Did the Gracies leave out a Judo player in UFC 1 because it was deemed too similiar to GJJ?

[Typrune Goatley]

In Hulk Hogans book

He claims he was asked to be part of UFC 1 but he demanded they let his training partner in the tourney. On the night before UFC 1 hulk hogan and his training partner Brutus Beefcake were down in the hotel lobby playing video games when Royce came up to then and tried to hustle them by doing some street magic. Brutus and Hulk nearly beat Royce up but the UFC owner came down and demanded they all separate. Hulk was furious, he was a champion of a number of underground pride fights in the 70s, he deserved respect. He called up the matchmaker and said "I'm fighting Royce in round 1." The matchmaker said we want to save you two for the finals, biggest draw. Hogan said, "that's not gonna work for me, jack." Him and Beefcake left and never looked back. What could have been?

Note: He actually said all of that in his book.

Hogan making record book sales now because of this thread on Sherdog

 

[kingghidrah]

The Gracies left out every fighter that could even breathe the same air as Royce, including over 100 fighters who could have literally KILLED Royce because they didn't want their boy to lose. 20 of these fighters were certified ROYCE KILLERS. And they were avoided.

They purposely sought out the WORST fighters in the world to compete, ignoring known masters who can kill with the touch of their hand, because the fix was in. They ignored all sorts of guys from Brazil. This despite the fact that the event would be much more popular and representative if they had 4 or 5 guys from Brazil, or all eight Brazilian fighters.

They screwed up badly somehow and picked Shamrock, who they thought was a pro wrestler but turned out to be one of the best MMA fighters of the 1990s, because they were incompetent. Somehow Royce beat him, very lucky, very lucky indeed (payoff?????). They also screwed up and picked Pat Smith and Gerard Gordeau, who had actual fighting experience, something they were desperate to avoid.

They picked Art Jimmerson as their boxer, despite the pleas of Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield who wanted to participate but were not allowed. In fact, every top 10 boxer from every org was desperate to be in the initial UFC for a chance to make 50K as the winner. But no, the fix was in. (Some claim Tyson was in prison during this time, a lame excuse)

And why was Royce in the UFC and not one of his big brothers? Some say they chose a smaller guy to prove GJJ's effectiveness. Others say, well I don't know what others say, if they really wanted to maximize their chances of winning they would have just put Rickson in there. Can't explain this one away. Renzo was probably a better fighter too early on.

All in all though, it's clear they did everything they could to fix UFC 1 and the above is not disputable.

 

[armbarforhire]

Is that the same book where he said Metallica asked him to be their guitarist, but he turned them down, and he's flown around the world so many times for wrestling that he's a year younger than he actually is going by his birth certificate?

Good 30 minutes of constant laughter

 

[mkt]

It was a showcase for Gracie Jiu-jitsu. Genius marketing.

I bet Sambo, Catch Wrestling and maybe even traditional Japanese judo/JJ instructors regretted not doing something similar first. They might have captured that market instead.

 

[armbarforhire]

To be fair they also left Rickson because he looked more badass than normal looking guy Royce.

 

[Usernamehere]

They literally had a Judoka in UFC 2.

.

They've already proven their point by then.

 

[Usernamehere]

To be fair they also left Rickson because he looked more badass than normal looking guy Royce.

I read somewhere that if they had an Elite striker and or grappler in there, they would have picked rickson .

 

[Jibsta69]

In Hulk Hogans book

He claims he was asked to be part of UFC 1 but he demanded they let his training partner in the tourney. On the night before UFC 1 hulk hogan and his training partner Brutus Beefcake were down in the hotel lobby playing video games when Royce came up to then and tried to hustle them by doing some street magic. Brutus and Hulk nearly beat Royce up but the UFC owner came down and demanded they all separate. Hulk was furious, he was a champion of a number of underground pride fights in the 70s, he deserved respect. He called up the matchmaker and said "I'm fighting Royce in round 1." The matchmaker said we want to save you two for the finals, biggest draw. Hogan said, "that's not gonna work for me, jack." Him and Beefcake left and never looked back. What could have been?

