Namely, that Brazilian or Gracie Jiu Jitsu—an art of submission fighting that emphasizes how to fight from one’s back like no other— was the most effective martial art in the world.

However, some were still unconvinced. In fact, this minority continued to be that way even after Royce easily submitted Japanese karate star Minoki Ichihara in a little over five minutes on his way to winning UFC 2. These spectators likely were still skeptical when he did in Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 3 after a dramatic back and forth struggle via submission once again. But when Royce turned around and triangle choked 260 pound, four time All American wrestler, Dan Severn—a man with numerous national and international titles to his credit— after taking a ground and pound beating for over 15 minutes at UFC 4 to win that title as well, everyone had to admit two things.

First, Royce Gracie was one tough hombre. Second, Gracie Jiu Jitsu, also known as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, was king.

Royce Gracie : A brief family history steeped in jiu jitsu

Gracie Jiu Jitsu has a relatively long and storied past. To break it down succinctly, the ball started rolling back in 1914 when Mitsuyo Maeda (1878-1941) traveled to Brazil in order to conduct some business (related to cashews). There he stayed with Gastao Gracie, a man that truly helped Maeda on the business end of things. Maeda was grateful, and because of this taught Gastao's eldest son, Carlos, the secret art of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. In turn, Carlos taught the other children in the family, including his youngest brother, Helio.

Helio eventually became proficient enough to teach on his own. The interesting thing, however, was that because of Helio's smaller size, he found some of the standard jiu jitsu moves difficult to pull off. Hence, he tweaked the art to fit his own body type ( Helio especially did some fruitful things in regard to fighting from one’s back: the guard ).

And with that, Gracie or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu—a martial art based on submissions like armbars and choke holds— was born.

Helio, by the way, had several children. Some of the names? How about Rickson Gracie, Rorion Gracie, Royler Gracie, and, of course, Royce Gracie.

Royce Gracie : The early years

Royce Gracie wasn't always fighting, right? Well, actually, he was. You see, only a few years after being born on December 12, 1966, Royce began learning jiu jitsu from his father and older brothers Rorion, Relson, and Rickson. Along with this, he had achieved his blue belt in the discipline by the age of 16. Interestingly, only one year later at the age of 17, Royce went to California to help teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with his brother Rorion, despite not even knowing the language. The courage that likely took was just a hint of things to come for Royce.

By the way, throughout his early years Royce was quite successful in Brazilian and American jiu jitsu tournaments, compiling a 51-3 amateur record.

Of course, you probably figured that. In accordance with this, he received his black belt by the age of 18.

The Gracie Challenge and Royce

“It wasn't really a $100,000 challenge," Royce has said, in reference to the idea that his family consistently offered other fighters the chance to come and fight them with the chance of winning $100,000. Still, it is widely accepted that Royce and his family readily invited fighters to take them on in an effort to prove their discipline’s superiority. Thus, they ( and Royce ) defeated many fighters that sought the truth regarding the effectiveness of their own martial arts style. But that was on too small a scale for Rorion; he wanted to show the world that his family’s art was the best in the business. So he decided to get together with some businessmen and put on the inaugural UFC tournament to prove what he believed in his heart.

That Gracie Jiu Jitsu was king. And who better to prove this than his 170 pound brother? After all, the world could never turn their back on the truth if his diminutive brother was able to dominate the competition.

And it was just this line of thinking that compelled the Gracie’s to put Royce in the first UFC tournaments.

Royce Gracie and the early UFC years

Case and point: Royce Gracie won three of the first four UFC tournaments when there were hardly any rules (you couldn't bite or eye gouge, that's about it). Further, there were no time limits, rounds, weight classes, or judge's scorecards.

And he did this all weighing in at around170 pounds. Simply amazing.

Some of the people that fell to him during those early years were Ken Shamrock ( rear naked choke ), Art Jimmerson ( submission ), Minoki Ichihara ( lapel choke ), Patrick Smith (submission- strikes), Kimo Leopoldo (armlock), Keith Hackney ( armlock ), and Dan Severn ( triangle choke ). In addition, Royce fought to a draw with Ken Shamrock in a rematch Superfight at UFC 5. However, had scorecards been involved back then the contest likely would have gone to Shamrock. Given this fact and Royce’s earlier victory, a rivalry of sorts has since been evident between the Shamrock and Gracie families.

