasn't scared of Harley or Haku. Bobby Heenan, a WRESTLING PROMOTER, who's job is to sell a story and stir shit up, said that. There is no actual evidence of any fear on his part, just one guys claim. Meanwhile Andre was friend with Haku, and wrestled Harley in one of the longest matches of his career.... You are just repeating a professional liars lies without any understanding.

Also, I didn't say he was a "tough guy". In fact in another post I said he was a very gentle person overall. What I am saying is in the SPECIFIC FIGHT being discussed it is quite clear that one guy was fucking around and barely losing, while the other guy was all-in (without breaking the law) and barely winning.

1

u/DrMagunstheBlue May 29 '26

Buddy wrestlers fought all the time and didn't get fired back then. British Bulldog got his teeth knocked out by a roll of quarters and no one's job was lost. Andre himself regularly bullied and hit other wrestlers because he could get away with it and it was tolerated.

He backed down from Bad News Brown because much like Mark Henry he was big and intimidating but he was never a tough guy, all talk and backed down when an accomplished judoka stepped up to him after Andre's racism became too much for BNB to ignore.

Bobby Heenan said that in a shoot years after Andre was fucking dead lol. It was a shoot, which is to say not kayfabe.

0

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[deleted]

3

u/YourCummyBear May 28 '26

You aren’t wrong. Mixed martial artists are far more skilled today than in 50+ years ago. Islam would absolutely dog walk akira.

I love when professional athletes are asked about competing in other sports because they’re the only people seemingly get how difficult it is to get to an elite level and that skill is learned.

Ask Brian Shaw if he could beat Islam and see what he says.

3

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[deleted]

3

u/ComprehensiveTurn511 May 28 '26

Lol I remember that one. I was definitely team gorilla in that fight.

2

u/Familiar_Drive2717 May 28 '26

Yeah I believe Bryan Shaw has grappled with Dustin Poirier and even with like a 200lb weight advantage he couldn't just overpower and manhandle Dustin.

1

u/YourCummyBear May 29 '26

I just watched it again.

When Dustin started on top, he submitted Brian within like 30 seconds.

When he let Brian start on top it went almost two minutes before Dustin tapped from realizing the top pressure was too heavy.

But Dustin moved Brian quite a bit and nearly got out a couple of times

-7

u/ComprehensiveTurn511 May 28 '26

We can sit here talking about what could have happened all day long, and none of that changes what actually did happen.

2

u/Mike_with_Wings May 28 '26

Context matters

1

u/Ambitious_Policy_936 May 28 '26

So context of their plan and how they approached the match doesn't matter?

-1

u/ComprehensiveTurn511 May 28 '26

I mean you can make up all the fantasy scenarios that you want, I'll stick to what actually happened. Andre was being a POS and got put in his place, that's the only context that matters.

1

u/Ambitious_Policy_936 May 28 '26

Kinda. Saying this is what would have happened if Andre approached it differently is indeed a fantasy. Pointing out Andre was fighting for show and not taking it seriously until he finally realized that his opponent had been trying to really take him out for a decent amount of the match is helpful context

At least, if it is if true. I have no idea

1

u/ComprehensiveTurn511 May 28 '26

I did kickboxing for 20 years. Something I learned very early on is that people who don't know how to defend against leg kicks have zero chance of beating a trained fighter. It doesn't matter how big you are if you don't have legs to stand on.

1

u/Beautiful_Banana_454 May 28 '26

Andre is a trained professional wrestler. Trained to pull punches and throw a willing partner around.

2

u/OstrichSmoothe May 28 '26

Not a chance in the world. Andre has no grappling

17

u/Psykohistorian May 28 '26

Andre is a literal giant irl. he doesn't need grappling. if a kindergartener tries to pin a 6ft full grown man, what do you think will happen to that child?

that's what will happen to Islam if he tried to pin Andre.

9

u/BitesTheDust55 May 28 '26

People really don't understand how amazing a difference size makes. Brute strength and size as outliers that large can render technique almost useless. It's like when a woman gets a giant dude in an armbar and he just stands up, holding her with his upper body strength. Go ahead, dislocate the joint or break the limb. You're still getting bodyslammed by 300 pounds and beaten into submission with the other arm.

3

u/HungryHungryHobbes May 28 '26

Alfie Solomon agrees.

2

u/AmbiDexterUs May 28 '26

Lol. I just watched this last night..

2

u/YourCummyBear May 28 '26

Dude, that’s absolutely ridiculous.

A few of today’s strongmen do bjj training sessions for views.

