(Jimmerson’s Plan B was to close his eyes and count to 50, but when he opened them the bad man was still there. PicProps: MMA and Me)
In the nearly 20 years after Art Jimmerson spent all of two minutes, 18 seconds as a UFC fighter, he’s kind of become the gold standard for bad decision-making in our sport. Jimmerson’s choice to wear just one boxing glove during his fight against Royce Gracie at UFC 1 is now the stuff of legend in the same way Harold Howard’s mullet, Scott Morris’ ninjitsu and Teila Tuli’s flying tooth have become synonymous with epic failure during the early days of “no holds barred” combat. Heck, Jimmerson’s folly even inspired Tom Lawlor’s most recent wacky (and kind of uncomfortable) entrance to the UFC 121 weigh-ins. If getting spoofed by Lawlor doesn’t mean you’ve etched your name into the history books, I don’t know what does. For Jimmerson however — a former Golden Gloves champ who put together a mostly successful 17-year career as a professional boxer — being remembered primarily as “the idiot who wore one boxing glove to an MMA fight” has to be a little infuriating.
That’s why it makes for such a syrupy, schmaltzy happy ending to his roundabout history in MMA that Jimmerson is now once again gainfully employed with the UFC: Teaching boxing at the newly opened UFC Gym in Rosemead, Calif. Scumbag blogger turned respected reporter Ben Fowlkes has the scoop, sitting down with the boxer to get a full report on Jimmerson’s fight with Gracie (“I was like, I’m going to kill this man. I never heard of no Royce Gracie … ”) and his fateful decision to strap that glove onto his left fist before heading out to the cage. As it turns out, Jimmerson says there was actually some strategery involved.