Jim Ross believes pro-wrestling fans from the 1960s and 1970s are lucky that mixed-martial-arts fighting didn't exist at that time.

If it had, Dan Hodge might have become an MMA superstar rather than one of grappling's top junior-heavyweight performers for 17 years.

As chronicled in Mike Chapman's new biography, Oklahoma Shooter: The Dan Hodge Story ($22.95; Culture House Books), Hodge was tailor-made for combat sports. Even today's top Ultimate Fighting Championship competitors don't carry the same credentials as Hodge, who became the only U.S. athlete to ever win national titles in both collegiate wrestling and Golden Gloves boxing during the 1950s.

With MMA not becoming popularized in the U.S. until the mid-1990s, that genre wasn't an option for Hodge after he quit a short-lived pro-boxing career. So, like some of his amateur wrestling contemporaries, Hodge turned to pro wrestling.

"If Dan were in his prime today, he would dominate MMA," said Ross, the legendary World Wrestling Entertainment announcer who idolized his fellow Oklahoman.

"He could take down any man alive and possessed perverse punching power. Dan's grip was crippling, which would have boded well in MMA. Losing would not have been an option."

Not that it often was in pro wrestling.

Working primarily in Oklahoma and surrounding states in what was known as the Mid-South territory, Hodge enjoyed eight world-title reigns as the National Wrestling Alliance junior-heavyweight champion. Although never much of a showman, Hodge treated fans to technical clinics as he displayed a wide array of moves culled from his days as a 174-pound amateur champion. Hodge also didn't shy from putting a real-life hurting on any opponent who didn't cooperate in the ring or wasn't in good enough condition to stage a lengthy bout.

"When I started, I had no idea that I would be the next junior- heavyweight champion," the 76- year-old Hodge said last week in a telephone interview. "I worked hard and stayed in shape not only for the matches but the fans, too. I wanted them to see the best in the world. When I stepped in the ring, they saw wrestling."

Hodge was so tough that he even survived a career-ending 1976 auto accident that broke his neck.

At the time, he was working a rigorous schedule that included regular tours of Japan as well as lengthy road trips for weekly Mid-South shows in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri and Arkansas.

Driving between cards in Louisiana, an exhausted Hodge lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a canal. He said he escaped by forcing his way through a cracked windshield and swimming to shore while keeping his head upright with one hand.

"When you're underwater, you're not sure where you're at, and life passes through you very quickly," Hodge said. "I was thinking, 'What an awful way to go,' when a voice told me, 'Hold your neck.' It was a blessing that I got out, and I thank God I am not paralyzed."

Just because he was forced to retire from pro wrestling doesn't mean the soft-spoken Hodge has faded from the spotlight.

He remains so revered in the industry that he made a cameo appearance on a 2005 episode of WWE's Monday Night Raw and was honored last year at a show in Japan.

Hodge is even more popular on Oklahoma's amateur-wrestling circuit. He still religiously attends meets and annually presents the Dan Hodge Award to the nation's top collegiate performer (Hodge was 46-0 and a three-time NCAA champion at the University of Oklahoma).

And to this day, Hodge's grip remains so strong that he can crush an apple in his hand.

"Along with Jim Thorpe and Mickey Mantle, Dan Hodge is the greatest athlete the state of Oklahoma has ever produced," said Ross, who wrote the foreword for Chapman's book.

"If ESPN and the Internet were around when Dan was winning national titles in wrestling and boxing, Hodge would be a household name. Hodge's physical and mental toughness are still legendary, especially for a man with the soul of a saint who hated losing.

"In 35 years (in wrestling), I've never met a pro wrestler that could hang with Hodge without the showbiz element factored into the equation. Dan Hodge could be the best-kept secret in sports."

To order Oklahoma Shooter: The Dan Hodge Story, visit wrestlingmuseum.com.

Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro-wrestling column for Scripps Howard News Service.