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Royce Gracie: The 175-Pound Fighter Who Changed the UFC Forever! · Gil I Am

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  Speaker 1: Royce Gracie, the man who changed fighting forever, Gil I.M.,
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  Speaker 1: 10-minute podcast script, The Opening, A Man Nobody Expected, November 12, 1993, Denver, Colorado,
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  Speaker 1: eight fighters, eight different backgrounds, one tournament, no weight classes,
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  Speaker 1: no judges' decisions, no rounds, and one question that martial
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  Speaker 1: artists had debated for generations, what fighting style is actually
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  Speaker 1: the most effective? Standing among these competitors was a Brazilian
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  Speaker 1: man wearing a white karate-looking uniform. He wasn't the biggest.
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  Speaker 1: He wasn't the strongest. He didn't have the intimidating appearance
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  Speaker 1: of the other fighters. In fact, at approximately 175 pounds,
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  Speaker 1: Royce Gracie looked like somebody who had wandered into the
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  Speaker 1: wrong building. But by the end of that evening, the
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  Speaker 1: world of martial arts would never be the same. Three
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  Speaker 1: opponents would face him. Three opponents would surrender. And a
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  Speaker 1: revolution would begin. This is Gil I.M., And today we're
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  Speaker 1: going back to the beginning of the UFC to tell
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  Speaker 1: the remarkable story of Royce Gracie, the man who helped
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  Speaker 1: change fighting forever. Born into a fighting dynasty, Royce Gracie
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  Speaker 1: was born on December 12th, 1966 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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  Speaker 1: But Royce wasn't born into an ordinary family. His father
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  Speaker 1: was Helio Gracie, one of the central figures in developing
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  Speaker 1: and popularizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu. His uncle, Carlos Gracie, was another
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  Speaker 1: pioneer of the family fighting system. And his brothers included Rickson, Roryon, Royler,
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  Speaker 1: and Relson, men who would become important figures in martial
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  Speaker 1: arts themselves. For the Gracie family, fighting wasn't simply a sport.
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  Speaker 1: It was a way of life. From childhood, Royce learned
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  Speaker 1: that physical strength wasn't always the deciding factor in a confrontation. Position, leverage, timing, patience,
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  Speaker 1: these were the principles his family taught. He began competing
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  Speaker 1: in jiu-jitsu tournaments at just eight years old. By his
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  Speaker 1: teenage years, he was already helping teach the family's techniques.
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  Speaker 1: And before turning 18, Royce had earned his black belt,
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  Speaker 1: but his greatest achievement was still ahead of him because
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  Speaker 1: an opportunity was developing thousands of miles away in America,
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  Speaker 1: the road to the UFC. As a teenager, Royce moved
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  Speaker 1: to California to join his older brother, Rorion. Their operation
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  Speaker 1: was humble. They taught Brazilian jiu-jitsu to students out of
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  Speaker 1: a garage before building the Gracie Academy in Torrance, California.
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  Speaker 1: The Gracies had a tradition of challenging practitioners of other
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  Speaker 1: martial arts to demonstrate the effectiveness of their system, but
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  Speaker 1: Rorion wanted to reach a much larger audience. Working with
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  Speaker 1: businessman Art Davey and other partners, he helped develop an
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  Speaker 1: event where fighters from different disciplines could face each other.
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  Speaker 1: Boxing against grappling, karate against wrestling, kickboxing against jiu-jitsu. This
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  Speaker 1: competition would become the ultimate fighting championship. But there was
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  Speaker 1: a major decision to make. Which Gracie family member would
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  Speaker 1: represent Brazilian jiu-jitsu? Many expected Rickson Gracie, the family's formidable champion.
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  Speaker 1: But Rorion selected Royce. Why? Because Royce wasn't a physically
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  Speaker 1: imposing powerhouse. If Royce could defeat larger opponents, it would
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  Speaker 1: make a much more powerful statement about technique. And on
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  Speaker 1: November 12, 1993, they got their opportunity. UFC won. The
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  Speaker 1: night everything changed. Royce's first opponent was professional boxer Art Jimerson.
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  Speaker 1: And here's something that still makes people shake their heads.
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  Speaker 1: Jimerson entered the octagon wearing only one boxing glove, one
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  Speaker 1: hand gloved, the other hand bare. But the glove wasn't
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  Speaker 1: going to matter. Royce closed the distance, took Jimerson to
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  Speaker 1: the ground, established the mount position, and forced him to surrender. Time?