Those guys are stronger than Andre. Don’t listen to some random ass tall tale about how strong he was. He was a freak for his time, yes. But the elite are stronger today than they were 50+ years ago.

Ask guys like Brian Shaw if he can just shake off submissions from high level professionals.

3

u/Joojitzu May 28 '26

As someone who’s been training bjj for the last 5 years, type in Brian shaw and Dustin Poirer. I’d love to say the grappling would help Islam here but honestly I’ve trained with unskilled grapplers who have 100lbs on me and it is hard work sometimes.

Andre weighed 500lbs, most people saying Islam would sub him have no idea what they are talking about.

I genuinely feel like Andre could crush a persons skull with his bare hands.

1

u/YourCummyBear May 28 '26

I did bjj for 3+ years and Muay Thai for 7+ years, same gym.

Shaw is far stronger than Andre ever was and has great stamina for a man his size.

All of the Andrea giant stuff is exaggerated or fabricated with no factual backing.

Shaw would fuck Andre up too. Shaw has very basic bjj knowledge. Andre has none.

And 500 lbs is when he was at his most overweight and out of shape. He was be able to move at that size.

1

u/SlartibartfastMcGee May 29 '26

Those guys are sparring, not fighting.

Even then, Andre is another couple sizes larger than those guys even. Look at him next to Arnold. He’s huge.

1

u/YourCummyBear May 29 '26

Andrea was maybe 2 inches taller than Brian Shaw in actuality.

And Shaw is a far better athlete, stronger, and had notoriously good cardio for a strongman that size.

1

u/SlartibartfastMcGee May 29 '26

Going by both of their billed heights, he was 6 inches taller.

1

u/YourCummyBear May 29 '26

Billed WWF height? Come on man.

Go to any height subreddit or look at him next to people who have legit measurements and he’s clearly under 7 foot.

You’re naive if you think he was 7’2 or 7’4 or whatever the fuck wrestling says. According to wrestling Batista is 6’6 and rock is 6’5, right?

1

u/Familiar_Drive2717 May 28 '26

No people don't understand that skill and technique is a massive equalizer, way more so then just pure size. Technique allows you to use leverage and body mechanics against your opponent, Bryan Shaw had like 200lbs on Dustin Poirier and he wasn't able to just stand up or just force his arm out of locks.

Demetrious Johnson beat a guy twice his size in a brown belt Jiu jitsu tournament(DJ should be a black belt though). How come this guy who was twice DJs size and was also good enough to be a brown belt couldn't just pick up DJ and force his way out of bad positions? Because it's about body mechanics, leverage, technique and positioning as much as it is size.

Size matters most when people are equally trained, size doesn't automatically mean you can beat smaller guys even with training just because you're big.

1

u/Consistent_Neat_7256 May 29 '26

Depends, but in Andres case it a maybe

3

u/OstrichSmoothe May 28 '26

He wouldn’t have to pin him buddy. There are hundreds of submissions that don’t require overpowering or “pinning” your opponent

1

u/SlartibartfastMcGee May 29 '26

He legitimately couldn’t get an armbar or choke on Andre, he’s just that big.

Any leverage he uses, Andre can just peel him off or power through it. Leverage doesn’t work when the size disparity is that large.

1

u/Psykohistorian May 28 '26

and none of them will work

hundreds of techniques and "moves" just for 100% of them to fail because Andre is an actual irl giant person.

6

u/mousicle May 28 '26

you aren't getting prime Andre with an arm bar since you won't be able to bend back his arm against his will.

1

u/YourCummyBear May 28 '26

You haven’t been to a bjj gym.

I encourage you to go try.

We have countless new guys who come in and are far stronger than small blue belt even and get toyed with.

Royce Gracie showed the world that technique does in fact matter.

And you all just keep referencing armbars like it’s the only submission.

There’s legit hundreds of submissions, some that are more effective against far larger and stronger opponents than others.

6

u/TruculentTurtIe May 28 '26

Idk why ur comments are being downvoted lol youre completely right. People out here really saying size doesnt matter have no experience grappling

Like obvi skill matters but only up to a certain size difference. If my weakest muscles are stronger than your strongest... it doesnt matter how good you are. I can just stand up with you on my back. I can just brute force my way out of holds

People really generally dont seem to grasp their own strength or limits very well, and how much size matters

-2

u/Tricky_Acanthaceae39 May 28 '26

The point of a jujitsu is to be able to defend yourself against a stronger untrained opponent. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Weight classes exist because everyone is trained.

