Royce Gracie

This post is in honor of one man who shook the world of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).

Royce Gracie, MMA fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion, captured the eyes of the world in the mid 90’s, during the first UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). The international fighting arena had never before seen such a large scale MMA competition, and Royce swept the first UFC, second and fourth!

During the first two championships (UFC 1 and UFC2), Royce won 11 fights by submission against the odds, and against much bigger opponents. During the UFC 5, Royce fought Ken Shamrock and tied in a super fight!

Royce revolutionized the world of MMA as the fighting communities around the world saw that there was finally a clear example of how “size does not matter”. Grappling, cross-training and MMA became paramount for all UFC fighters.

When you are watching the video below, notice how crazy things were during the first UFC. “Boxer v.s. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu“… and the boxer was actually wearing boxing gloves! It took a few years for people to start realizing that when you mix martial arts, some are just better designed for real fighting than others. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu became very popular world wide around that time, and soon other martial arts started to interest athletes serious about becoming UFC champions.

Enjoy this old school video of Royce Gracie’s path on the first UFC!