ROYCE GRACIE AND THE SPORT OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

I practiced Karate consistently for seven years. The two most common questions I was asked by people were how high can you kick and how many boards can you break.
my answer:
1. If you can kick some one in the groin thats more then high enough.
2. I have never been attacked by a tree (although I had nightmares after watching H.R. puffnstuff as a small child) so I have never had to break a board.

My point in all this is that people have misconceptions about martial arts. When people think of self defense they think of kicking and punching.

This is where the UFC cames in. The UFC was created for two reasons
1. Make money
2. To popularize the grappling arts, specifically Gracie/Brazilian Jujitsu.

The Gracie's strongly believed that their style was far superior to any art that featured strikes.
The thought being that once the grappler closed the distance and brought the fight to the ground the striker would be helpless.

Royce Gracie's brother Rorion was one of the originators of the UFC. His idea was to have a tournament where people of different styles would meet. The ultimate goal would be to prove Gracie Ju Jitsu was the most effective martial art.

Royce was chosen to compete even though he was not the most talented of the Gracie brothers
That honor belonged to Royce's older brother Rickson. I think they chose Royce for two reasons.

1. Royce Gracie at 6'1 and 176lb was not impressive to look at. This made it that much more remarkable when he would defeat some monster.

2. They didn't want to risk having the star of the family loose.

The first two UFC tournaments served their purpose perfectly(virtual infomercials for Gracie Jujitsu). Royce Gracie easily defeated three opponents in one night at ufc 1. Four months latter, Gracie cruised to a tournament victory this time defeating 4 men in one night. Gracie defeated seven men who represented a variety of styles and varied in size from 170 minoki Ichiarra t 260 pound Remco Pardoel. Gracie''s formula was simple close the distance clinch and bring the fight to the ground. Once the fight was on the ground it was only a matter of time before Gracie secured an armlock or a choke and forced his opponent to submit.

To start of my series I am going to look at Gracie's bouts in the first UFC.
11-12-93
Royce Gracie VS Art Jimmerson
Art Jimmerson was a pro boxer who had some success in boxings cruiserweight division in the early nineties then saw his career crash in the late nineties. Maybe Jimmerson thought he was going to a Michael Jackson concert because he entered the ring wearing one glove. I am serious this guy had a boxing glove on his left hand and no glove on the right hand. Unfortunately(or fortunately) we never got to see what Jimmerson's game plan was.
fight recap:
first minute: fighters circle with Gracie landing one glancing leg kick.
second minute: Gracie executes a double leg takedown. Jimmerson spends 30 seconds holding on for dear life and contemplating his next move. then Jimmerson spent 30 second flailing like a fish as Gracie did nothing but hold him down. Then Jimmerson tapped(submited). Yes, Art Jimmerson tapped before Gracie threw a punch or even tried to execute a submission move.

Royce Gracie vs Ken Shamrock
Differences between Royce Gracie and Ken shamrock
1. Shamrock weighed 215 while Gracie weighed 176
2. Shamrock had dabbled in submissions while submission grappling was Gracie's life
3. Shamrock wore his red pro wrestling trunks while Royce Gracie wore his traditional Gi
uniform.
the fight:
Gracie dove in for a take down Shamrock blocked it and flung Gracie on his back. Shamrock then went for a leg lock (the leg lock had worked against a kickboxer earlier in the evening but it was a no-no against an experienced grappler like Royce Gracie) and lost his top position. Now Gracie was on top and working for even better position. Shamrock tried to Grapple his way back on top but Gracie blocked his attempt and while the were stalled in that position Gracie executed a Gi choke causing Shamrock to tap out emphatically (the screwball ref missed the tap but shamrock admitted that he had given up).


Royce Gracie Vs Gerard Gordeau
Gordeau had knocked out his two previous opponents that night. With the first ko being very spectacular. At the start of the fight Gracie waisted no time diving in for a take down. Gordeau blocked the initial attempt but the two fighters ended up in a clinch. After about 20 seconds of effort Gracie got the take down. Gordeau held on to a headlock from the bottom for 15 to 20 seconds then Gracie slipped out. Gordeau immidiaetly rolled to his stomach to avoid being punched in the face. Then Gracie easily secured a rear choke hold that forced Gordeau to tap out. Royce Gracie was UFC 1 tournament champion.