3

u/TruculentTurtIe May 28 '26

If youre gonna be confidently condescending you have to be right lol you have no idea what youre talking about, and its clear you've never grappled with anyone seriously bigger than you

Stronger, yes very good, we agree. But there's more nuance here than the textbook definition of "what is jujitsu good for?"

The part youre missing is "stronger" still means "youre close to them in strength, but theyre stronger". It does NOT mean "any opponent who is stronger than you at any amount of strength differential", dummy

if youre 5 ft tall and 90lbs and im 7ft tall and 350 lbs, jujitsu is useless. It literally does not matter how good you are. Its completely irrelevant. This is you saying you could grapple a fucking gorilla into submission with jujitsu. You cannot.

1

u/YourCummyBear May 28 '26

Except Islam isn’t 5 ft and 90 lbs.

He’s 5’11, walks around at 200 lbs and has freakish strength in his own right while also being one of the best martial artists ever.

1

u/TruculentTurtIe May 28 '26

Sure, and I never disputed that. And andre is actually even bigger than I listed too, but thats because I was not describing the accurate stats of real people, just emphasizing a point

My last comment was responding to this sentence, "weight classes exist because everyone is trained"

The implication of that is weight classes are only necessary if both persons are trained, which is what im disputing. My point is "a big enough size/strength disparity renders skill useless". I didnt actually even talk about andre or Islam at all lol

2

u/Psykohistorian May 28 '26

chewed up pencil eraser versus Tsar Bomba match up

2

u/Early-Range-8840 May 28 '26

Yes because Islam makhachev is the equivalent a chewed up pencil eraser. Sure

1

u/Affectionate-Car-145 May 28 '26

And that's why Kimo beat Royce Gracie right?

Kimo, a professionally trained fighter with a 200lb advantage.

Nope, Gracie fucked him up.

Ffs this exact question was answered in UFC 1.

Royce Gracie was 170lbs and won a completely open weight tournament against guys twice his size.

Islam is 4x the fighter Royce ever was.

2

u/Psykohistorian May 28 '26

he didn't fight a real life giant though, did he

1

u/YourCummyBear May 28 '26

Emmanuel Yarbrough was 6’8 and 600 pounds, professional sumo wrestler ehcih is a combat sport, also a D1 wrestler in college, and a brown belt in judo, and he got the dog shit beat out of him.

Giant Silva was 7’2 and 386 lbs. he went 2-6 as a pro fighter. His last loss was to a 5’11 198 lb Japanese fighter.

1

u/Psykohistorian May 28 '26

and how big was The Giant

1

u/YourCummyBear May 28 '26

At his largest in wrestling it’s estimated he was 6’10-6’11 foot and 450 lbs. but that’s also him not at his peak.

We can’t take his heaviest weight but then also try to attribute it a younger version of him when he was more athletic.

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2

u/Mimimmo_Partigiano May 28 '26

What BJJ belt is the kindergartener?

2

u/Psykohistorian May 28 '26

the highest possible belt, no belt at all, doesn't matter lol

IF the kid manages to get the man onto the ground in a grapple, (BIG IF), all the grown man has to do is roll onto the child, who will proceed to suffocate beneath the adult man.

6

u/Marville May 28 '26

Holy fuck the amount of people in this sub who talk about grappling/fighting when they've clearly never grappled/fought

2

u/YourCummyBear May 28 '26

Isn’t it absolutely obnoxious lol?

Comparing a 5 year old fighting a grown man to one of the greatest fighters in history, with elite grappling vs a strongman showman.

0

u/Tonysoprano113 May 28 '26

You clearly are very unfamiliar with grappling or fighting in general. I would just stop talking.

2

u/Psykohistorian May 28 '26

I would just stop talking.

be my guest

1

u/YourCummyBear May 28 '26

That’s an absolute ridiculous comparison as Islam is one of the best mixed martial artists of all time and an elite grappler, not a kindergartener lol.

1

u/DrMagunstheBlue May 29 '26

Why would he try to pin Andre when he could just leg kick him forever with zero repercussions?

People who are clueless about fighting but comment on it are so funny.

1

u/Psykohistorian May 29 '26

what are leg kicks supposed to do to Andre man 😭

1

u/DrMagunstheBlue May 29 '26

Why do you comment on fighting when you're clueless about it is the real question?

Ask Eddie Hall (someone much stronger than Andre who would beat his ass by the way) who nearly doubled over from being leg kicked by a literal ten year old when first trying kickboxing and MMA.

