1990s Legend Royce Gracie Trashes Modern Fighters

Do you agree with Gracie?


  • Total voters
    252
reality is that back in the day, BJJ was used by smaller guys to beat bigger guys with no ground game
 
Voted No*, but Royce was a pioneer that took his martial art into an unknown cage and proved, at that time, it was the superior combat skill.

The sport of fighting has developed over the past few decades and BJJ has become one of many tools combatants use in warfare, thanks to him and his family.

But in 1993, Royce Gracie proved to the world that it was the most effective combat technique of that time.

Nobody has ever introduced a style into fighting the way Royce did in that tournament back then, and that is why every time a "Mt. Rushmore" thread pops up I post -

1. Royce
2.
3.
4.

I am an unapologetic Fedor hugger, but he never innovated the way Royce Gracie did in Denver.

And Royce did it outweighed in every single match with rules that make PRIDE look like light sparring.

*My No vote is because fighters today are more well rounded and better trained than they were 24 years ago when Royce dominated.

I'd still like to see how the prima donnas of today would do with no weight classes and next to no rules.

War Royce!

UFC01-RoyceXKen-01-400-entrance-sg.gif
 
Huge difference between "fighters" and "athlete entertainer" and way too many people who will never understand.
 
Believe me he wouldn't be saying that if he had to fought Stipe, Overeem, Lesnar, Cain, etc getting his absolute shit pushed in. He's basically asking for all weight classes to be eliminated except HW and some top LHWs.

What he's saying essentially is that smaller fighters that are considered GOATs like Mighty Mouse or Floyd Mayweather in boxing don't even deserve to be professionals.

It is true in the sense that if weight classes didn't exist, like they don't in many other major sports, these guys could never hang with even a mediocre HW. But it would certainly include himself in that category in the modern day.

Royce might have said that in the past but let's take his words at face value here.

If you call yourself an all time great, then your skills should be able to overcome physical disadvantages. 10lbs-20lbs is not an unreasonable disparity, short notice fights used to be the norm, but not anymore...
 
He's talking about the mentality of the fighters from the early days of mma compared to today...and he"s absolutely right.

Today's fighters are absolute pussies compared to the sports forefathers.
I think it's more about the difference in generations. The comforts this life brings softens men. My grandfather was hard in a way I don't think could be replicated under the current lifestyle (of even the poorest) here in the States. This motherfucker was completely unfazed by the elements, hot or cold. Tireless, even as an elderly man. I once watched him pull a piece of melted plastic (and a considerable amount of skin) off his arm with zero physical indication of pain. He once spilt the area between his first and second toe while chopping wood. It literally destroyed his big toe. He chuckled and asked me if I knew how to sew. He never complained about his misfortune or discomfort. I imagine this was born of a life where literally everything required some degree of work and effort. Even things we take for granted like water and food. Soft cushy lifestyles breed soft cushy men.
 
I can see his point, outside of competition.

In competition, all the fighters are well rounded these days, so there needs to be weight classes. It's not like there is a huge skill gap where smaller fighters can use techniques unknown to larger fighters that they can use to defeat them like during Royce during the first UFC.
 
Gracie the guy who made sure to have special rules for 90% of his fights

Fuck that guy

If you think he isn't being 100% hypocritical than you are wrong
 
Q. Which MMA do you like more, this MMA, or the MMA in the nineties?

A. Back then it was no, ah, hmm — it was no bullshit. In a street fight there is no time-limit, no weight division, you don’t choose your opponent. So today I see fighters complain ‘Oh my god, my opponent’s a pound over the weight!’ — Really?

(This gets some laughs in the room, from the two guys in the office we crashed. One of whom I now think is Mike Johnson, of recent Conor McGregor fame).

‘He didn’t make weight, he’s a pound over, I don’t wanna fight him.’ C’mon man. That’s why I say all the time, somebody walk down the street, pinch your girlfriend, your wife on the buns, what’re you gonna do? You’re gonna come up to him and ask him, ‘Excuse me, how much do you weigh? What belt are you?' Sorry, he’s not in 'my division,' I’m not going to beat him up’. C’mon man.

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2017/11...y-really-bad-in-the-past-20-years-bjj-mma-ufc
Fighters like Khabib? Fighters like DC? Fighters like GSP? As much as I like Royce Gracie, he would get wrestle fucked in this day and age. even in his prime.
 
I remember the earliest UFC's. The majority of fighters couldn't go five minutes, and with a couple of exceptions, if they could fight for five minutes they were exclusively either a striker or a grappler. Royce would lose to virtually all of the top 10 fighters at 170 in the last decade, and Royce resorted to steroids.
 
Fighters like Khabib? Fighters like DC? Fighters like GSP? As much as I like Royce Gracie, he would get wrestle fucked in this day and age. even in his prime.

Wtf.... different era...different styles of training... MMA today has evolved which shows in display of our modern fighters (not being one dimensional) but surely you'd agree that it all started from somewhere lol.

I'm sure Royce Gracie, would have grapple fucked Khabib, DC or GSP in a BJJ ONLY match if we're comparing them in their primes....
 
Wtf.... different era...different styles of training... MMA today has evolved which shows in display of our modern fighters (not being one dimensional) but surely you'd agree that it all started from somewhere lol.

