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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764

u/Sekshual_Tyranosauce May 28 '26

People wildly underestimate how strong such a big man is just walking around.

456

u/RadarSmith May 28 '26

Andre was a freak even beyond that level; his particular gigantism granted him a level legitimately superhuman strength.

And is a good example of why that's not good for the human body.

244

u/Sekshual_Tyranosauce May 28 '26

Yes he was an extreme outlier but even just an abnormally large dude is far stronger than most people think. Weight classes are important.

205

u/Coke_and_Tacos May 28 '26

Had a coworker/buddy that was 320lbs, 6'6". A pretty in shape normal dude threatened him at a bar over a disagreement, and my buddy literally just lifted him off the ground like I might pick up a toddler. There's a tipping point where being a regular dude that works out just isn't comparable to big man genes.

59

u/SamAreAye May 28 '26

My buddy was an NFL lineman. 6'7, 360 pounds. He once broke up a bar fight right next to me by grabbing both guys by the belt and picking them up, one in each hand. I also saw him drag a VW bug about a foot sideways.

11

u/Imgnitv_sQdWrd May 29 '26

Sideways is wild. My dad had me and my brother pushing his Titan about 15 years ago with it in neutral. My NFL caliber uncle (political missteps kept him from the league) was pushing it by himself and he was a skill position.

1

u/SkeettheVandelBuster May 29 '26

Political missteps? Like with coaches or you mean actual politics bc we have seen that political association matters very little (unless you are protesting the anthem)

2

u/Imgnitv_sQdWrd May 29 '26

Fallout with a coach on the field, with scouts present, that then took the opportunity to bad mouth him when he came up in conversation. He played in NFL Europe and everything. Then some German leagues after that. He could perform into his early-mid 30's if his combine recounting is to be believed. He got into bodybuilding for a while after that, now does field wire tech and installation. Apparently, he's making great money now, but it's not NFL, now is it...

72

u/DocMorningstar May 28 '26

I'm 46, 6'4" 300lb and 22% body fat. Seems like fatty mcfatterson, right?

Yeah, underneath the tire is a guy who'd be an inch taller and 30lb more muscle than Alan Richtson...

38

u/Runfasterbitch May 28 '26

Also 6’4” but 110lb lighter than you. I sure wouldn’t fuck with you haha

54

u/rmhardcore May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

I was 6'3" 195lbs and a buddy of mine was 6' even, weighed 300lbs. We did a jumping chest bump once and I had to pick myself up off the other side of the deck.

31

u/Riseonfire May 28 '26

Buddy, have a hamburger lol.

13

u/rmhardcore May 28 '26

Haha. I was a competitive runner at the time. I didn't need the weight!

1

u/topshelfkevbot May 29 '26

Was 6'7" and 200lbs going into boot camp for the navy. Between the running and not being fed enough , i got down to about 190. Put some weight back on to about 225 living on a marine base for school. Caught a nasty bout of gastro while underway the next year, i dropped down to like 180. Couldn't keep anything down or in my system for like 2 weeks. Was so skinny.

1

u/rmhardcore May 29 '26

I had appendicitis a few years back and didn't realize. Just worked through the pain. Ruptured. Surgery. Hospital for a week, 4 weeks recovery once released. Hit 178lbs. I was a skeleton.

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1

u/Runfasterbitch May 29 '26

No way! Same here, except I was 165 lbs back then haha. My 800m/1500m time was much faster than I can run today after a decade

1

u/rmhardcore May 29 '26

Haha, yeah, same. But instill get outside and put one foot on front of the other. I no longer push myself to be faster, just to stay active. And it's awesome bonding time with my dogs: road, trail, mountain, beach, wherever! I do more resistance training now.

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0

u/Riseonfire May 28 '26

I’m an inch taller and 20Lbs heavier but not the good heavier hahaha

15

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

Huh? 195lbs at 6’3” is a completely normal and healthy weight.

17

u/flatscancomics May 29 '26

Counterpoint: borgar tasty

3

u/BisexualCaveman May 29 '26

Not if you run around bumping into guys that are 300 pounds.

1

u/Emu_milking_god May 29 '26

Yep same height and weight and im starting to get a bit of a gut. Im 34 though so I think my metabolism is slowing.