UFC 2
3-11-94
Royce Gracie Vs Minoki Ichiara
Ichiara a well respected karate practitioner from Japan Suffered the same fate as Gracie's opponents from UFC 1. He quickly found himself on the the ground with Gracie on top of him. To his credit Ichiara was able to last longer then any of the Gracie's opponents from ufc 1. For almost 5 minutes Ichiara held on and tried to escape. At the five minute mark an exhausted Ichiarra looked like he had reversed the situation, but it was a trap as Ichiara manuvered himself right into a nifty gracie submission manuver an armbar gi choke combo that bafffled and bedazzled the commetators( a long article could defintely be written about the commentating at the early UFC's). 5:08

Royce Gracie vs Jason Delucia
Jason Delucia was a ninja. No really Delucia was a practitioner of ninjutsu. Delucia had also had some experience in real fights in Japan. Delucia quickly put Gracie on his back. Gracie quickly reversed. Delucia tried to quickly reverse back, as he pushed Gracie away Gracie latched on to delucia arm as they were rolling and applied a beautiful arm lock. Gracie from the ground submitted a standing Delucia. 1:02

Royce Gracie vs Remco Pardoel
Remco Pardoel a Dutch jujitsu practitioner out weighed Gracie by over 80 pounds. Pardoel had also authored one of the most vicious ko's in UFC history earlier in the evening. What had worked for Padoel earlier in the evening ended up being his undoing in his bout with Gracie. Padoel would trap his opponents arm and execute a hip throw then he would follow his opponent to the ground and use his back to pin them while he threw elbows. The strategy worked to perfection earlier in the evening but it was an absolute no-no against a grappler of Royce Gracie's caliber. Gracie easily blocked Pardoel throw and then found himself in perfect position to execute a rear gi choke. the bout would only last 1:26.

Royce Gracie vs Pat Smith
Pat Smith a kick boxer who weighed around 225 had looked invincible in winning three fights earlier in the evening. One fight being against another "ninja" Scott Morris. Morris tried to follow the Royce Gracie playbook and quickly get to a clinch but he just kind of bounced of Smith who followed him to the ground and unleashed a barrage of punches and elbows that left Morris a bloody mess ( and would latter lead Senator Mccain to pressure the cable companies to remove the UFC). A good game plan only works when you have the skills to execute it.Royce GRacie had the skills that Scott morris didn't. Gracie charged across the ring against smith and was not able to get the intitial take down but got to a clinch and was able to persist and put Smith on his back. As with many of the competitores in the early UFC Smith the lion quickly turned into a lamb when out on his back. It would only take a few week punches from Gracie and Smith quickly tap the mat.
Royce Gracie was ufc 2 champion.

The Sport:
Royce Gracie had definitely demonstrated the importance of ground Grappling in ufc's 1 an 2. Things got tougher for Gracie in UFC 3.4 and 5 although no one was able to beat him (he did forfeit one match before it started due to injury). After a draw with Ken shamrock at UFC 5 Gracie would take a 11 year hiatus from the octagon.
Upon Gracie's return at UFC 60 he found a much different sport. Gone were the days of a karate guy versus a judo guy. Replaced by the modern mixed martial arts competitor who is a world class athlete who cross trains in boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and Ju jitsu. When Royce Gracie returned to the octagon in 2006 his opponent was Matt Hughes a former all American collegiate wrestler who had seven years to integrate Ju jitsu(submission grappling) in with his world class wrestling skills. Royce Gracie went from being completely dominate in the early UFC's to totally helpless against Hughes at UFC 60.

What I really enjoy about watching Mixed martial arts is seeing how the sport continually evolves. I have seen world class wrestlers like Matt Hughes and Matt Lindland come into the sport with very flintstonian standup skills and slowly evolve into very competent kickboxers. . I've seen these same wrestlers greatly refine their grappling skills improving their ability to defend themselves in all positions and their ability to end fights with very technical submissions.

The sport of MMA and it's evolution would not have been possible without Royce Gracie. His success in those early UFC's the laid the foundation for what the sport has become today.