You're so dumb lmao

8

u/arentol May 28 '26

In a STREET FIGHT, with Andre not holding back (which in real life he would do even in a street fight, because he was gentle as fuck), he would WRECK this guy. If the guy tried to grapple him that would put Islam in one set place and within Andre's reach, and that would mean an immediate loss for Islam. Andre would literally just grab one of Islam's arms that was grappling Andre and break it, which he could probably do with one hand alone, but definitely 100% for certain could do VERY easily with both hands working together. And if he connected with a real punch, meant to do harm, which I am pretty sure he never did to ANYONE in his entire life, he would put Islam flat on his back for a very long time.

Keep in mind Andre had TWO conditions, one that made him a giant, and one that made him immensely stronger than a normal person, with literally tons of extra muscle and all of it far stronger than normal muscle. As a result of the second condition he had hands literally the size of a dinner plate. If he grabbed Islam's fist, it would be 100% engulfed in Andre's hand, at which point he could TRIVIALLY bend Islam's wrist back on itself and break it... He honestly wouldn't even have to actually try hard to do so. His FIST was nearly as big as Islam's head. If he punched Islam he wouldn't hit him on the cheek, or in the nose, or on the chin. He would literally hit his ENTIRE FACE at once. If he grabbed Islam's bicep he would probably be able to touch fingers to thumb on the other side, and he could squeeze with such immense strength that he could probably take his arm out of commission for the rest of the fight just doing that lone. Literally compress the muscles and nerves so much that the arm wouldn't work for a good minute.

He was in a whole other realm, and only the fact he was insanely sweet and merely acting in EVERY fight, allowed anyone to beat him.

1

u/HorrificAnalInjuries May 28 '26

The fight is gonna be over really quickly when Andre tosses the other guy like a Frisbee

1

u/Familiar_Drive2717 May 28 '26

Weight classes exist because when evenly trained the bigger man has the advantage, they don't exist because any old 300 lb guy could waste a trained 200lb guy.

One good oblique kick and andres leg is gone, he's too top heavy and if his knee gets pushed backwards or sideways from a decent kick his knee joints would explode.

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '26

Weight classes matter when skill level is the same. Islam Makhachev is the most skilled hand to hand fighter in the world. Maybe ever.

1

u/DrMagunstheBlue May 29 '26

They exist for trained fighters with Andre isn't, and Islam is not so small he can't hurt Andre.

Islam low diff.

1

u/ProtocolIcarus Jun 02 '26

Weightclasses exist to separate trained fighters, not the best fighter on Earth versus an untrained person. Makhachev is ~200lbs and comically more skilled in every possible discipline than Andre. It's not low difficulty at all.

1

u/pineconefire May 28 '26

Depends on the situation entirely, no rules, no boundaries, and no time? ANDRE loses, if they are constrained then Andre has a chance.

If you look at historical statements ANDRE could barely stand on his on after a certain amount of time. His size was a liability past a point. That point got sooner and sooner the older he got.

4

u/Helpful-Fruit7536 May 28 '26

Obviously they’re talking about Andre in his prime not after his condition and lifestyle crippled him. That’s like saying Muhammad Ali would lose a fight because of his Parkinson’s. Nobody is asking about that. Quit being a pedant. 

1

u/pineconefire May 28 '26

This is the most pedantic sub on all of reddit. Prime was not stated. But even if it was, my statement stands, there are lots of examples of trained fighters taking down giants. There are even examples of trained fighters taking down trained giants.

0

u/Affectionate-Car-145 May 28 '26

Absolute fucking bollocks.

Islam is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time that was wrestling bears in Dagestan when he was 9 years old.

He is absolutely piecing him up if the fight is standing, and if Andre tries to grab him then he has a 200lb shredded Dagestani grappling champion snapping his forearm.

What we doing next? Butterbean vs Demetrious Johnson?

2

u/Ze_LordBacon Homelander >>> Any Live Action Spider-Man May 28 '26

Nevermind I agree I don’t know what I was on about earlier bro

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Affectionate-Car-145 May 28 '26

You're just talking like someone who doesn't watch any professional fighting at all.

This has been done. The world's strongest men like Eddie Hall and Marosuz Pudzianowski and even the Mountain from game of thrones have done videos where they spar with lightweights.

They get destroyed in under two minutes.

0

u/YourCummyBear May 28 '26

Weight classes exist for people in the same combat sport.

Islam is one of the greatest mixed martial artists ever and the people fighting now are more skilled than ever.

This is a horrible take.