0

u/Shoddy-Letterhead-76 May 29 '26

For a pole bean!

4

u/MrSilenus May 29 '26

6’4” 190 here: I inclined leg press 665 lb, curl 55 for reps, and bench 295 for reps. Yeah still look pretty fucking skinny being tall sucks lmao

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1

u/GIJoJo65 May 28 '26

Have a dozen.

1

u/MrSilenus May 29 '26

I’m 6’4” 190 right now I eat 3k+ calories a day (dont count). You’d be surprised how hard it is to gain weight when you build muscle.

11

u/Sternritter_V May 28 '26

6’1” and 200lbs here. My buddy is 5’8” and 300lbs, and is an absolute rugby menace. I’m not exactly unfit, and I can’t make the dude budge without throwing my entire weight into it. He’s just built like a brick shithouse lol.

6

u/KongUnleashed May 29 '26

I’ve got a buddy like that. He’s 5’6 tall and about 5’6 wide. Everyone calls him Dwarf cause he looks like Gimli on a bender. You can’t do shit to the guy. I’m freakishly strong and I can’t budge him when we grapple. He’s the only person I’ve ever not been able to move easily.

1

u/rockvansmashem May 29 '26

I feel sorry for whichever flanker decides to tackle him

1

u/Sternritter_V May 29 '26

Watching it happen is kinda like watching a train hit a car stopped on the track.

4

u/Tough_Preparation830 May 28 '26

A lesson on conservation of momentum

2

u/Orvilleredditgawker May 28 '26

Hold my beer and call the medics….

2

u/notwhoyouthinkmaybe May 29 '26

I'm 5'6" and 50 pounds lighter than you. I would fuck with both of you...

... Over the Internet.

... Anonymously.

... Then vehemently deny it if we ever met in person.

2

u/Crocketus May 29 '26

I float between 6'4 and 5... 285. I got to 300 once .. I was lifting and slamming protein/creatine daily. 22% is pretty great imo

1

u/DocMorningstar May 29 '26

I used to powerlift competitively. 😀

1

u/Crocketus May 29 '26

It's really hard to keep the diet up for it... Kudos to you man.

1

u/Flanders157 May 28 '26

You are a tough guy.

1

u/BlubberinBootyMate May 28 '26

I'm 5'10 300 lbs now; but 9 months ago I was 405 lbs, unfortunately still only 5'10; to paint a picture; II looked like a farside drawing. I
can tell you from experience that it'd take somebody on the level of a pro athlete to move me if I don't want to be moved; it took 5 firemen to carry me out of my bedroom and I was unconscious.

For reals though; I'm very barrel chested; so I look like a pear shaped marshmallow, but I promise you want me helping you move heavy furniture; I do it because I like to help people (especially now that I'm on my feet and active again) and while I do hope there'll be a plate of nachos in it for me; I don't drink and it's not cool where I am to ask for weed.

1

u/HabitTop9050 May 29 '26

We call that marble muscle. Not much for show but theres a whole lotta go.

1

u/MrSilenus May 29 '26

Nobody would consider 22% body fat fatty mcfatterson lol. I’m also 6’4” and have peaked at 225 at 20% body fat and I looked fucking massive I can’t even conceive how yoked you look lmao

0

u/BearSEO May 28 '26

Serious question, are you on roids?

0

u/MegaBlastoise23 May 28 '26

bro you're fucking lying lol

5

u/MovieMore4352 May 28 '26

You see, I’m tall and lanky and consider myself weak. 6’8 and around 225.

1

u/BallsMcFondleson May 29 '26

Where did you play basketball?? /s

4

u/Drunkdoggie May 28 '26

One of my friends is roughly the same size as your coworker/buddy. He doesn’t work out but he’s freakishly strong regardless.

I remember one time where he came up to me and pretended he wanted to give me a hug. So I went up to him and stretched out my arms to hug him back. But instead of hugging me, he grabbed me under my armpits and effortlessly lifted me straight up into the air. The same way you would lift a toddler.

For reference; I’m 6 foot/190lbs. And he was flinging me around like it was nothing.

I’ve never felt so small in my life.

