Author: Chuck Mindenhall

TORONTO – The last time we saw Brendan Schaub in competition, he was ducking, moving and retreating from Roberto Abreu at Metamoris jiu-jitsu match, refusing to have anything to do with “Cyborg’s” tornado guard (or anything that involved the ground). That was reasonably smart, even if it went against the spirit of the thing he was doing.

On Saturday night, at UFC 165 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Schaub made amends against his one-time buddy and Ultimate Fighter 10 castmate, Matt Mitrione. In a fairly close first round, Schaub eventually sank a D’Arce choke that put Mitrione in imminent danger. When the referee asked Mitrione if he was okay, Mitrione gave a reassuring thumb’s up to signal he was fine. Moments later, Mitrione was asleep.

“I thought he was out before that, and I even told Dan [Miragliotta], ‘he’s out,’” Schaub said at the post-fight presser. “And I think Mitrione put a thumb up or something like that? I’m not sure. So I just gripped tighter, and he went to sleep, so it was a good night for me.”

Before Schaub got his arm raised in victory and became the first ever UFC heavyweight to win via a D’Arce choke, he and Mitrione exchanged hugs and pleasantries. As to whether the friends had squashed their beef, Schaub said now that the fight is in the rear view mirror, so is any bad blood between them.

“Yeah, we’re cool — to me it’s just business, man,” he said. “Matt needs to talk trash to be up for a fight, but it’s just business. I told Matt in the back, it’s all good man, we can go back to being friends. It was good. I wish Matt and I were that smart where we did hype this fight big and follow this whole plan. No man, I really didn’t like the guy leading up to this fight. I thought I was going to whip his ass at weigh-ins, Dana had to jump in, so that was all real.”

So, what’s next for Schaub? He might already be in consideration for a mystery bout that Dana White alluded to at the presser but didn’t go so far as to reveal. On the question of whether or not Schaub would be given a top ten fighter next, White seeded his intentions.

“Well, the heavyweight division is exciting, and there’s a lot of good fights in the heavyweight division, and actually [Schaub] might slide into a slot now where something else just fell out,” he said. “So, we might have another fight for him.”

He didn’t elaborate beyond saying, “that was the tease,” but a quick glance at the upcoming schedule leaves it wide open for speculation. Right now top contender Fabricio Werdum is without a fight. Daniel Cormier is taking on Roy Nelson at UFC 166 next month in Houston. Josh Barnett, fresh off his victory over Frank Mir, is slated to face Travis Browne at UFC 168. Mir is fighting Alistair Overeem at UFC 167 in November. Antonio Silva is set to face Mark Hunt on Dec. 7 in Australia. Stipe Miocic is also a name that’s out there.

Whoever it is, and whatever the situation, White left it blank. All he said was that Schaub was a candidate.

“Tonight was an easy night [for him], a little warm-up,” he laughed.

TORONTO – Underdog Eddie Wineland surprised a lot of people by taking it to bantamweight interim champion Renan Barao on Saturday night’s co-main event at UFC 165. By the second round, though, he was struck by lightning. The Nova Uniao standout delivered a highlight-reel spinning back kick that dropped Wineland where he stood. It was the night’s most spectacular moment up until Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson put on a show-stealing performance.

As Barao went in for the finishing blows, referee Yves Lavigne jumped in quickly to call Barao off. It happened all in sequence, and all pretty quick. At the post-fight press conference, Wineland was asked directly if he thought the stoppage was too early.

And as is Wineland’s custom, he didn’t hold back any punches.

“Um, personal opinion, I think BS,” he said. “[Barao] caught me with a great kick. I was by no means out, I was on my way back up. But you know the ref’s are at their own discretion and that’s what he thought was the right call my hat’s off to him. It was a good kick.”

Three weeks ago at UFC 164 in Milwaukee, in the co-main event between heavyweights Frank Mir and Josh Barnett, there was another instance where an early stoppage was the talking point afterwards. That time it was Mir, who took a big knee along the cage, that thought the referee stepped in too early to wave off Barnett.

This time the stoppage didn’t fall under the same kind of scrutiny. Mir was immediately chatting with the referee that night and protesting this stoppage, whereas in this one Wineland seemed a little unsteady as he recovered and made his way back to his feet.

When UFC president Dana White was asked if he thought the stoppage was too early, thus again miring a co-main event, he said no.

