I mean - consider for a second that we currently have the most comprehensive martial arts practice in all of history, with the largest humans, best sports science, and all that.
Any top UFC fighter from the past decade could probably beat the fuck out of anyone ever before the year 1980. Isn't that wild? Dudes who have (probably) watched Rick and Morty could beat the piss out of Alexander The Great or whoever the fuck. And it wouldn't even be close.
Biting and eye gouging is banned of course, but even if it wasn't, Brock Lesnar isn't letting you even get close to that. I mean, speaking of Brock, even big pro wrestlers - medieval blokes would shit their pants on sight if they saw Scott Steiner going freakmode off the roids. Perc Angle. Big Show - like what - he's a literal giant.
But what about Mark Zuckerberg? He's a big guy. He does his MMA. I think give him a month to train and send him back in time. Hate to hand it to him, but he would crush.
Cuba doesn't have most of this and their boxers dominate at the Olympics
Yeah, look who isn't at the Olympics for boxing - most of the actual professionals. The first Olympics to allow professional boxers was in 2016.
And of course Cuba does have access to all of those things - they have all of the information in the world at their fingertips, and Cuban boxing is such a proud tradition that their fighters are clearly eating and training well. Same goes for their wrestling - but wrestling is an ancient sport based on an entirely different and less versatile combat skillset than UFC.
Nah, their gyms and technology are genuinely like a century old
https://ktwb.com/2024/02/19/cuban-boxers-reveal-secret-to-their-success-from-modest-training-grounds/
regardless, it's boxing, and Cubans rarely ever test their mettle against uber elites. The Olympics is not representative of boxing at all. And nutritional/gym technology is just one small edge... It is the encyclopedia of combat knowledge we have now that swings the pendulum.