Tag: Royce Gracie

UFC 1 Review: The Birth of Modern MMA

UFC 1 is still an entertaining show to watch nearly two decades after the mixed martial arts competition debuted on pay-per-view in Denver on Nov. 12, 1993. Instead of focusing on who was the best fighter, UFC 1 was about determining which style of fig…

UFC 1 is still an entertaining show to watch nearly two decades after the mixed martial arts competition debuted on pay-per-view in Denver on Nov. 12, 1993.

Instead of focusing on who was the best fighter, UFC 1 was about determining which style of fighting was the greatest.

None of the fights made it past the five-minute mark, and that’s a good thing since the finalists would endure three fights in one night. That’s a full year’s schedule for some of today’s fighters.

 

1. Gerald Gordeau (savate) destroyed Telia Tuli (sumo).

Like a good sumo, Tuli rushed at Gordeau and pushed him to the outside of the Octagon. However, Gordeau pushed him down to a seated position and blasted him with a kick to the face.

Give credit to Tuli; once the cobwebs cleared, he wanted to keep fighting. After a period of confusion that lasted longer than the fight itself, the ref ruled that Gordeau had won by knockout.

 

2. Kevin Rosier (kickboxing) beat Zane Frazier (karate) by TKO.

These two weren’t even thinking about grappling. Without gloves, they were just blasting each other with bare-knuckle shots.

Late in the five-minute first round, both men ran out of gas, but Rosier gathered himself for a flurry of punches and stomps, and Frazier’s cornerman threw in the towel.

 

3. Royce Gracie (Brazilian jiu jitsu) beat Art Jimmerson (boxing) by submission.

Jimmerson wore a giant boxing glove on his left hand; he was hoping the fight would not go to the ground. He landed zero punches before Gracie took him down and choked him out.

 

4. Ken Shamrock (shoot fighting) beats Pat Smith (tae kwon do) by submission.

The Denver fans gave a hometown ovation to Smith. He was announced as having a record of 250-0 (whoa!).

Both men employed the exact same offense: headbutts then ankle locks. Shamrock’s ankle lock was better, and Smith tapped out.

 

5. In the first semifinal, Gerard Gordeau beat Kevin Rosier by TKO.

Gordeau somehow broke his hand in the first fight, so it was all taped up. Gordeau pounded Rosier against the fence and kept kicking and stomping him when he tried to get up.

Seeing that this scenario would not change, Rosier’s cornerman threw in the towel.

6. In the second semifinal, Royce Gracie beat Ken Shamrock by submission.

The announcers were drooling over the matchup and wishing it were the finals. Shamrock sprawled nicely out of Gracie’s takedown attempt and tried to get a leglock.

However, Gracie floated to the back and put Shamrock out with a rear naked choke.

Before the main event, Rorion Gracie presented an award to his father, Helio Gracie, for paving the way for the UFC with his development of Brazilian (Gracie) jiu-jitsu.

 

7. In the finals, Royce Gracie beat Gerard Gordeau by submission.

Gracie tried to take the bigger man down, but Gordeau refused and hung onto the fence. Gracie finally got the takedown and floated to the back.

The fans booed like crazy because they didn’t understand what was going on. Gracie secured the rear naked choke for the tapout, the tournament win and the giant $50,000 check.

After the fight, Gracie explained his fighting philosophy, “I don’t want to give him a chance to hit me. I want to win without getting hit.”

Jason Delucia beat Trent Jenkins by rear naked choke in an alternate bout that didn’t air.

 

@JeffDGorman is an MMA announcer. You can e-mail him at [email protected] and check out his work here.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Ontario Grapplers Gearing Up for the 32-Man Showdown

Mixed martial arts fans in Ontario are set for a unique, combat treat at the end of February as Adrenaline Training Center and Pecker’d Services presents the third annual “32-Man Showdown”.
The Showdown will pit 32 of the best No-gi grapplers…

Mixed martial arts fans in Ontario are set for a unique, combat treat at the end of February as Adrenaline Training Center and Pecker’d Services presents the third annual “32-Man Showdown”.

The Showdown will pit 32 of the best No-gi grapplers in the province against each other in a five-minute match, double elimination tournament. A bracket will be drawn prior to the tournament and then it will be non-stop action from the start to finish.

The event is being presented by Adrenaline Training Center and Pecker’d Services which is owned by Alex Gasson. Gasson is deeply involved in the local MMA community through his company and he helps run the show at Adrenaline, one of the top mixed martial arts training centers in the country. I was able to visit earlier this week to chat with the man running the show.

“There’s gonna be 63 matches, five minutes per match and possible overtime at two-and-a-half minutes. it’s Grappler’s Quest rules. It used to be single elimination but now that we have it going pretty smooth we can go match after match after match so we changed it.”

The event itself has grown in popularity in it’s third year of existence and Gasson has more help running the event. “It has gotten more popular and we have more people available to help out. I have also been working closely with the OGA, they know their stuff and they know how to put on a show. We have been working well together and will probably do more in the future.”