“It’s one of those tough calls,” he said. “Trust me, I don’t like when a fight is stopped and a guy jumps right back up. But you know, [Wineland] got blasted with that kick. And that’s a nasty kick that knocks people out and he looked wobbly even when he got up. It’s just one of those tough ones. You know if I thought [it was early] I’d be smashing the ref and saying, ‘you ruined the co-main event,’ but that’s a tough one.”

The loss snapped a two-fight winning streak for Wineland, who was more than holding his own up until that kick landed. White said that Wineland was keyed up to dethrone Barao, but that Barao — whom he later likened to Floyd Mayweather with his 32-fight unbeaten streak — is a tough out.

“You could see it in Eddie’s face when he walked out there, Eddie’s been telling me nonstop, “I’m going to win this fight, I’m going to win this fight,’” White said. “I’ll let him speak for himself, but he was fired up and mentally prepared for this fight. Renan Barao is a monster.”

This is the UFC 165 undercard live blog for the UFC 165 event at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

There will be eight fights on the UFC 165 undercard. Mike Ricci vs. Myles Jury
Ivan Menjivar vs. Wilson Reis, Chris Clements vs. Stephen Thompson, Mitch Gagnon vs. Dustin Kimura, John Makdessi vs Renee Forte, Jesse Ronson vs. Michel Prazeres, Roland Delorme vs. Alex Caceres, and Nandor Guelmino vs. Daniel Omielanczukwill be featured on the prelims.

Check out the UFC 165 undercard below.

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Nandor Guelmino vs. Daniel Omeilanczuk
Round 1: Dan Miragliotta the third man in the cage. The heavyweights exchange high kicks early. Both guys using kicks in volume. Guelmino throwing follow-ups with his right, but nothing doing. They tie up on the fence and after a stalemart, Miragliotta separates them. Back to the fence they waltz. Once again Miragliotta separates the heavies they get back to work. Omeilanczuk with a brief takedown, but Guelmino able to use the fence to get back up. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Guelmino.

Round 2: Omeilanczuk out early in the second, and is coming on offensively. He lands a big show and shoots for a double-leg. Finally able to dump Guelmino near the fence, and he begins some ground and pound. Now Nandor is able to reverse, and he goes to work on the ground. They scramble for a moment, and Guelmino nearly gives up the position, but then rolls and is back on top. Guelmino with some elbows, but Omeilanczuk able to minimalize the damage Omeilanczuk actually fishing for submissions from the bottom there, and was staying active. Close round, but goes to Guelmino. MMA Fighting has it 20-18 overall for Guelmino.

Round 3: Third round. Both fighters lumber forward and start with kicks, just as they did to open the fight. Guelmino breathing pretty hard, and keeping his hands down. Omeilanczuk rumbles into him and pushes him up against the fence. He, too, is bushed. Miragliotta brings them back to center and both guys huff and walk slowly there. More kicks. Not a lot behind those kicks on either side. Again Omeilanczuk just pushes him up against the fence, and the action halts. Each man trying to get his breath. Miragliotta warns them, and once again breaks the action. Crowd antsy. Omeilanczuk momentarily loses his mouthpiece. Then he puts it back in and BOOM. Omeilanczuk lands a big left hand and down goes Nandor! Follow-up shot with the left on the ground, but Guelmino was already out.

UFC 165 official results: Daniel Omeilanczuk def. Nandor Guelmino via KO at 3:18 of R3.

Roland Delorme vs. Alex Caceres
Round 1: Very quick turnaround between fights. Here we go. Spinning backfist from Bruce Leeroy early, and it glances off of Delorme. Cacares in southpaw stance, and using his right jab. He comes over the gop with a right, and Delorme storms forward with a combination. Very little connecting flush. Big right hook by Delorme drops Caceres! Delorme swarms in for the finish, but Cacares recovers, and reverses to get his back — momentarily. Now it’s Delorme who reverses. He’s going for a rear naked choke, but Cacares rolls out. Delorme with body lock, and now cranking Cacares’ neck. He flattens him out for a moment, but again Cacares able to squirm out. He’s still in trouble, though. Delorme still with back control, and sticking on Cacares. Finally it’s Cacares who is able to wiggle out and back to the feet they go. Wow. Crazy moments in the scramble in that first round. Cacares with a nifty escape from the back crucifix, but he spent the bulk of the round fighting out of trouble. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Delorme.

