Tag: Royce Gracie

Is Brazil the Most Important Country in UFC History?

Brazil is the most important country in the history of mixed martial arts, but not in the history of the UFC. When the UFC burst onto the scene in 1993 and had a Brazilian by the name of Royce Gracie as its poster boy, the whole concept of “mixed …

Brazil is the most important country in the history of mixed martial arts, but not in the history of the UFC. 

When the UFC burst onto the scene in 1993 and had a Brazilian by the name of Royce Gracie as its poster boy, the whole concept of “mixed rules” fighting was a new thing to contemporary American sports scene, then obsessed with boxing and unrealistic Karate/Kung Fu films. 

However, “no holds barred” fights were nothing new in Brazil. These sport of fighting was called “Vale Tudo” which was Portuguese for “anything goes,” and it became immensely popular in Brazil in the 20th century.

The biggest stars of the Vale Tudo scene?

The Gracie family.

Their patented weapon?

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. 

Their fighting art (which was basically Judo modified to focus more on ground techniques rather than throws and arbitrary competitions for points) was eventually exported via Rorion Gracie, who traveled to the United States and, after some struggling, managed to get on his feet and even break into Hollywood, where he is famous for teaching Mel Gibson a bit of Jiu-Jitsu. 

Rorion’s exploits, as well as those of the Gracie family, were written about in an edition of Playboy magazine that caught the attention of an advertising mogul by the name of Art Davie. Davie and Rorion came up with an early version of the UFC (then called War of the Worlds). 

This meeting, along with the help of pay-per-view executive Robert Meyrowitz, led to the creation of the UFC and the airing of the inaugural event in which Rorion’s relative Royce Gracie showcased how effective the family art could be against someone who didn’t know it. 

But it wasn’t exactly the family art. 

What they (brilliantly) branded and marketed as “Gracie Jiu-Jitsu” was actually Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The Gracies didn’t invent it; they just packaged it and sold it better than anyone else. 

Nevertheless, it started a martial arts revolution. 

Soon after the first UFC events, serious fighters began training in all facets of Jiu-Jitsu. You had to know BJJ, or at least how to counter it, if you were going to be successful in the cage. 

This lead to strikers cross training in BJJ. Once the BJJ fighters realized that the strikers knew what they knew, they started training in striking, and mixed martial arts was born. 

Thus, Brazil and BJJ helped to create the modern sport of mixed martial arts, but it wasn’t the most country in the UFC’s history. 

Yes, a Brazilian with a Brazilian fighting style helped create the UFC, but that was the old UFC, the UFC owned by the Semaphore Entertainment Group. 

The modern-day UFC is owned by a company known as Zuffa. And it’s Zuffa that’s responsible for much of the UFC’s current success. 

Zuffa backed the UFC even when it was making a loss, and eventually got the UFC onto Spike TV in the form of a reality show called The Ultimate Fighter. The show catapulted the UFC into stardom practically overnight; it had a place in society now. 

The UFC would continue to grow and hold events in other nations, but its principle fanbase was in the United States, and more UFC shows were held in the United States than any other country (since it was and is an American company, after all). 

But that’s not to discount what Brazil has done for the modern UFC. Many of the Zuffa era’s best fighters—such as Anderson Silva, Junior Dos Santos and Jose Aldo—are all from Brazil. The Brazilian market is also a massive one for the UFC, and the MMA circuit in Brazil is ripe with amazing, undiscovered talent.

Still, while it was Brazil that ultimately created MMA and the old UFC, it was the actions of Americans in the United States that helped bring it to it’s current heights. 

Both countries have their importance, and modern MMA/the modern UFC couldn’t exist without either.

 

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MMA: The Top Ten Most Influential Fighters in History

Although MMA has only been around for a short time, the sport has created a number of icons that have changed the game. Some of these men went on to have illustrious careers, while others simply changed the way the game was played. Regardless of how th…

Although MMA has only been around for a short time, the sport has created a number of icons that have changed the game.

Some of these men went on to have illustrious careers, while others simply changed the way the game was played. Regardless of how their careers ended, all these men contributed greatly to the sport.

They came from all kinds of different backgrounds; jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, and wrestling, among others. When these men stepped inside the cage or ring, fans had their eyes glued to the television screen because we realized history was unfolding before our very eyes.