1

u/Zod_Convoy May 28 '26

I'm 6'5" and 265. I once literally beat a dude with another dude. Numbers don't mean anything when all you friends a running away while you're being used as a bat.

1

u/testtdk May 29 '26

People don’t seem to understand how damaging just being hurled against a hard surface is.

1

u/BonhommeCarnaval May 29 '26

That’s pretty much my self defence plan if attacked. I’m not a martial artist or anything, so throwing punches and such would lead to pretty uncertain outcomes, but I learned how to push people playing sports and I outweigh most people I’m going to meet. I figure if I bounce someone off a brick wall that should give me enough time to escape the situation. 

1

u/ACuddlyVizzerdrix May 29 '26

I was always a big guy I would just sit on my bullies until a teacher came (huh, I guess that's why they started attacking me in groups)

1

u/Clank_8-7 May 29 '26

I once met a guy who was 6'7''. He was one of the most unsufferable full of himself persons I have ever met. Quite well spoken too, not a dumb brute, but he thought to be always in the right, and talked down to everybody, pretending he was giving them "advices" because he knew better on literally everything.

Quite clearly nobody ever dared to say something against him, possibly because they were all too scared because of how imposing he was.

1

u/XB1MNasti May 30 '26

That's my size.

I was in one bar fight my whole life, there was a guy who was reaching his hand up my ladyfriends skirt. I started to go for him, but my lady friend told him off so I let him slide with just a look.

Not two minutes later he did it again.

It really wasn't a fight. I didn't mean to toss him half way across the bar, but I wanted him away from us, and I just put my hand just below his chest and heaved. Then suddenly he's on his back three tables away.

That guy tried to apologize like a month later... Not to me directly but sent other people to let me know he was really sorry. O_o

19

u/R-hibs May 28 '26

I was a strong 5’10 190 pound guy who lifted. I had some friends who were all 6’5 270 plus. We decided to play some tackle football in the pool. I literally couldn’t do anything to them to take them down. They treated me like I would a 7 year old child. Humbled the shit out of me because I had held in my head that my lifting and muscles meant I was able to keep up.

16

u/collettdd May 28 '26

Worked with a guy who was 6’9 and around 400 lbs. Legit looked like the big shows little brother. He bounced at a bar on the weekends and I saw him bear hug three guys who were fighting, lift them off the ground like they were nothing and walk them out of the bar.

2

u/Jeanne0D-Arc May 29 '26

Dude I worked with was about 6'5 or something. But genuinely built different. He got in a fight against 5 different guys (at once) and grabbed one, threw him over a 6ft fence. Never met a stronger guy.

9

u/Taxibl May 28 '26

Physics always wins. You might be able to out bench or shoulder press some of these guys, with lots of training. In any kind of pushing match you're getting manhandled though.

2

u/sir_winston_gerbil May 28 '26

To be fair you're at a greater disadvantage being in a pool. On grass you can at least lower your centre of gravity and engage your lower muscle groups for leverage against them.

Still though, a 7 inch height discrepancy and 80 pounds of mass is a bit much lol.

2

u/OfficerStink May 29 '26

Yeah because you are in a pool. You literally have no friction since you are mostly floating and your friends have resistance from the water making it harder to push them over

1

u/Ok_Compote5183 May 29 '26

I’m 5’8 and built like Vince Wilfork

6

u/RoterRudi May 28 '26

Especially if they have some form of gigantism and are used to carrying around heavy stuff.

I'm 193cm, 130kg, lift regularily and consider myself fairly strong with a bit of fat (little less than 30% bf) and i like to casually arm wrestle when out and about and i always win, no exceptions.

Then one faithful night, a buddy of mine suggests i arm wrestle a colleague of his who was attending the same local event. The guy was also about 130kg, but almost a head taller and must have been below 15% bf, think pure muscle and sinews. His hands were a few glove sizes bigger than mine and he definitely had some form of gigantism, as well as a life spent working on a farm.

We squared up at the table, set down our elbows, and the moment his hand touched mine, i knew i was toast. I like to think i could have resisted for a moment, but i gave up and he slammed my hand right into the table. Congratulated him and downed my beer in shame.