Round 2: Back to the middle, they trade combos. Delorme trying to time out that counter right when Cacares moves in, but it has missed a couple of times. Cacares very active with his movement, changing levels and staying outside. He strafes Delorme with a couple of good jabs and then attempts a flying knee. Doesn’t land flush. Delorme was pushed down to the mat there, and that gives Bruce Leeroy a moment on his back. But Delorme frees himself and back to the middle of the cage we go. Again, a crazy scramble where things are ceded as fast as they’re attempted, and each bounces back to the feet. Delorme with a single leg wheels Cacares around. Nothing doing. Slow left jabs from Cacares. They are landing, but they aren’t doing much. He continues to rinse Delorme with jabs. This time Delorme ducks under and lands an uppercut. Nicely done. He rolls forward and momentarily gets Cacares down; Cacares able to use fence to get back up. Along the fence, Cacares with a good knee and a follow-up left. Close round there, in what’s been a scramble frenzy. MMA Fighting scores R2 10-9 for Delorme (20-18 overall)

Round 3: They slap five as they enter the final round. A good left from Delorme got through, and Cacares slips a little bit. But they circle back into the cage, Cacares the outer body. Cacares wrangles Delorme in along the fence, and Delorme attempts a throw which doesn’t work. Cacares briefly had Delorme’s back there, but they circle out and back to center. Cacares with slower, more deliberate strikes. Delorme eats a couple, but has had enough of it. He rolls in for a takedown. Cacares sprawls well, which spills the fight momentarily back into a scramble. Cacares briefly with Delorme’s back, but nothing there. They reset. Spinning kick from Cacares missed, but Delorme counters and rocks Cacares. Now he falls into Cacares’ guard and runs his shoulder high through the chin. Cacares trying to fish out a triangle, but it’s not there. Fight ends with Cacares on his back. Even with that, Cacares looked better as the fight went on. MMA Fighting scores the third 10-9 for Cacares, (29-28 for Delorme overall).

UFC 165 official results: Alex Cacares def. Roland Delorme via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

Jesse Ronson vs. Michel Prazeres
Round 1: Yves Lavigne makes his first appearance as the referee for this one. Prazeres in nifty purple trunks. They touch them up. Straight jab from Ronson right off as Prezeres moves in. Now Prazeres shoots in, and works for the takedown on fence. He finally gets it and is immediately into side control. Ronson trying to better his position with his feet on the fence, and, with a pesky Prezeres on him stands up briefly. Not for long. He’s dumped back down, and again Prazeres presses his shoulders into Ronson. Side control again, too, this time with Ronson’s feet away from the fence. A Ronson chant breaks out here in Toronto. Prazeres trying to flatten Ronson out, riding his back. After a mile of set up, he goes from the rear naked choke, and for a moment it looked good, but Ronson rolls. Prazeres continues to land punches from Ronson’s back. Ronson frustrated as he walks back to his corner at round’s end. MMA Fighting scores R1, 10-9 for Prazeres.

Round 2: Ronson with some early leg kicks, in what must feel like an acre of space after that last round. But that all ends immediately as Prazeres moves in for the takedown. Ronson back up, but just as fast he’s fending off another one on the fence. Prazeres tenacious. He drives forward using his strong upper body to constrict Ronson. Ronson able to keep a knee planted as he stands up to avoid eating a knee from Prazeres, and he’s back up. Once again, after a scant couple of leg kicks from Ronson, Prazeres back into the bulldozer. He tracks Ronson down and, with control of his side on the fence, takes a glance at the clock. Ronson doing his best to throw anything in these tight quarters (knees, elbows), but not much there. Finally, they break and back to the center the action goes. Ronson throws a jab-uppercut combo, and Prazeres, no longer worried about telegraphing his intentions, drops his head and rushes in. Back to the fence we go. They break as the round ends. MMA Fighting scores R2, 10-9 for Prazeres (20-18 overall).