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  Speaker 1: Just 2 minutes and 18 seconds. Next came Ken Shamrock.
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  Speaker 1: Now this was different. Shamrock was muscular, aggressive, and already
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  Speaker 1: experienced in submission fighting. He looked like somebody built specifically
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  Speaker 1: for combat. But Roy secured a choke, and in just
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  Speaker 1: 57 seconds, Ken Shamrock tapped out. The final opponent was
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  Speaker 1: Gerard Gourdeau, a dangerous Dutch striker with a background in Savate.
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  Speaker 1: Gourdeau was taller and had devastating striking abilities. But once again,
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  Speaker 1: Royce brought the fight into his world. He took Gordeaux
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  Speaker 1: down and applied a rear naked choke. One minute and
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  Speaker 1: 44 seconds later, it was over. Royce Gracie had won
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  Speaker 1: UFC 1. Three victories, three submissions, and less than five
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  Speaker 1: minutes of combined fighting time. Think about that. Royce didn't
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  Speaker 1: knock anybody unconscious with a spectacular punch. He didn't throw
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  Speaker 1: a spinning kick. He didn't need to. He demonstrated that
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  Speaker 1: controlling your opponent could be more important than hitting him.
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  Speaker 1: And millions of martial arts fans would eventually study that lesson.
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  Speaker 1: UFC 2 and UFC 4. The dynasty begins. You might
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  Speaker 1: think winning the first tournament was enough. Not for Royce Gracie.
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  Speaker 1: In March 1994, he returned for UFC 2. And this time,
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  Speaker 1: he had to win four fights in one night. Four
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  Speaker 1: different opponents. Minoki Ichihara, Jason DeLucia, Remco Parduel, and Patrick Smith.
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  Speaker 1: All four were finished. Royce had now won seven UFC
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  Speaker 1: fights without a single defeat. but there were obstacles. At
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  Speaker 1: UFC 3, he defeated the much larger Kimo Leopoldo, but
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  Speaker 1: became so physically exhausted that he couldn't continue in the tournament.
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  Speaker 1: That demonstrated something important. Even when technique prevailed, the physical
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  Speaker 1: punishment of fighting a larger man could be enormous. Then
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  Speaker 1: came UFC 4 in December 1994. Royce defeated Ron Van Cleef,
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  Speaker 1: he defeated Keith Hackney, and then he faced a frightening
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  Speaker 1: challenge in the final. Dan Severn, an accomplished heavyweight wrestler
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  Speaker 1: with immense physical strength, Severin controlled Royce on the ground
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  Speaker 1: for much of their fight. Minutes passed. The crowd wondered
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  Speaker 1: whether the Gracie legend was about to end. But after
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  Speaker 1: more than 15 minutes, Royce caught Severin in a triangle choke.
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  Speaker 1: Severin tapped, and Royce Gracie became a three-time UFC tournament champion.
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  Speaker 1: The Ken Shamrock rivalry, April 7, 1995, UFC 5, Royce
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  Speaker 1: Gracie and Ken Shamrock met again. But this time, Shamrock
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  Speaker 1: had studied Royce's techniques. He understood the danger of giving
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  Speaker 1: up his back and exposing himself to submissions. What followed
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  Speaker 1: was a historic grappling struggle. 36 minutes. Let me say
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  Speaker 1: that again. 36 minutes inside the octagon. Neither man could
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  Speaker 1: secure the finish. The match was declared a draw. It
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  Speaker 1: became the longest fight in UFC history. But the rematch
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  Speaker 1: also exposed a problem for the early UFC. The sport
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  Speaker 1: needed time limits, clearer regulations, and a structure that audiences
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  Speaker 1: and athletic commissions could accept. Royce eventually stepped away from
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  Speaker 1: the UFC. The sport he helped introduce was beginning to evolve,
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  Speaker 1: and new generations of fighters were learning how to combine striking, wrestling,
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  Speaker 1: and jiu-jitsu. The 90-minute war in Japan. In 2000, Royce
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  Speaker 1: returned to major competition in Japan's pride organization. His opponent
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  Speaker 1: was Kazushi Sakuraba. Sakuraba had developed a reputation for defeating
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  Speaker 1: members of the Gracie family, but Royce presented a special challenge.
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  Speaker 1: The two entered one of the longest and most extraordinary
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  Speaker 1: fights in mixed martial arts history. Round after round, submission attempts, takedowns, striking, exhaustion.