The Showdown is one of the few true open weight grappling competitions available and the list of competitors range from 135-pounds right up to 270-pounds. Gasson’s event came from his vision to see who truly is the best of the best.

 

“That’s how it started, from the idea of seeing who’s the real best. There are all these events that go through the tournament and crown a winner in each weight class, then at the end of the day they pit them against each other to see who the winner of the tournament is. I was like why not just start from the beginning and have that open style of format you know.”

Gasson is a trainer, manager and staple at Adrenaline Training Center and he continues to find ways to bring fun and competition to the community while teaching self defense and values through mixed martial arts.

The event will be held on Sunday February 26th, from 12-5pm at the Agriplex in London and will be held in conjunction with the “Sports and Recreation Show” held in the Western Fair District. A $5 entry fee to the Sports and Recreation Show is all that is needed to catch some of the most explosive action and athletes Ontario has to offer.

It is sponsored by Everlast, Brass Knuckle Therapy, Fight Planet, The Print Firm, Adrenaline Training Center and The Ontario Grappling Alliance.

I’m looking forward to seeing who will be Ontario’s Royce Gracie this year!

 

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA Editor at CKSN.ca and correspondent for MMACanada.net.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.

 

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

MMA Quoteathon: Stephan Bonnar’s Near Ejection From TUF 1 and Other Poorly Connected Musings

Stephan Bonnar UFC photos pose
(How can you say no to that face?) 

Aside from its placement atop nearly every MMA fan’s “Favorite Fights” list, Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin‘s war at the first TUF Finale is widely considered to be the fight responsible for popularizing MMA into the near mainstream sport it is today. Well, believe it or not, that fight almost didn’t happen on account of Bonnar’s uncontrollable desire for bottom shelf alcohol, specifically, Mad Dog. Although Bonnar has told this story with a slightly different spin before, Dana White recently discussed the craziness that was the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, and how Bonnar almost got himself kicked off the show:

The first season of the ‘Ultimate Fighter’ was the longest season we’ve ever done. It was something like 8 weeks and those guys were losing their (expletive) minds. I almost kicked (Stephan) Bonnar off the show. 

Bonnar turned the shower on, climbed out the window and went to find a liquor store. Remember we took all the liquor out after that big fight? These idiots…we had been driving these guys around for six or seven weeks and the house is in the middle of nowhere. There was no liquor store near there. The guy was walking around for an hour and thirty minutes. So much crazy (expletive) happened that first season. Imagine if I had kicked off him off the show for going to a liquor store? Forrest (Griffin) and Stephan would have never happened. 

No Dana, we would not like to imagine a world in which Griffin/Bonnar never existed. We’d rather imagine one in which Motley Crue serenades our lovemaking sessions with Adriana Lima, thank you very much.

Stephan Bonnar UFC photos pose
(How can you say no to that face?) 

Aside from its placement atop nearly every MMA fan’s “Favorite Fights” list, Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin‘s war at the first TUF Finale is widely considered to be the fight responsible for popularizing MMA into the near mainstream sport it is today. Well, believe it or not, that fight almost didn’t happen on account of Bonnar’s uncontrollable desire for bottom shelf alcohol, specifically, Mad Dog. Although Bonnar has told this story with a slightly different spin before, Dana White recently discussed the craziness that was the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, and how Bonnar almost got himself kicked off the show:

The first season of the ‘Ultimate Fighter’ was the longest season we’ve ever done. It was something like 8 weeks and those guys were losing their (expletive) minds. I almost kicked (Stephan) Bonnar off the show. 

Bonnar turned the shower on, climbed out the window and went to find a liquor store. Remember we took all the liquor out after that big fight? These idiots…we had been driving these guys around for six or seven weeks and the house is in the middle of nowhere. There was no liquor store near there. The guy was walking around for an hour and thirty minutes. So much crazy (expletive) happened that first season. Imagine if I had kicked off him off the show for going to a liquor store? Forrest (Griffin) and Stephan would have never happened. 

No Dana, we would not like to imagine a world in which Griffin/Bonnar never existed. We’d rather imagine one in which Motley Crue serenades our lovemaking sessions with Adriana Lima, thank you very much.

Speaking of the Crue, does anyone get the feeling that Greg Jackson is Afraid to corner Jon Jones for his upcoming title defense against Team Jackson’s Bastard child, Rashad Evans? Because he sure seemed on the fence about it when questioned on the issue during an appearance on The Savage Dog Show:

I’m going back and forth now because I have to think about what it means to be on a team. Are we just a collection of friends that train together? For me, it’s much more than that. It means something to be on this team and it means something to have teammates. Rashad kind of left that. I don’t know, I’m leaning toward cornering Jon right now. Just because, am I selfish, am I going to make this about me? Or am I gonna make this about the team? I can’t be self-centered. Even though it’s something that I don’t want to do, it might end up that way.

