By Jason Moles
Man, they sure are lowering the bar these days. According to TMZ, Dave Bautista (aka former WWE professional wrestler “Batista“) and renowned MMA trainer Cesar Gracie have created a new tag team, and will be opening a Gracie Fighter Jiu Jitsu franchise in Tampa. Though the gym is currently only open to “close martial artist friends,” it will be opened to the public next week; you can see a couple photos of the joint here.
The last we heard about Bautista’s MMA career is that it was dead thanks to the UFC acquiring Strikeforce. I’m not sure if I’m more surprised that Bautista can’t stop pretending he’s a real fighter or that Cesar is whoring out the Gracie family name like that. I hope his cousin Renzo gives him a good talking to about this whole ordeal.
We can only imagine what a normal training day is like at Batista Top Team. Let’s see here, we’ve got jiu jitsu for dummies followed by tire-flipping. After that you have your choice of “Juice” 101, How to Sell a Punch, or 10 Steps to a Meaner Mug. You’ve got your work cut out for you, Ron Kruck.
This seems more like a publicity stunt than anything — or maybe it’s Bautista’s attempt to convince Dana White that he’s not a fake-fighter after all. What’s your take?