By dominating the competition in such fashion in those early UFC tournaments, three things occurred. First, Royce was widely considered the best mixed martial arts fighter in the world by the masses ( many believe that Rickson was the superior fighter, but he was nowhere near as well known worldwide ). Second, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu began to be considered the most effective one on one martial art in the world. And third, people began to realize that if they wanted to truly know how to fight, they needed to learn grappling.

Actually, they needed to learn Gracie Jiu Jitsu.

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie : A turning point for MMA and Royce

In the early to mid 1990’s, Gracie’s and jiu jitsu practitioners were basically considered near unbeatable because of Royce’s exploits. Interestingly, though, an old form of fighting was beginning to rival Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The name of the form? Catch Wrestling. And the person that brought it to the public consciousness was a Japanese fighter by the name of Kazushi Sakuraba.

Sakuraba had earned the nickname of "The Gracie Killer" by defeating numerous Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighters like Marcus Silveira, Vitor Belfort, and Royler Gracie (controversially). Eventually, the assault on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu became too much, bringing Royce out of his semi retirement to put things back in their proper place. Thus, on 5/1/00 at a PRIDE Grand Prix event ( the first of its kind for the now defunct Japanese promotion ) Royce took on Sakuraba in a Gracie rules style match. In other words, there were no time limits or judge's scorecards. Unfortunately for Royce, he fell to Sakuraba after an unbelievably grueling 90 minute match ( his brother was forced to throw in the towel after repeated leg kicks by Sakuraba had taken their toll ). Thus, Gracie Jiu Jitsu and Royce's impeccable reputation took a hit, even if his toughness could absolutely never be questioned.

In other words, the rest of the world was beginning to catch up to Gracie Jiu Jitsu and Royce himself.

Royce Gracie and MMA : The later years in Japan

When Royce took on Hidehiko Yoshida at a PRIDE event, the world watched with bated breath. Unfortunately for Royce, he was declared the loser via referee stoppage (submission). The problem was that he wasn’t out cold, nor did he tap; hence, the ruling was thrown out. Thus, the former Judo gold medallist and he went at it again on 12/31/03 at PRIDE: Shockwave 2003 in a Gracie rules style rematch (no judges, no decisions). Though the fight was labeled a draw, by most accounts Royce got the better of Yoshida in the contest.

After defeating Chad Rowan via submission ( an enormous Sumo wrestler ) and fighting to a draw with Hideo Tokoro in Japan, Gracie finally decided to go back to his roots.

In other words, he went back to the UFC. The opponent? Matt Hughes.

Royce Gracie vs. Matt Hughes at UFC 60 on 5/27/06

There was a ton of anticipation for this one. Matt Hughes was widely considered the greatest UFC Welterweight Champion of all time. Royce Gracie was widely considered the greatest UFC Champion of all time, period, considering what he had done for the sport. And now the two were going to go at it.

Before the fight, Royce went on to say, “I'm going to choke him out by applying a submission hold, make him quit, help him up, send him home."

The story on the fight, unfortunately, was not what the Gracies, nor Royce, had hoped for. Royce tried an elbow in close that missed. Thus, Hughes took the off balance Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner down. What followed was a terrible round for Royce that ended with Matt Hughes raining down punches on a defenseless Royce that was face first on the canvas. Finally, the referee had no choice but to step in.

Though Royce had been beaten by Kazushi Sakuraba years ago, this was the first time that fans which hadn’t followed him to Japan had seen him lose. Thus, his loss seemed to usher in a new era in MMA.

Royce Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba 2 on June 2, 2007 at Dynamite

On June 2, 2007 at a joint EliteXC / K1 show called Dynamite, Royce avenged an earlier loss and his family name by defeating Kazushi Sakuraba via decision. Afterwards, however, he tested positive for the substance Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid. Thus, Royce was fined and suspended.

That suspension will be lifted on May 30, 2008.

Royce Gracie’s future

With the loss to Matt Hughes and positive test for steroids – if you’ve ever seen Royce, it’s hard to imagine him doing the substances even though he was caught – Royce Gracie has definitely hit some hard times. That said, he has pledged that he will compete in a DREAM organization match sometime after his suspension is lifted.

It will be nice to see him fight again, whether in a cage or ring. After all, an argument can be made that Royce Gracie is the greatest MMA fighter of all time. He started it all. Further, when it comes to heart, toughness, and impact on the game. . . Let’s just say that there is no question.

Royce Gracie is one of the best to ever live. He’s simply a top submission fighter.

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References

Sherdog

Royce Gracie Wikipedia

Helio Gracie Wikipedia

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