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  Speaker 1: The contest continued for 90 minutes. That's longer than an
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  Speaker 1: entire football game without counting halftime. After six 15-minute rounds,
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  Speaker 1: Royce's corner stopped the fight. Sakuraba had won. It was
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  Speaker 1: Royce Gracie's first professional MMA defeat, and it demonstrated an
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  Speaker 1: important reality. The fighting world was catching up. The knowledge
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  Speaker 1: Royce had helped popularize was now being used and adapted
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  Speaker 1: by his opponents. But Royce wasn't finished. later victories, and
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  Speaker 1: a new generation. In 2004, Royce faced former sumo champion Akebono.
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  Speaker 1: Akebono was enormous, weighing approximately 500 pounds. The size difference
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  Speaker 1: was astonishing, but Royce used his grappling skills and submitted
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  Speaker 1: the giant with an omoplata. Then came another major moment.
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  Speaker 1: May 2006, Royce returned to the UFC to fight Matt Hughes,
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  Speaker 1: one of the greatest welterweight champions of his generation. Hughes
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  Speaker 1: represented the evolution of mixed martial arts. He could wrestle,
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  Speaker 1: He could grapple. He could strike. Royce lost by first-round
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  Speaker 1: technical knockout. The defeat was significant because it showed how
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  Speaker 1: much the sport had changed. But it didn't erase what
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  Speaker 1: Royce accomplished. In 2007, he defeated Sakuraba in a rematch
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  Speaker 1: by unanimous decision. That result was followed by controversy when
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  Speaker 1: California regulators reported a positive test for the anabolic steroid nandrolone.
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  Speaker 1: Royce denied using banned substances, and the victory remained on
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  Speaker 1: his official record. His final professional MMA appearance came in
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  Speaker 1: February 2016. His opponent? Ken Shamrock. Again, more than 20
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  Speaker 1: years after their first meeting, Royce defeated Shamrock by first
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  Speaker 1: round TKO in Bellator. The finish was controversial because of
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  Speaker 1: a disputed low blow. But officially, Royce Gracie ended his
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  Speaker 1: career with another victory. The accomplishments and the legacy. Now
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  Speaker 1: let's look at the numbers. Royce Gracie finished his professional
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  Speaker 1: MMA career with 15 victories, 2 defeats, 3 draws, He
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  Speaker 1: won three UFC tournaments. He won his first 11 UFC fights,
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  Speaker 1: finishing every opponent. He defeated Ken Shamrock. He defeated Dan Severn.
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  Speaker 1: He defeated Gerard Gourdeau. He submitted Akebono. And in 2003,
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  Speaker 1: he became one of the first two fighters inducted into
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  Speaker 1: the UFC Hall of Fame, alongside Ken Shamrock. But here
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  Speaker 1: is what makes his accomplishments even more impressive. Royce helped
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  Speaker 1: introduce an entire generation of Americans to Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Today,
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  Speaker 1: Virtually every serious professional MMA fighter must understand submission grappling.
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  Speaker 1: The guard, the mount, the rear naked choke, the arm bar,
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  Speaker 1: the triangle choke. Fighters study these techniques because they are
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  Speaker 1: essential parts of modern MMA. Royce didn't invent these moves,
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  Speaker 1: but he demonstrated their effectiveness to the world on one
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  Speaker 1: of combat sports' biggest stages. The closing, a lesson from
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  Speaker 1: a legend. Here's what I find most remarkable about Royce Gracie.
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  Speaker 1: He changed martial arts without being the biggest, strongest, or
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  Speaker 1: most intimidating man in the cage. He walked into an
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  Speaker 1: environment filled with powerful fighters and demonstrated the value of preparation, discipline, timing,
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  Speaker 1: and technique. And although the sport eventually evolved beyond the
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  Speaker 1: specialized approach of those early tournaments, his influence never disappeared.
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  Speaker 1: Every time a fighter secures an armbar, every time somebody
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  Speaker 1: escapes a bad position, every time an opponent taps out
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  Speaker 1: to a choke, part of Royce Gracie's legacy lives on.
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  Speaker 1: Three UFC tournament championships, 15 professional victories, one unforgettable place
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  Speaker 1: in fighting history. Royce Gracie didn't just compete in the
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  Speaker 1: beginning of the UFC, he helped write the beginning of
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  Speaker 1: its history. This has been Gil I.M., and remember, legends
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  Speaker 1: win championships. Pioneers change the game forever.