The great “100 men versus one gorilla” debate has circulated online for years, with combat sports fans endlessly arguing whether a large enough group of humans could take down a silverback. On an episode of the Spinnin Backfist MMA Show, hosts Robbie Fox and Jack Mac put the question to guests Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen.
The verdict from DC was fast and firm. When the conversation turned to the possibility of a trained jiu-jitsu practitioner locking in a choke on the animal, Cormier dismissed it before the theory could gain any traction.
“You got a jiu-jitsu guy, he’s going to grab him and choke,” he said. “You’re not choking a gorilla.”
Cormier’s reasoning went beyond raw strength. He pointed to a story from Georges St-Pierre, who once trekked with wild gorillas and found himself face to face with a silverback.
“The silverback gorilla goes up to their group and literally turns his back to him,” Cormier explained. When GSP asked what it meant, he was told the gorilla was showing how little of a threat the humans were. “He puts himself in the most vulnerable position to show you that you are no threat.”
Then there is the fear factor, which Cormier argued is the most overlooked element in the entire conversation. “I don’t understand how people don’t take fear into account,” he said. His argument: the moment the fig ht gets real, the math changes completely. “The moment that gorilla starts to fig ht back, he doesn’t know not to kill you. He only knows survival.”
Sonnen, never one to retreat from a bold position, took the opposing view. He insisted he would be on the front line rather than letting others absorb the first wave. His reasoning rested on the idea that the gorilla would not immediately understand it was under attack, leaving a window of opportunity.
“He doesn’t know we’re figh ting. He doesn’t know those other 99 are there to attack him,” Sonnen said. “He’s going to let me walk right up.”
The weight question came up as well, with estimates ranging from 350 lbs (159 kg) to 500 lbs (227 kg) for an adult silverback. Cormier brought in an unlikely authority: a gorilla expert from the Detroit Zoo, known simply as “the gorilla guy,” who reportedly said that even seven Jon Joneses combined would not be enough to take one down.
For Cormier, the conclusion never wavered. He said, “There’s nothing we could do with our hands to hurt it,” he said.