Note: He actually said all of that in his book.

I love how this appear to be a joke but this is seriously how bad of a liar Hulk Hogan is.

 

[sdss]

I've seen a rumor that Meng (allegedly the toughest pro wrestler ever in real-life scraps) was invited but I'm not sure if that's true.

There is apparently some truth to this, in that it was proposed as an idea to Meng/Haku by the higher ups in WCW during the early UFC days, but he turned it down. He was smart enough to realize he was many years removed from competition and the UFC was a different kind of fighting. Plus, he would have had a lot to lose and not much to gain. If he had gone in an won a few fights, that wouldn't have necessarily helped him that much in pro wrestling, since WCW was mostly incompetent and he was slotted at a certain level there anyway, and if he had gone in and gotten injured, he'd be off the road and losing out on the bulk of his WCW money.

 

[Pierced7681]

Apparently Rorion told Art Davie not to invite Oleg Taktarov as he his skills were limited. This was after Oleg tapped out everyone in Rorions gym. Oleg even thought Rorion went to see Davie to make sure he got an invite. They avoided a lot of guys who could have got the better of Royce.

lol give me a break. If any one of those guys they “avoided” were invited the Gracie’s woulda just sent in Rickson to clean up shop

 

[armbarforhire]

There is apparently some truth to this, in that it was proposed as an idea to Meng/Haku by the higher ups in WCW during the early UFC days, but he turned it down. He was smart enough to realize he was many years removed from competition and the UFC was a different kind of fighting. Plus, he would have had a lot to lose and not much to gain. If he had gone in an won a few fights, that wouldn't have necessarily helped him that much in pro wrestling, since WCW was mostly incompetent and he was slotted at a certain level there anyway, and if he had gone in and gotten injured, he'd be off the road and losing out on the bulk of his WCW money.

Going by wiki he was a independant wrestling in Japan and Mexico from late 92 till may 94.

 

[armbarforhire]

They weren’t inviting Ruas or Taktarov, let alone likes of Karelin, Cikatic, Yoshida, or any high level boxer.

With the exception of the Brazilians how many high level mainstream boxers/wrestlers would have accepted to participate in a NHB fight in 93?. Maybe guys from K1

 

[Usernamehere]

lol give me a break. If any one of those guys they “avoided” were invited the Gracie’s woulda just sent in Rickson to clean up shop

Who would be Ricksons greatest threat back in 1993?

 

[Usernamehere]

With the exception of the Brazilians how many high level mainstream boxers/wrestlers would have accepted to participate in a NHB fight in 93?

Art jimmerson was high level

 

[don't ask]

Good 30 minutes of constant laughter

I watched that entire thing and was laughing pretty hard. Fucking Hulk Hogan, what a pathological liar.

I haven't been a wrestling fan since I was a little kid, but it really bugs me that his stupid movie with Chris Helmsworth is just going to cement his stupid self-mythologizing in the public's minds.

 

[don't ask]

Who would be Ricksons greatest threat back in 1993?

Gokor and John Saylor?

 

[Usernamehere]

Gokor, John Saylor.

What are their styles and how big of a chance would you give them of beating Rickson in percentages?

Why not the Sambo Guy Tipler that threw him?

 

[armbarforhire]

Art jimmerson was high level

I think he was ranked top 10 in at least one of the 4 main boxing organizations, but not a world champ and not a money maker.

 

[Azure]

They turned down quite a few guys allegedly. It was never a tournament of the world's best martial artists like it was presented to be, not even close. Gokor is the more famous story, they rejected him as he was a decorated Sambo and Judo guy, Rickson also didn't fight him.

This is what I heard as well.. It was was to showcase BJJ..it is also why the choose Royce over Rickson(i think) because he looks less intimidating and more like an average guy.

 

[Usernamehere]

This is what I heard as well.. It was was to showcase BJJ..it is also why the choose Royce over Rickson(i think) because he looks less intimidating and more like an average guy.

He lost pretty badly on the ground to Yoshida, granted it was only grappling allowed. That was embarassing since Yoshida did virtually No newaza as an Olympic judoka.