Of course, the selections on these lists are always debatable and I’m sure there’s a handful of fighters you could swap in and out of this list. In my opinion, these are the most influential fighters to step inside the cage/ring.

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MMA: Why Do Some Fans Resent the Growth of the Sport?

It’s no secret that MMA fans are a fickle bunch. All sports fans are. It kind of goes with the territory. Some people may argue that it’s a sign of being ungrateful, and while that argument may be viable in some instances, it isn’t always. …

It’s no secret that MMA fans are a fickle bunch. All sports fans are. It kind of goes with the territory.

Some people may argue that it’s a sign of being ungrateful, and while that argument may be viable in some instances, it isn’t always. Fans have a right to speak out and be heard, and within reason that should hold weight.

One particular area that is puzzling, however, is that MMA fans at times almost seem to resent the growth of their sport. At their core, they’re happy that others are starting to jump on board and see it for how exciting and engaging it is, but there’s also just a hint of frustration at concessions being made for fans who are newer to the game.

No other sport seems to be so preoccupied with grouping fans into generations, or trying to link knowledge of their sport to the date someone joined a message board about it. It’s nothing to pop over to The Underground—the most prominent forum in MMA, and, along with its sister forum The Otherground, perhaps among the most entertaining on the internet—and see good points gunned down aggressively because they came from a guy who signed up in 2011.

And don’t even start on the dreaded 10ers.

Obviously that’s a very small portion of the population of fans, but it does represent a decent sample of the attitude.

Ask a jiu-jitsu white belt what got him into the sport, and there’s a far better chance that he’s going to tell you Royce Gracie and UFC 1 than Kenny Florian and the original Ultimate Fighter, even if the latter is actually true. And he’s definitely telling you it was Royce if it was actually Mayhem Miller and TUF 14, because no one could ever admit to being such a noob and live it down.

It raises the question: what about this sport, this culture, makes it such a crime to be part of a new wave of fans? Why is it that some fans who’ve been around for so long feel the need to cast down those who haven’t?

It makes for an interesting yin and yang.

These long-term fans are entirely over the moon that the sport is garnering ESPN recaps and FOX-televised main events. There’s no way they’re not, not after reading old Tripod websites for PRIDE results in 1999 or swapping poorly bootlegged UFC tapes during the dark ages at the turn of the millennium.

And yet a small part of them feels the need to defend this old guard from the very mainstream attention that has been coveted for so long. Part of said attention is new fans, many of whom can’t identify a kimura and don’t understand that training in a gi is actually beneficial to a fighter’s technical acumen, but rather just want to see heavyweights knock each others heads off.

That’s fine. Whatever puts butts in the seats. They can love knockouts as much as they want, because the nuances of the sport are intoxicating enough that those fans will learn to love them in short order.

I began watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC 4. I was 9 years old and I watched it with my dad on VHS in my living room in a town you’ve definitely never heard of. Royce Gracie choked out Dan Severn, and it blew us away.

Does this mean that someone who started watching at UFC 84 couldn’t possibly know more about the sport than me? Absolutely not. Who cares if they do anyway? What does getting there before that guy actually entitle me to? I’d have to say nothing.

Am I more entitled to knowledge and fandom than a hockey fan because I worked in hockey for a few years? Is my grandfather more entitled to be excited by home runs than me because he can remember Roger Maris and I only had juiced up lunkheads to cheer on as a boy?

Again, I’d have to answer in the negative to both.

Then again, I took the time to make the point that I’ve been on board since the early days of MMA, didn’t I?  How much further of a step is it for me to tell a new training partner to get off the mats because he’s inspired by Demian Maia instead of by Rickson Gracie?

The sport is growing, friends. We might as well grow with it, because it’s what we’ve wanted for as long as I can remember.

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Royce Gracie’s Legacy, BJJ’s Relevance on the Decline in Modern MMA

Royce Gracie is undeniably one of the most accomplished fighters in MMA history. His heroics in the UFC’s infancy did a lot for the sport, but they also propelled his fighting style, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, into a position where it was almost synonymous w…

Royce Gracie is undeniably one of the most accomplished fighters in MMA history. His heroics in the UFC’s infancy did a lot for the sport, but they also propelled his fighting style, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, into a position where it was almost synonymous with MMA as a whole.

For a long while, in large part thanks to Gracie’s dominance in the UFC’s golden age, MMA was a grappling-focused sport. There was still striking, sure, but the tiny Royce Gracie (he ended up fighting at welterweight after the sport became fully regulated) slapping leg triangles around people with a huge size advantage gave everyone pause.

