Royce Gracie has had an amazing career as a fighter. He shocked the world way back in 1993 by winning the first Ultimate fighting championship. Royce used moves, techniques and submissions that many people had no idea about in a dramatic fashion on his way to winning that first tournament. Royce was able to make much large opponents tap out using Gracie Jiu Jitsu and after that night the martial arts world was never the same.
When Royce first started out in mixed martial arts he won his first eleven fights in a row. He was the first and only person to win the UFC tournament 3 times.
It came as a shock to many people that Royce would fight again! Royce is now 48 years old. His first UFC fight was over 22 years ago. His last fight was against Sakuraba over eight years ago. Despite the long lay off and despite being 48 years old Royce still wants to fight.
In a recent interview Royce said that he still wants to prove the effectiveness of his fathers system of Jiu Jitsu and that he aims to prove that a smaller man can defend himself against a larger opponent.
At Scranton MMA we are very lucky to have Royce in multiple times to teach our students and teach our instructors. We were honored when Royce came in to celebrate the anniversary of his first UFC tournament championship with us at our academy. We look forward to being able to watch one of the legends of mixed martial arts and gracie jiu jitsu get in the cage again and prove how effective Gracie Jiu jitsu is not only as a self defense system but how effective it can be in mixed martial arts.
With Royce stepping back in the cage I thought it would be a good idea to share some of my favorite videos of Royce fighting. The first one is him defeating a Giant Sumo wrestler:
Here is another vid and this one in my opinion is the best highlight reel of Royce. I really love this one:
Royce Gracie Tribute by 55Archangel