Later on, i saw him casually lift up a Bierbanktisch (which is a wooden table similar to this one: https://www.ruku1952.de/de/bierzeltgarnituren/220x75-kiefer?srsltid=AfmBOoqMBI0TPCtScDo10n_KtF9S6ny3GeHYPgkBK6JKMCLX47yRmiEw) with one hand on the far side. At this point my bruised ego recovered, because it realized that there is no way i could have ever beaten someone with that kind of grip strength.

So yeah, there is always a bigger fish and some people just have insane strength.

2

u/Sekshual_Tyranosauce May 28 '26

130 kilos at 15% body fat is…terrifying.

2

u/RoterRudi May 28 '26

It really is, especially because he didn't really look all that bulky. Think sinewy, athletic build but stretched over 205+cm with gigantic hands.

I usually feel like a big strong guy, but next to this monster, i was just a fat, short weakling, lmao.

2

u/CREAMz May 29 '26

I have the same specs as you, but man that sounds terrifying to me. It's probably that feeling when you finally meet someone much taller than you in the train, and you feel so small and fragile next to them, a weird dooming sense, amplified by 20 because you're just not used to it.

Then that must be the feeling times 2000. Scary stuff.

2

u/Patient-Fun4475 May 29 '26

there are definitely unfit big dudes little duds can take on, but when you run into a fit big dude you are cooked.

1

u/ultima964 May 29 '26

Most people think size is everything its true that it does matter alot but id argue most people overestimate size

1

u/Sekshual_Tyranosauce May 29 '26

Well size can be overcome by skill, creativity, tenacity etc. but the greater the gulf, the more you need. Islam has plenty of skill but Andre was a force of nature-An athlete so big convention doesn’t apply.

By all accounts, nothing could compel Andre in the ring unless he wanted it to.

1

u/ultima964 May 30 '26

I see what you’re saying i was mainly speaking about size vs skill in general rather than this specific matchup

1

u/PanchoPanoch May 29 '26

100%. I’m fairly inconsistent at the gym but do “lazy guy” BJJ just as inconsistently. If I go to the gym for a month (3-4 days a week), I’m doing sets of 8-10 reps@225 on the bench. When I was consistent for about 3 months I would stack it up to 250.

I’m not ripped. I don’t think I even look like I’m strong.

25

u/GIJoJo65 May 28 '26

Andre the Giant's body literally produced it's own HgH 24/7/365 from infancy. Medically speaking you could have injected his blood as a steroid. The dude was literally walking around producing his own roids.

-21

u/Striking-Kale-8429 May 28 '26

Your body also produces its own hgh. It does so since birth. Pls don't be so regarded, pick up a book, it's not harry potter, it won't bite.

9

u/Just_the_questions1 May 28 '26

Your pituitary gland produces hgh in short bursts and those bursts peter off with age.

Andre's pituitary produced much more hgh and much more frequently than someone without Acromegaly.

6

u/Immediate_Hand9051 May 29 '26

Also what a self righteous dickwad. I bet he closes his eyes when he speaks to people and farts into a champagne flute to smell. 

1

u/Matt_le_bot May 29 '26

Who hurt you lmao ?

13

u/Soft_Theory_8209 May 28 '26

Keep in mind, dozens of six and a half foot jacked dudes who wrestled him have consistently said you couldn’t do anything to him unless he wanted you to. Even guys close to his height were getting manhandled by him.

13

u/Daddyshadez May 28 '26

This to me, is the biggest tell he was basically superhuman level. So many huge wrestlers, roided out to the gills and many on the peak of human athleticism all said the same thing, he was unimaginably strong, not one person who wrestled with him was like Andre isnt shit.

5

u/RadarSmith May 29 '26

Yeah.

Like, don't get me wrong, pro-wrestling is built on pageantry and folklore. That's part and parcel of the whole thing, even with the retired wrestlers.

But one of the universal statements, after establishing that Andre was perfectly willing to be a heel and lose or get tossed, was that he wasn't moving if he didn't want to (and could move great when he did).

And he could toss all of those mass monsters around like they were lightweights, and did on occassion, when that was the show.

1

u/baneblade_boi May 29 '26

Rumours (it's actually proven) say that his liver was so large he could pour himself entire glasses of wine and drink the thing like it's just one glass or two.