This caused prospective fighters to flock to learn from the Gracie family. From there, dozens of submission-focused fighters entered MMA in both the United States and abroad. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was the go-to discipline for a huge number of fighters.

Gracie himself ended up winning three of the first four UFC tournaments while various family members like Renzo, Royler and Rickson all entered the fray to mixed success. At the turn of the millennium, submission artists who were black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu were popping up everywhere in some of the world’s most-watched events and were winning a lot more than they were losing.

This was the peak for the Gracie family and the martial art they made famous.

Following that, everyone scared of being submitted joined Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools to learn how to defend themselves from the at-the-time-unorthodox submissions. As Chuck Liddell became a serviceable wrestler specifically to defend himself from takedowns, many fighters were effectively neutralizing their opponents’ Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with their own Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

This was a successful strategy. Still, there were plenty of black belts in the style rising to prominence, but fewer and fewer were what one would call “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters.” Guys like Anderson Silva, BJ Penn and Nick Diaz, all masters of the style who were still more comfortable standing than on the ground, became the second wave of fighters to represent the art. All had black belts in the style, but they were quite content in keeping the fight standing.

More time passed. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialists were becoming fewer in number and were having less and less success. Fighters like Demian Maia, Gabriel Gonzaga and Thales Leites surged against lesser opponents, but they wilted against real competition. It became perfectly clear that this was simply not enough to reach the top anymore.

More and more, all the way into the present, the importance of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been dwindling. This is not necessarily because of anything wrong with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Simply put, this is mixed martial arts. A fighter needs to be able to both strike and grapple and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, perhaps more than any other fighting style that has come through the Octagon, has fighters that refuse to evolve past one martial art.

Even worse for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the Gracie’s legacy, a large portion of MMA’s fanbase still ends up disappointed whenever a fight goes to the ground, regardless of if it is by wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Judo. Small-minded fans aside, knockout power from a fighter like Brian Stann will always be a bigger selling point for a card than strong grappling from a fighter like Jake Shields.

Regardless, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been fading while wrestling has surged in popularity on the coattails of top fighters like Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Chael Sonnen and Rashad Evans. Even among prominent Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners, submissions have been becoming less and less common; the aforementioned Anderson Silva, BJ Penn and Nick Diaz have a combined three submissions since 2010, dwarfed by five electrifying knockouts.

Adding to this, there is a distinct lack of influence from the Gracie camp in recent years. There are no members of the Gracie family actively fighting right now of note. Meanwhile, the Nogueira brothers have branded themselves as the foremost instructors in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, leaving the family with no clear place in the sport today.

Worst of all is the undeniably bleak future for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in MMA. Much is made of the “new breed of fighters” like Rory MacDonald, but they truly end up being the harbingers of the end of individual martial arts. Young fighters currently rising through smaller promotions who will eventually join the UFC go to gyms specifically to learn the entire sport, rather than jumping into MMA after finding success in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions.

These fighters have no real connection to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but learn off the bat how to attack with or defend against the style’s techniques. This, truly, spells doom for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in MMA and while it is still a sport unto itself, it is still approaching the proverbial exit when it comes to the public eye.

While Royce Gracie and his ancestors have a spot in history, their direct influence in MMA is rapidly approaching rock bottom. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is not as feared as it was and this trend is incredibly unlikely to reverse course.

This, though, is the nature of sports. The game is evolving and, at this point, the Gracie family’s contributions have been absorbed into the sport as a whole. While their influence can still be found in the sport’s history, the name does not hold the weight it once did.

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According to Dana White, BJ Penn and Tito Ortiz are “Definitely” Headed to the UFC Hall of Fame


(My qualifications? HERE’S my stinking qualifications!)

It looks like we’ll have to start drafting up new t-shirts to falsely promise you guys, because according to a recent interview with MMAFighting, UFC President Dana White was rather frank about his desire for both former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and former lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn to be placed in the UFC Hall of Fame in the near future. Though the jury is still out on whether or not Penn will return to the octagon following his hasty retirement in the aftermath of UFC 137, DW had nothing but positives to say about “The Prodigy” when asked on the possibility of his placement in the HOF:

Definitely. The thing about B.J. Penn is that what he brought to the lightweight division, there was a point in time when we first bought this company when people thought guys in the lighter weight divisions couldn’t be stars and couldn’t see pay-per-views and couldn’t cross over. B.J. Penn was definitely that first crossover guy for us. He’ll be back. It’s tough, when there are 16,000 people in the arena chanting your name, it’s tough to walk away from that. B.J. Penn is a fighter. You hear some of these guys, and Tito was one of these guys, he said he wanted to be famous. B.J. Penn is a fighter.

