That's what's great about MMA..you can be an over the hill athlete from any other sport, even strongman...and you can be a factor in MMA...any schmuck can do halfway good there.
I agree. Been saying this for years. If you're athletic and a reasonably tough dude, you can train in MMA-style sessions for a couple of years and likely become quite good.
Put it this way, Pudz's strongman success is FAR more impressive than him perhaps winning some mid-tier fight in even the UFC.
It takes many years for almost all trainers to climb to the top in powerlifting or strongman or boxing or ... But if you are athletic and can take a punch, and have loads of tats, and have a closet full of TapOut clothing, you're almost there in MMA.