Royce Gracie implores younger Gracies to concentrate on Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie feels that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is all younger Gracies need to succeed in MMA.

There's a scene in The Godfather where James Caan's character, Sonny, without thinking, blurts out a thought that has popped into his head during a meeting with Virgil Sollozzo. After that meeting, Marlon Brando's character Don Vito Corleone pulls Sonny aside and chastises him, "Never tell anybody outside the family what you're thinking again." UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie does not seem to subscribe to that.

Royce, speaking to MMAFighting.com offered his opinion on some of the active fighters that carry the Gracie surname:

Jiu-jitsu is enough. I've trained boxing in the past to learn the distance, trained wrestling to understand how he would take me down, but I won't get there to fight my opponent's game. The (new) guys (from the Gracie) family want to complement their game, like if jiu-jitsu was incomplete. I guess they forgot a little about history.

Royce's comments come after several Gracies have tasted defeat in the recent past. Roger dropped a unanimous decision in his UFC debut in July, and this past weekend, Rolles (knockout) and Gregor (decision) lost on the World Series of Fighting 5 card. Neiman, fighting in the opening bout of the WSOF card won his fight via armbar submission.

Many think the day of the one-dimensional MMA fighter is long past. Royce obviously does not share in that thinking:

I believe in pure jiu-jitsu. That's what I've done in the past. You have to go back to your roots and train Gracie jiu-jitsu.

Royce last fought in July 2007, defeating Kazushi Sakuraba via unanimous decision. Following the fight the California State Athletic Commission revealed that Royce had tested positive for the anabolic steroid Nandrolone. He was fined and suspended for the positive drug test.

More from Bloody Elbow:

Latest From Our Partners

More From Bloody Elbow

Back to top ↑