So there you have it, Penn will join long-time rival Matt Hughes, as well as Randy Couture, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, Royce Gracie, Chuck Liddell, and Tapout co-founder Charles “Mask” Lewis in that deluxe octagon in the sky. After a pair of unsuccessful title bids at 155, Penn won the welterweight title in his welterweight debut by defeating the then untouchable Hughes by first round rear-naked choke at UFC 46. Penn would vacate the UFC shortly thereafter, citing a lack of challenging fights, and would not taste UFC gold again until beating the ever-loving shit out of Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 to claim the vacant lightweight strap. He would defend the belt three times until being upended by Frankie Edgar at UFC 112.

When addressing the possibility of Tito Ortiz joining those illustrious ranks, White did not shy away from the pair’s well-documented rocky history, and in fact stated that, in retrospect, it helped make the UFC what it is today.

Hear more from The Baldfather after the jump. 


(My qualifications? HERE’S my stinking qualifications!)

It looks like we’ll have to start drafting up new t-shirts to falsely promise you guys, because according to a recent interview with MMAFighting, UFC President Dana White was rather frank about his desire for both former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and former lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn to be placed in the UFC Hall of Fame in the near future. Though the jury is still out on whether or not Penn will return to the octagon following his hasty retirement in the aftermath of UFC 137, DW had nothing but positives to say about “The Prodigy” when asked on the possibility of his placement in the HOF:

Definitely. The thing about B.J. Penn is that what he brought to the lightweight division, there was a point in time when we first bought this company when people thought guys in the lighter weight divisions couldn’t be stars and couldn’t see pay-per-views and couldn’t cross over. B.J. Penn was definitely that first crossover guy for us. He’ll be back. It’s tough, when there are 16,000 people in the arena chanting your name, it’s tough to walk away from that. B.J. Penn is a fighter. You hear some of these guys, and Tito was one of these guys, he said he wanted to be famous. B.J. Penn is a fighter.

So there you have it, Penn will join long-time rival Matt Hughes, as well as Randy Couture, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, Royce Gracie, Chuck Liddell, and Tapout co-founder Charles “Mask” Lewis in that deluxe octagon in the sky. After a pair of unsuccessful title bids at 155, Penn won the welterweight title in his welterweight debut by defeating the then untouchable Hughes by first round rear-naked choke at UFC 46. Penn would vacate the UFC shortly thereafter, citing a lack of challenging fights, and would not taste UFC gold again until beating the ever-loving shit out of Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 to claim the vacant lightweight strap. He would defend the belt three times until being upended by Frankie Edgar at UFC 112.

When addressing the possibility of Tito Ortiz joining those illustrious ranks, White did not shy away from the pair’s well-documented rocky history, and in fact stated that, in retrospect, it helped make the UFC what it is today:

Despite my personal problems with Tito, he belongs in. He was the champion when we first bought this thing. The fact that Tito is still here, Tito and I have had our moments, but it doesn’t change what he did for the company. The beef between me and Tito, Chuck and Tito, the fact is, that played a huge role in helping making this thing as big as it is.

In case you’ve all forgotten, there was a time when Tito Ortiz was more than just a punching bag for future and former world champions and the butt of endless commentary based jokes. After decisioning Wanderlei Silva and winning the light heavyweight championship at UFC 25, Ortiz defended the strap more times than any fighter in the division’s history (5), scoring victories over the likes of Evan Tanner, Yuki Kondo, and Vladimir Matyushenko. Recently, Ortiz announced that his trilogy-completion bout against Forrest Griffin at UFC 148 would be his last bout as a professional.

And even Donald Trump will tell you that Ortiz is a hell of a businessman. Aside from being one of the most consistent pay-per-view draws in the promotion’s history, Ortiz’s trilogy with Ken Shamrock as well as his epic pair of bouts with “The Iceman” have been responsible for more UFC merchandising profits than any other fighter can lay claim to.