I'm sure Royce Gracie, would have grapple fucked Khabib, DC or GSP in a BJJ ONLY match if we're comparing them in their primes....
Wtf.... different era...different styles of training... MMA today has evolved which shows in display of our modern fighters (not being one dimensional) but surely you'd agree that it all started from somewhere lol.

I'm sure Royce Gracie, would have grapple fucked Khabib, DC or GSP in a BJJ ONLY match if we're comparing them in their primes....
No he wouldn't lol and yea you're right, MMA has evolved since the 90's, like tremendously.. but I'm just saying, if a prime Royce Gracie was in MMA today, with a signed UFC contract, he would get wrestle fucked to death. of course in a BJJ match, anything can happen, we're talking about one of the greatest, if not the greatest submission artist of all time, but this thread is about MMA, not a grappling tournament.
 
Its very HARD to compare early mma days to current day.. back then it wasnt about bug money fights because there was no big money.. It was about being the best fighter out there.

In todays mma because the sport has grown ten fold from then, there is now a lot of money involved, so fighters are not fighting for worlds best title per say, they are fighting for the biggest pay days..

Years ago i PROMISED myself that i would stop watching this sport if it became like boxing.. I feel we are inchig very close to that thanks to conor and now the ali act. Soon the belts will become sort of irrelevant which is what excited me the most. If your the fkn champ then fight the #1 contender!! end of story!!
 
You whipper snappers don't know how easy you have it. When Grandpappy Royce was a boy he walked to and from the favela in the snow, up hill, BOTH WAYS!
 
No he wouldn't lol and yea you're right, MMA has evolved since the 90's, like tremendously.. but I'm just saying, if a prime Royce Gracie was in MMA today, with a signed UFC contract, he would get wrestle fucked to death. of course in a BJJ match, anything can happen, we're talking about one of the greatest, if not the greatest submission artist of all time, but this thread is about MMA, not a grappling tournament.

Absolutely and you're right. I guess what I was trying to say was this scenario in modern context is similar to when Floyd beat Conor in a Boxing ONLY match. Ofcourse then, the comments of "BUT Conor would destroy Floyd in MMA talk came up"... Yes ofcourse... two different eras....MMA and other martial arts where looked upon completely differently compared to today. nowadays, everyone cross trains, trains in different styles and MMA itself has evolved due to that. Whilst previously in Royce's era, you had fighters that specialized mainly in the one art whilst neglecting others/their gaps which you still see today but nowhere near as much. (e.g. Pettis, 3dan TKD plus a brown belt BJJ), Heck even I do... as someone that started in kyokushin karate, I also do boxing 1-2 x a week on top to supplement face punches which I unfortunately miss out on in sparring due to the nature of our tournaments/sports.

imo athletes are athletes. I am a huge believer when anyone says the conor in mma vs Floyd quote that surely if Floyd started training in MMA after coming 3rd in the Olympics (controversial loss too) ONLY at the age of 19.... with such natural athleticism..., who knows how great he could have been in MMA with an extra few solid years of cross-training. Obvs that's out of conclusion given his age lol
 
Q. Which MMA do you like more, this MMA, or the MMA in the nineties?

A. Back then it was no, ah, hmm — it was no bullshit. In a street fight there is no time-limit, no weight division, you don’t choose your opponent. So today I see fighters complain ‘Oh my god, my opponent’s a pound over the weight!’ — Really?

(This gets some laughs in the room, from the two guys in the office we crashed. One of whom I now think is Mike Johnson, of recent Conor McGregor fame).

‘He didn’t make weight, he’s a pound over, I don’t wanna fight him.’ C’mon man. That’s why I say all the time, somebody walk down the street, pinch your girlfriend, your wife on the buns, what’re you gonna do? You’re gonna come up to him and ask him, ‘Excuse me, how much do you weigh? What belt are you?' Sorry, he’s not in 'my division,' I’m not going to beat him up’. C’mon man.

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2017/11...y-really-bad-in-the-past-20-years-bjj-mma-ufc
Royce is a bum
 
Modern day MMA fighters are way too much for Gracie.

Just being realistic here.

It's not about skill, he's talking about the mental aspect. Fighters back then were a lot grimier and savage compared to todays fighters. Just like NBA players in the 80's were a lot toughter and aggressive compared to todays.
 
He's completely right. Weight classes don't exist in nature, yet fighting does.

Moreover, in nature humans haven't voluntarily fought unarmed in 300,000 years. We'd still be tiger kibble if we hadn't learned to pick up weapons.

And interestingly enough, to a certain extent weapons make weight divisions less important - and the better the weapons, the less important they become. Its why a human with a spear (or bow and arrow or sword) can kill a gorilla (and did so often that long before firearms gorillas learned to fear humans - as did bears and lions) despite that gorilla being ten weight divisions heavier and much stronger and faster.

Skill becomes more important and size and strength less when weapons are involved. But the chances of the Roman gladiator game, complete with weapons and armor, returning are pretty slim, so we're probably stuck with weight divisions.
 
After watching Hughes pound royce out and then his failing for steroids, he has lost pretty much any credibility he built up from the beginning of the UFC.

Hard to keep track of how many brazilian fighters have popped for roids...

Machida
JDS
Anderson Silva
Vitor Belfort
Thiago Silva
Rousimar Palhares
Thiago Alves
Bigfoot Silva
Royce.
 
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