The Ultimate Fighting Championship
Brainchild of Rorion Gracie and Art Davie, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was an eight-man single-elimination tournament with very little regulations that would give $50,000 to the winner. The basic idea was to find out how different styles of martial arts would fare against each other. Art Davie placed ads in martial arts magazines and sent letters to anyone in any martial arts directory list he could find to recruit fighters for the competition . amongst the takers were kickboxer Patrick Smith, Pancrase battler Ken Shamrock, and Savate world champion Gerard Gordeau.
While Art Davie felt that Royce’s senior brother Rickson Gracie, who was physically stronger and more skilled than Royce, was the clear choice as the Jiu-Jitsu representative, Rorion Gracie decided that the younger Royce to represent the family style .
In his first fight, Royce beat journeyman boxer Art Jimmerson. He tackled him to the ground using a baiana (morote-gari or double-leg) and got the dominant “mounted” position, also pinning Jimmerson’s left arm around the boxer’s own neck. Mounted and with only one free arm Jimmerson conceded defeat, mostly due to frustration rather than tapout. It’s surprising that more fights didn’t end in KO due to the fact that no MMA Gloves were required. Also did you know they didnt have to wear MMA Shorts? They had a much more of a variety they could wear.
In the semi-finals, Royce fought against Ken Shamrock, who showed fantastic grappling skills in his first-round submission win over Patrick Smith. Royce straight off and rushed Shamrock, who sprawled effectively and got on top of Royce. Shamrock then grabbed Royce’s ankle and sat back to try the same finishing submission he used to end his first fight , but Royce rolled on top of him and secured a rear choke that forced Shamrock to tap the mat in submission . Shamrock has afterwards declared that Gracie used his gi suit as an advantage for ligature strangulation to help perform the submission, protesting the fact that he was not allowed to use his wrestling shoes because the event staff had stated that it may be used as a weapon, feeling that the rules for the competition were designed to favor Gracie. Royce disputed the claim and said he had preformed a no-gi choke, meaning that there is no need to use his gi to apply this choke . This is no longer an issue about gi as fighters must wear MMA Shorts
In the final , Royce defeated Savate World Champion Gerard Gordeau (who broke his hand in the first round of the tournament against Teila Tuli), taking his opponent to the mat and securing a submission
Over the next year, Royce Gracie continued fighting in the UFC , obtaining submission wins over opponents such as Patrick Smith, 250 pound (113 kg) European Judo Champion Remco Pardoel, and Kimo Leopoldo. His final Ultimate Fighter Championship victory was in a match that lasted for 16 minutes (there were no rounds or time limits at the time), during which he was continuously pinned underneath 260 pound (118 kg) wrestler Dan Severn. To finish the fight , Royce locked his legs in a triangle choke for a tapout victory. The match went beyond the PPV time-slot and viewers, who missed the end of the fight , wanted their money back.
Time limits were re-introduced into the competition in 1995 and MMA legend Ken Shamrock would become the first fighter to survive Royce Gracie’s submission attack and earn a draw. The fight lasted for 30 minutes and a 5-minute overtime. Fans have been calling for a rematch ever since. The draw sparked much debate and controversy as to who would have won the fight had judges determined the outcome, or had there been no time limits, as by the end of the fight Royce’s right eye was swollen shut. still, the swollen eye was a result of a standing punch due to a sudden change of the rules in which both of the fighters were restarted on the feet. After this match the Gracies left the UFC .
At UFC 45 in November 2003, at the ten year anniversary of the Ultimate Fighting Championship , Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie became the first inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame. Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White said; “We feel that no two individuals are more deserving than Royce and Ken to be the charter members. Their contributions to our sport, both inside and outside the Octagon, may never be equaled. ”
Royce’s official Ultimate Fighting Championship record when he left did include one loss. In the second round of UFC 3 Royce was to face fighter Harold Howard in the semi-finals. Although Royce came out to the ring , he was dehydrated as a result of his first round match against Kimo Leopoldo. The commentators of UFC 3 said that Gracie’s shoulder had been hurt in the previous round. Before the Howard match began, Royce’s corner threw in the towel.