So what do you think of these additions to the HOF, Potato Nation? And secondly, who do you think deserves a place in the Hall of Fame beside these two gents in the near future? Be advised, the first person to say Jon Jones is going to get their ass whipped.

-J. Jones 

Matt Hughes and the Last Fight He Should Take

Matt Hughes is a legend in the sport of MMA, but is at a point where his career is coming to an end. Even Hughes himself knows that there is not much time left for him in the Octagon and that he is at a crossroads where he is being pulled in different …

Matt Hughes is a legend in the sport of MMA, but is at a point where his career is coming to an end. Even Hughes himself knows that there is not much time left for him in the Octagon and that he is at a crossroads where he is being pulled in different directions. 

Between the UFC, his wife and himself, Hughes is unsure what exactly is his direction at this point in time. Hughes recently lost to Josh Koscheck, getting knocked out in the first round. This loss moved Hughes to two first-round knockout losses in a row. Hughes has gone 3-4 in his last seven fights and has been getting finished in each loss. While still holding a record of 45-9, he knows that his ability to keep up with the new generation of athletes is dwindling and his time is at an end. 

Hughes is at a point where many feel he needs to retire, but it would seem Hughes, fueled by the itch of competition and assumingly attractive offers from Dana White, still has one fight left in him before hanging up the gloves. 

While fighters like Dan Hardy have expressed an interest in fighting Hughes, there is only one that would bring the best business in and still be a suitable and great matchup for the former Welterweight Champ. 

That man is Royce Gracie. 

Hughes understands he is not making another title run, nor wants to move up or down in weight. His option is to take an exciting fight the fans and the UFC want, and one that will pay well and potentially cap off his legacy. Who better than the legend himself, Royce Gracie? 

Gracie and Hughes fought in 2006, a matchup that was historic and would prove to be the beginning of Hughes’ moniker, “The Gracie Killer.” While Hughes did win that fight, a rematch would be an incredible match to see. 

Since neither is in their primes anymore, the playing field seems a little more fair than when fans first heard Hughes was going to fight Koscheck or Sanchez. Hughes is currently 38 and Gracie is 45. The advantage goes to Hughes, but based on statistics, this would be a great way to go out on a win. 

Typically taking a fight that doesn’t advance you forward against a guy you already beat isn’t attractive, but because of the circumstances, would be a great finale for Hughes, as well as Gracie. 

When speaking to Royce Gracie, he discussed how there is only one fight he wants to have, and that is against Matt Hughes. Gracie wants revenge, for himself as well as Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida. Gracie has not competed in MMA since 2007, but is still on board to take on Matt Hughes, and only Matt Hughes. 

Now that the UFC has returned to Brazil and will have put its third huge show by the end of this summer, it would seem fitting to get Hughes and Gracie to square off in Brazil. It ideally would be the last fight for both men, being a retirement bout regardless of result. It is a fight Hughes might feel very comfortable with and one that probably wouldn’t leave Hughes being woken up by a referee in the first round. 

Financially, this fight would be a great move by Hughes to arrange. A fight between Hughes and Gracie in Brazil would certainly do very well at the live gate and on PPV. Two Hall-of-Fame legends, one out for vengeance, the other looking to seal his legacy and go out on a win. The marketing for this fight would be immense and easy to pitch. 

Gracie had requested a large amount of money to fight back when the UFC was initially returning to Rio, and probably would be no different this time. While the payouts for Hughes and Gracie would be staggering numbers, they would be trumped by the revenue of the event. Gracie knows his worth and is looking to be compensated for putting himself back out there after so many years. Justifiably, if this fight were made, it would be one of the biggest Welterweight showdowns in history. 

While it might have a novelty side to it, it is still a fight that would be competitive. Even though Gracie is much older and has not fought in MMA in years, he is still a seventh-degree red and black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and still trains. 

This is a fight that is not easy for either man since both are dangerous in their own right. Betting odds would side with Hughes, and if he did win, it would be a much better way to retire than the path of Chuck Liddell. 

This is a fight that many fans would want to see and is beneficial for both fighters to take. Although unfortunate to see Hughes on his way out, it would be great to see him leave the Octagon on a win. Gracie is no walk in the park, though. Regardless, if this fight were to be made, you would see two legends going toe-to-toe, one motivated by putting everything into his last fight and the other motivated by taking back one of only two losses in his career. 

Who do you think his last fight should be? Would you like to see Hughes vs. Gracie?

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