MMA Hall of Fame: Royce Gracie
MMA Record: 14-3-3
Arguably the most influential figure-head in mixed martial arts is Royce Gracie. As one of the original UFC fighters, Royce did his best to prove that styles do, in fact, make fights. With his version of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, coined later as Gracie jiu-jitsu, Royce was the centerpiece for UFC 1.
Royce debuted in November 1993 at the original UFC 1, where he as the smallest competitor, dominated the field on his way to the tournament crown. He first dominated Art Jimmerson in the opening round by getting the one-gloved boxer to the floor, mounting him and then submitting him at the 2:11 mark of the 1st round. In the second round, Gracie got Ken Shamrock to the floor where he submitted the shoot fighter via rear naked choke in only 57 seconds and advanced into the tournament final. In the final, he again got the karate expert, Gerard Gordeau, to the canvas and sunk in a rear naked choke at 1:44 of the 1st round to become the winner of the very first UFC open weight tournament.
He would go on to build his legacy by adding the tournament titles for UFC 2 and UFC 4 in 1994. He defeated top-level mixed martial artists such as Patrick Smith, Kimo Leopaldo, and Dan Severn on his way to tournament crowns. In April 1995 at UFC 5, Gracie fought Ken Shamrock to a 36-minute draw in the first UFC Superfight Championship. It wasn’t the result that was significant, it was the development of the sport that was. Shamrock, who was dominated in an earlier bout with Gracie, defended submission attempts the entire bout showing how far the sport had come in just a couple years.
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Gracie continued to share his knowledge and teach Gracie jiu-jitsu throughout the United States, however didn’t get back into the cage until 2000 when he entered in the 2000 PRIDE open weight grand prix in Japan. He defeated Nobuhiko Takada after 15:00 of fighting via decision in the opening round, and then was dealt his second career loss after another emotional fight. He battled legendary Japanese bruiser Kazushi Sakuraba for six rounds at 15:00 each round until his corner threw in the towel after realizing that Royce could barely stand up. That fight will go down as one of the best fights in PRIDE FC history.
He made brief stints in PRIDE and K-1 over the next four years. He fought only three bouts and came out on top in only one, a 2004 submission victory over Akebono in K-1 Premium 2004 Dynamite. His other two bouts went down as draws, including a PRIDE fight with Hidehiko Yoshida and a K-1 match with Hideo Tokoro.
He made the trip back into the modern day octagon at UFC 60 in May 2006 against future Hall-of-Famer Matt Hughes. The bout was even for much of the first couple minutes until Hughes got on top of Gracie. From top position, Hughes reigned down punch after punch until the referee halted the bout giving Hughes a 1st round TKO victory over the legendary grappler.
Gracie dipped into MMA competition one more time in the summer of 2007 when he appeared in the K-1 Dynamite USA card in Los Angeles to face Sakuraba. Gracie got back to his roots in this memorable fight using his grappling skills to control the Japanese legend. He controlled Sakuraba for three rounds and earned the unanimous decision victory.
Although it looks as if his fighting career is over, Gracie’s legacy will forever live on. He was the first person to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame after UFC 45 in November 2003, but his contributions far outweigh his accomplishments. He paid his dues to the sport and fighters and fans alike will always be in debt to him and his brand in mixed martial arts.
By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Senior MMA Staff Writer
Published February 2010