I still consider him a friend. Right now he’s really angry, and he’s saying a lot of negative things. I don’t want much to do with that, so I’m just kind of keeping my distance, so that’s where we’re at. 

So what you’re saying is that you didn’t want Evans to Go Away Mad, (but) Just Go Away? And speaking of non sequiturs…

…Eddie Alvarez recently spoke with MMAWeekly and explained why he chose a rematch with Shinya Aoki over the chance to recapture his Bellator lightweight strap by entering the season 6 tournament:

It makes no sense for me to rejoin a tournament and fight three guys that people don’t really care to see me fight rather than fight someone a Shinya Aoki, who is ranked in my weight class. I haven’t fought anyone ranked in my weight class in God knows how long. I’d be stupid not to take this fight. He’s ranked top five in my weight class, I believe, and it’ll get me back into the rankings. I’ll be able to forward positively.

Though it’s hard to blame Alvarez for this revelation, I, for one, would rather he fight for the chance of a possible rematch with Michael Chandler, considering how epic their first encounter was. Then again, watching Aoki butt scoot around Bellator’s rather gigantic cage for 15 minutes could prove to be entertaining in its own right.

An while we’re on the subject of rematches, it seems that one many people out there are already clamoring for is that of Condit/Diaz. And although we’ve said basically all that needs to be said about the fight itself, none other than UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie recently took to Twitter to weigh in on the controversial decision. Go figure, he was in Diaz’s corner:

@nickdiaz209 won that fight in my opinion. He is what every fighter should be a true martial artists who comes to fight. Well prepared and with a gameplan. Not one that [involves] running from a fight. Why come to fight if you gonna run? Hackney was running when we fought and I had to take the fight to him, Shamrock showed up not to lose in our rematch it’s a shame really. I for one am proud of Nick and happy he is part of Grace Jiu-jitsu family.

Well, we can go ahead and discredit anything Gracie says from this day forward, because you would have to be insane to believe that Keith Hackney would run from anybody…ever. He was not running from you, Mr. Gracie, he was simply luring you in using a level of mental warfare that you have not even begun to understand. You think you won that fight, simply because Keith allowed you to put him in an armlock? Please, this man defeated both a serial killer and a killer whale in hand to hand combat, and simply threw the fight for the good of the sport. You should be thanking him.

-J. Jones

Greatest UFC Champions of All Time: A Power Ranking

The Ultimate Fighting Championships have been around for nearly 20 years. In that time we have seen some of the world’s greatest fighters battle inside the octagon. UFC history is littered with great Brazilian jiu-jitsu artists, tactical wrestler…

The Ultimate Fighting Championships have been around for nearly 20 years. In that time we have seen some of the world’s greatest fighters battle inside the octagon. UFC history is littered with great Brazilian jiu-jitsu artists, tactical wrestlers, and perennial strikers such as: Royce Gracie, Georges St. Pierre, and Anderson Silva. The greatest of them have proven themselves to earn the title of “Champion.”

Like every other sport, fans will long debate who are the best. The conversation gets even deeper when discussing champions. Where it gets difficult is naming the champion of champions. Who is the best ever?  Montana or Elway? Louis or Ali? The UFC has produced many champions over the years. Here are the selected few that can call themselves the best of the best.

Begin Slideshow

Power Ranking the Top 10 Pre-Zuffa UFC Fighters

Although the UFC has only been around since 1993, it has undergone some major changes since its early days.Before Anderson Silva became the top fighter in the world, before Jon Jones became one of the most talked-about fighters in the world and before …

Although the UFC has only been around since 1993, it has undergone some major changes since its early days.

Before Anderson Silva became the top fighter in the world, before Jon Jones became one of the most talked-about fighters in the world and before Dana White and Zuffa became the owners to the now powerhouse organization, the UFC was a tournament where fighters of different martial arts disciplines fought to see who was the best.  

Although the UFC would soon move out of the tournament style, it was still a much different product than what we’re used to seeing today. 

As much as the UFC and MMA as a whole have changed, we should not forget its early fighters because they laid out the groundwork for what it has become today. 

Here’s a look at the top 10 fighters from the pre-Zuffa UFC. 

Begin Slideshow

UFC: The Top 25 Most Awesome Champions in MMA History

Who is the best champion ever? That question sparks a never-ending debate of course. Some champions are better than others. A select few had careers that shone like a beacon above all others. In its short existence, Mixed Martial Arts has gen…

Who is the best champion ever? That question sparks a never-ending debate of course. 

Some champions are better than others. A select few had careers that shone like a beacon above all others. 

In its short existence, Mixed Martial Arts has generated more than its share of legends. Not all legends are champions. To truly be the man, you gotta beat the man. You have to become champion to put a stamp on your legacy and silence all doubters.  

Some of the greatest champions ever, would go for years without ever losing and have fought all comers. Some were always coming back and reclaiming the title.  

Here are the 25 champions that inspired greater awe, fear and wonder in those who watched them. As well as those who fought them. They dominated the sport of mixed martial arts. 

Begin Slideshow