Round 3: Courtesy high five from Prazeres, as he and Ronson get back to it. Ronson moves in and lands a sneaky uppercut clean. That must have felt good after the things he’s seen through two rounds. Prazeres now walking the perimeter and surveying. He might be slowing a little here. Ronson doing leg kicks; misses on that one and pirouettes back to the middle. Now Prazeres content to let his leather fly from distance, and a left cross glances Ronson. Prazeres willing to trade here a little more. Ronson charges in with an uppercut that goes errant, and finally Prazeres goes back to what he knows. He tries to take Ronson down. Ronson doesn’t go down, however, and now it’s Prazeres lying on his back. Ronson with rare opportunity to work in new space. He sends some kicks in to the supine Prazeres, but eventually tells Lavigne to bring him up. Now they are toe-to-toe again, and Ronson using the right jab. Prazeres waits for Ronson to commit to a combo and shoots in and dumps Ronson on the mat. Back to the toil. Prazeres looks at the clock, and sticks on Ronson’s shoulder. Ronson with a big slam late and he goes for broke with punches. But it’s too little too late. He let’s out a roar, both for his frustration and that he finally got a moment to fight. MMA Fighting scores R3 for Ronson, for a 29-28 overall score for Prazeres.

UFC 165 officials results: Michel Prazeres def. Jesse Ronson via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).

John Makdessi vs. Renee Forte
Round 1: Todd Anderson is your referee for this final Facebook prelim. They touch them up. Forte the slight aggressor early, moving forward cautiously with his offense. Makdessi lands a spinning back kick into Forte’s abdomen. Doesn’t seem to have bothered him much. Makdessi figthing with his fingers splayed open. And just like that, Makdessi lands a counter-right that drops Forte. He slipped a punch, and dropped the bomb right on top of the ear. Right behind the ear. He then moves in and finishes the job with a flurry of rights.

UFC 165 official results: John Makdessi def. Renee Forte via TKO at 2:01 of R1.

Mitch Gagnon vs. Dustin Kimura
Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Chris Clements vs. Stephen Thompson
Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Mike Ricci vs. Myles Jury
Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

TORONTO – For the final time before the meet in the cage Saturday night, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson came together and squared off at the weigh-ins in Maple Leaf Square in Toronto, Ontario.

Both men made weight. The champ Jones tipped the scale at 204.5 pounds, and the Swedish challenger weighed in exactly the same. Just as the pre-fight hype suggested, Gustafsson was eye-to-eye with Jones in the square of, with Jones’ eyes diverted as per his custom.

When asked by Joe Rogan if the reach and height would be a factor in the fight, Gustafsson downplayed it.

“It’s no factor at all, it’s all going to go down to who’s working the hardest, and I want that belt,” he said.

Jones, who flung his Nike shoes and shirt into the crowd before stepping on the scale, was presented the same question.

“No, I shouldn’t at all,” he said. “Man, I tell you what, this sport is about intelligence and the way you approach this game. I’m so excited to prove that height doesn’t mean that much, and thank you guys all for being here. Thank you for the support. This is going to be our third championship here in Canada, so thank you all.”

In the co-main event, interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao weighed in at 135 pounds on the dot, while challenger Eddie Wineland was a quarter-pound more at 135.25 pounds.

Only one fighter failed to make weight, and that was Ivan Menjivar who came in a pound over the limit (137). He was given an hour to try and lose the extra pound.

UPDATES: Though it was announced that Eddie Wineland’s weight was a quarter-pound over the usual title fight threshold, the Ontario commission says that he actually did make 135 pounds — that his weight was announced wrong. Also, Ivan Menjivar was able to return to the scale within the hour time allotment for a second chance to make weight, and he did. On his second try Menjivar weighed in at 136 pounds.

Complete UFC 165 weigh-in results can be seen below.

Main Card (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Alexander Gustafsson (204.5) vs. Jon Jones (204.5)
Eddie Wineland (135.25) vs. Renan Barao (135)
Matt Mitrione (260.5) vs. Brendan Schaub (237)
Francis Carmont (186) vs. Costa Philippou (186)
Khabib Nurmagomedov (156) vs. Pat Healy (155.75)

Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
Mike Ricci (155.5) vs. Myles Jury (156)
Wilson Reis (135) vs. Ivan Menjivar (137)
Stephen Thompson (170.5) vs. Chris Clements (169.5)
Dustin Kimura (136) vs. Mitch Gagnon (136)

Preliminary Card (Facebook, 6:15 p.m. ET)
Renee Forte (155.5) vs. John Makdessi (155)
Jesse Ronson (155.5) vs. Michel Prazeres (155)
Alex Cacares (136) vs. Roland Delorme (136)
Daniel Omielanczuk (245.5) vs. Nandor Guelmino (230)

TORONTO – Chris Lytle is still happily retired. He went out on a high note against Dan Hardy back in 2011, and trailed off to the sound of violins. It was such a poetic exit from the grim trade of fighting that he’d hate to come back and make a hash of things.

