You get judged by the era you fought in, Royce is the best

[Kvolcom]

You can only fight who was there in your era. And he fought when the sport was unknown. fought multiple times in a night.

no one in UFC history has ever won 11 straight fights and finished every fight. He holds that record to this day.

 

[SherRoad Dogg]

Manhandled by Matt Hughes and he beat guys who didn't know wtf to do on the ground

Also he's not even the best Gracie

 

[tritestill]

Troll thread

 

[Dan Torrance]

psh.

 

[Bigmoney4166]

Yea sure whatever

 

[Shay Brennan]

Speaking of Royce Gracie, that's why Bjj is the most important art.
A fighter needs to have at least some knowladge of bjj or he will get submitted every single time.
That was proven in the first few UFC events.

 

[Dan Torrance]

Royce was a godamn warrior that's for sure.

 

[HaulParris]

Royce was a godamn warrior that's for sure.

True.

 

[Sickbro69420]

He definitely set the standard for submission grappling in the beginning and helped usher in the UFC. Some of his loses and drug cheating bring him down though.

 

[ICHEERTHEBULL]

Igor had 14 straight finishes and had a 33 fight win streak (yes I know the OP says UFC but still)

 

[Croton]

The era of bums off the street?

 

[Patrick Jane]

When you throw in the towel you lose the fight. Definitely not 11 consecutive wins.

 

[rudy323]

It’s fighter vs the era.

Royce fought across multiple weight classes (there were none) and had a huge skill advantage

He was still beating guys at the top, it’s just that being at the top didn’t have a high skill bar like it is today

 

[abject]

You can only fight who was there in your era. And he fought when the sport was unknown. fought multiple times in a night.

no one in UFC history has ever won 11 straight fights and finished every fight. He holds that record to this day.

Agreed. He is arguably the goat of goats.

 

[abject]

Manhandled by Matt Hughes and he beat guys who didn't know wtf to do on the ground

Also he's not even the best Gracie

Royce would be a lw or even a fw. And he beat Saku.

 

[Simple Southerner]

I love Royce I train gjj but man gtfo outta here w/ that nonsense

 

[MCS]

Royce deserves credit for being the best and the main UFC early day pioneer.

But comparing him to modern fighters is tough as early UFC's were tailored showcases for GJJ. Training knowledge became much more balanced from the "IDK what is going on here", basically like throwing an untrained boxer into a fight vs the best MMA guy. Royce is such an extreme example.

It was a showcase, not a level playing field.

 

[Iron Wolf]

You can only fight who was there in your era. And he fought when the sport was unknown. fought multiple times in a night.

no one in UFC history has ever won 11 straight fights and finished every fight. He holds that record to this day.

No.

The very early UFCs were largely a carnival attraction and took some time to catch up to or otherwise attract the talent that was already operating elsewhere.

If Royce had started in Pancrase, where many of the fighters knew how to grapple and understood submissions, he would *never* have gone 12-0.

Shamrock and Severn were very legit wins for Royce. He never would have won a rematch against Severn, however. Everyone else in the UFC at the time largely had *zero* idea how to grapple.

While the UFC was still finding its feet, Royce got in just ahead of legitimate wrestlers who would have put him on his back and smashed his face in. Coleman, Frye, a rematch with Severn. A pre-drug-crashed Mark Kerr. Jesus Christ…

Frank Shamrock.

Sambo practitioners like Oleg Takterov would have been a problem for him. Igor Vovchanchyn probably would have killed him.

A post grapple-trained Bas Rutten may have done the same.

*Nearly* all of them were in operation elsewhere during Royce’s time.

Rickson is a different conversation.

Royce was a significant figure. He was the best fighter in the UFC during his run. Hardly the best fighter in the world at that time however. And I would expect that is hardly a controversial opinion.

 

[Ancient Warrior]

You can only fight who was there in your era. And he fought when the sport was unknown. fought multiple times in a night.

no one in UFC history has ever won 11 straight fights and finished every fight. He holds that record to this day.

Of course he finished every fight, they didn’t have decisions back then.

 

[Ancient Warrior]

No.

The very early UFCs were largely a carnival attraction and took some time to catch up to or otherwise attract the talent that was already operating elsewhere.

If Royce had started in Pancrase, where many of the fighters knew how to grapple and understood submissions, he would *never* have gone 12-0.

Shamrock and Severn were very legit wins for Royce. He never would have won a rematch against Severn, however. Everyone else in the UFC at the time largely had *zero* idea how to grapple.

While the UFC was still finding its feet, Royce got in just ahead of legitimate wrestlers who would have put him on his back and smashed his face in. Coleman, Frye, a rematch with Severn. A pre-drug-crashed Mark Kerr. Jesus Christ…

Frank Shamrock.

Sambo practitioners like Oleg Takterov would have been a problem for him. Igor Vovchanchyn probably would have killed him.

A post grapple-trained Bas Rutten may have done the same.

*Nearly* all of them in operation elsewhere during Royce’s time.

Rickson is a different conversation.

Royce was a significant figure. He was the best fighter in the UFC during his run. Hardly the best fighter in the world at that time however. And I would expect that is hardly a controversial opinion.

Can’t agree.

At the time he was on that streak, no one knew what to do with bjj. Not even a clue.

They thought Remco Parodel was going to be a major problem for him because he was 6’4” and a National jiu jitsu champion. Royce went right through him like everyone else, including Ken Shamrock. It was only Kimo's raw strength, good instincts and unconventional style that allowed him to cause trouble.

Dan Severn would’ve defeated everyone you listed, except the late 90’s guys.