When it comes to amateur wrestling few, if any, surpass the success of Cael Sanderson. Sanderson’s record in college was flawless, going 159-0, winning 4 NCAA Division 1 titles and beating UFC light heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier in the process. After his college career ended, Sanderson went on to wrestle internationally, winning gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Even into his retirement from competition, Sanderson has continued to win vicariously through the athletes he coaches at Penn State.
With all his successes on the mat it seemed like an eventual crossover to mixed martial arts would have made sense for Sanderson but a move to MMA never materialised for him. In an interview with PennLive.com Sanderson was asked if he ever seriously considered a career in MMA :
“No, not really” Sanderson said, “I’m not against it. It’s been a great avenue for some wrestlers and I think wrestlers are doing very well. I think my hope and the hope of wrestling people is that MMA would just help the sport (of wrestling) grow because if you look right now, all of the champions are former wrestlers.”
While Sanderson had no interest in pursuing a career in mixed martial arts, one of his most prized students, Ed Ruth, has decided that after the 2016 Olympics he will swap the mats for the cage and has already signed an exclusive contract for Bellator MMA.
Sanderson was quick to state that he feels Ruth will be successful in the fighting world, but has urged Ruth to first focus on the Olympics:
“I would like to see him focus on winning an Olympic gold medal and that’s the conversations that I had with him when he was with us. I think he’s going to be very effective and he’s going to be a great fighter. He’s got a lot of passion and he’s a talent. Obviously, (he has) great speed and toughness.”
Ed Ruth’s Bellator Debut will not likely happen until 2017, but the Penn State star has already found a gym to train at. After acting as a grappling partner for Jon Jones in his preparation for his fight with Daniel Cormier, Ruth has decided to make Jackson/Winklejohn MMA his home when he moves over to the sport full time.