But, of course, there are scenarios. Perhaps not very realistic ones, but fantastic scenarios that he and his wife half-envision where Joe Silva (or some deep-pocketed matchmaker) comes checking in on the old warhorse one more time, with a sack of money and no big requirements.

“[My wife] always goes, maybe you could do one more? We can get that lake house!” Lytle told MMA Fighting at the UFC 165 media day. “People always ask me in interviews, would you never ever fight? Obviously you can’t say never. What if somebody offered me a lot of money? I’m sorry, but I’ll punch you in the nose if somebody offers me a million dollars. But my career ended on such a positive that I can’t tarnish that. That was a storybook ending.”

That was the time Lytle, in his 54th professional MMA fight, tapped Dan Hardy, who had been untappable beforehand. Georges St-Pierre had tried kimura Hardy at UFC 111 on a few different occasions but got nowhere against the Brit’s elasticity. Lytle sunk a guillotine choke that turned the room black very quickly for Hardy. He won five of his last six bouts. In his career he had nine different end of the night bonuses with the UFC — six of them for fight of the night — which is enough to insulate a retirement fund.

After Hardy, Lytle walked away from the fight game with a 31-18-5 record.

“My situation might be a little different than most, because my situation wasn’t one where I was injured, or where I couldn’t win any more, I felt like I was kind of on the top of my game when I decided to retire,” he said. “Mine was more of an issue with time. I’ve been doing this for so long, I have other obligations with the family. I could foresee the future where I’d look back and think I wish I had spent more time with my kids. I recognized that and made the decision that I needed to spend more time at home.

“That makes it harder for me when I come to things like this, because I feel like I could still compete with somebody if I wanted to. And it’s not like I don’t want to, I just don’t want to put the time in it. When I first came back to a UFC event it hurt the most, but each time I come back it hurts a little less and a little less.”

The thing that strikes you about the firefighter Lytle, who is in Toronto to corner Matt Mitrione in his heavyweight bout against Brendan Schaub on Saturday night, is that he’s still lean. He’s still in ridiculous shape. He looks fight-ready, because he still spends a fair amount of time in the gym sparring with the likes of Mitrione and company.

He was always that guy who would tell you he enjoyed getting punched in the face, because it let him know not only was he in a fight, but that he was alive. And he still erupts with that high-pitched cackle when he runs that punches feel good line by you today. It was that lunatic side that made the Indiana native a fan favorite for so long. The more a fight verged on becoming a brawl, the more the other guy was willing to play roulette with him, the giddier Lytle got.

“You can always tell the old school guys who were fighting in the 1990s when there was no money in it,” he said. “If you were doing it back then you were either really stupid or bad at math. I still like being around it and sparring and helping people out. I’d [fight again] if the money were right, but it isn’t going to happen. They aren’t going to come to me with that. I think they like the way I retired. The thing is, I don’t want to invest the time to train. If they offered me a money like today, right now, Chris, we need you because somebody fell out, I’m in if you give me a lot of money.

“But I’m not willing to train everyday. So basically that’s never going to happen.”

Probably never going to happen, although there’s that word again — the never word that makes welchers of so many of us. But Lytle is content as a coach, and in that way he keeps his vicarious hold on the fight game. While reporters crowded around Mitrione at the Shangri-La Hotel, it felt like a good time to ask him if the bad blood that has been fostered between his guy and Brendan Schaub is real.

After all, Lytle is far too wholesome for such hype-mongering fibs (or any kind of shenanigans, really).

“At first I kind of thought it wasn’t, but after awhile you could kind of tell by the amount of things being said that it was,” he said. “Some of it crossed the line a little bit. I know on one end, it’s real. That’s all I can verify, but on this end, yeah, it’s real.”

So it’s real. And so is Lytle still in living “happily ever after” on the outskirts of the fight game.

TORONTO – On hand at the UFC 165 media day was Rener Gracie, who’ll corner Brendan Schaub for his heavyweight bout on Saturday night against Matt Mitrione. It was Gracie that, alongside Ed O’Neill, commentated Schaub’s eccentric jiu-jitsu match with Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu at Metamoris back in June.

Most who saw the match (including a ringside Mitrione) remember one thing about it: Schaub retreating for 20 minutes, refusing to engage with “Cyborg.” For a pay-per-view event it was too much of a game plan (or too little of one, depending how you slice it). From a live visual, it agitated the crowd into anger at the Pauley Pavilion in Westwood, California. As for Schaub, the UFC fighter who many thought was brought in to help bolster awareness of the event?

Hey, he walked away with his limbs. And that’s where Rener, the grandson of Helio and a fourth degree black belt, has mixed emotions about that whole thing.

“I think Brendan was wrong from an entertainment perspective,” he told MMA Fighting during the media day at the Shangri-La Hotel. “We have to remember that at the end of the day it’s an entertainment spectacle. And it’s comparable to when we see some of the top fighters in the UFC go in there and they don’t really defeat the person, they just kind of do anything they can to shut them down and not let them do what they need to do. And Georges St-Pierre, for example, gets a lot of flak for his strategy. He’s very good at what he does, which is hold you down and neutralize you, and I think it’s genius. If I was in GSP’s position, I would do the same thing, because it’s the most guaranteed way to be successful.

“I think for Schaub, knowing who he was up against, his only concern was don’t get tapped out. Because he knew, as a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, he was supposed to get tapped out, and victory for him would be not getting tapped out. And I think that people felt a little bit let down. They wanted to see him get tapped out in his attempt to beat “Cyborg,” which for sure would have happened if he’d went for the kill. That’s the game plan he chose, so even though it wasn’t the most entertaining, it was the most important for him to reach his own objective.”

With Gracie operating as one of Schaub’s coaches this weekend, obviously he sees both sides of it coin. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t just as flummoxed and frustrated as everybody else, though.

“I was frustrating trying to call the fight,” he said. “I was like, jump in the tornado bro, get in the tornado guard, get submitted and let’s go home. But of course the other side of me was like, man, this is my friend, I want him to do well, and by doing well that means don’t get caught. Definitely from an entertainment perspective people felt robbed, and I think rightfully so.”

Rener’s uncle Royce Gracie, who was honored at that Metamoris event this summer and is one of the iconic figures in MMA for putting the Gracie name on the North American map, recently made waves by criticizing the new generation of Gracies for, essentially, trying to adapt today’s MMA.

“Jiu-jitsu is enough,” Royce told MMA Fighting recently. “I’ve trained boxing in the past to learn the distance, trained wrestling to understand how he would take me down, but I won’t get there to fight my opponent’s game. The [new] guys [from the Gracie] family want to complement their game, like if jiu-jitsu was incomplete. I guess they forgot a little about history.

“I’ve done jiu-jitsu my whole life, so why would I try to stand and bang with Mike Tyson?” he continued. “I’m going to learn boxing in six months because my opponent is good in boxing? That makes no sense.”

Asked about his uncle’s comments, once again Rener — always even-keel — saw both sides of it.

“The funny part is Royce is right, and Royce is wrong,” he said. “He’s right in that, jiu-jitsu by itself is a complete martial art. It addresses a standing strategy, and it addresses a ground strategy. We teach our students in the back of the [Gracie Jiu-Jitsu] Academy to get ready to use self-defense in a street fight, and they’re not incomplete. They can close the distance, they can neutralize strikes and effectively neutralize the opponent. And in that sense, Royce is right, all you need in jiu-jitsu. Going back to the roots, if I had to fight some beast of a man in a street fight, I wouldn’t need amazing wrestling and amazing striking to do well against him. I would need jiu-jitsu and to manage the distance so I didn’t get knocked out.

“But if I had to fight that same beast in three five-minute rounds, with judges who don’t train martial arts watching me, I cannot pull guard and defend for 20 minutes? When Royce fought Dan Severn, which was an amazing battle, Royce lost in the judge’s minds until the very last second when Royce run (at the 15:49 mark of the fight). In MMA rules today Royce would have lost to Dan Severn. So, in that sense, you have train the striking aggressively. You have to train the wrestling — not because it might be the most energy efficient way to fight, but because the judges will only score in your favor if you fight according to that game plan. It’s part of the newly accepted ideal way to fight a fight. As long as the game is being judged under those circumstances? Guess what, you better train in those arts, otherwise you’re asking for trouble in the eyes of the judges.

“I think that Royce and my dad [Rorion] and my uncles, all those guys, being the generation two — old school, proving it against every other martial art, as they did so perfectly — they get a little emotional sometimes seeing how things are evolving now. And I think their viewpoints are…they’re right, but they’re wrong, because you have to play the game.”