Is Royce Gracie overrated or underrated?

Royce is a fighter from a different time. Yes, by today's standards his MMA game is from the jurassic period. He has good fundamental Jiu-Jitsu but his striking game consists of a front kick and punches on the ground to open up submissions and that's about it.

Back in the stone ages he actually was a good fighter. He deserves the respect he gets. His career basically existed to show people what BJJ was and how effective it could be. He handled several guys way bigger than him and could take a punch if he needed to. He weathered the storm against Kimo and ate a solid shot from Shamrock, he also went to war with Sakuraba in 2000. The guy was tough.

He never evolved his game, never showed much interest in anything other than Gracie JJ, we saw how that worked for him against Hughes. He will always be a pioneer for MMA, can't take that away from him.
Very well said!! He made all the fighters around the world realize that they needed change their game, they needed to learn bjj because they noticed that without that weapon in their arsenal, they couldn´t survive on the ground with those who had it.
 
I've been watching mma for two years now.

Also, Royce did accelerate the growth of mma by a lot, but I think it was eventually going to catch on later. Shooto and Pancrase and Kudo existed before UFC. Sure, the sport may have never grown to the popularity it is today, but it still would of existed.

Stating that it would have "eventually happen" is moot because it did happen and the person who made it happen for us was Royce. Shooto does predate UFC but not by a big margin at all, and they did not have the impact that UFC 1 had (obviously).

tldr; Royce is one of the GOAT's and most UFC current or former champs around the age of 35~ will all have Royce as their major inspiration.
 
Some people think he sucks and others think he's a legend. I don't really care but I'd be interested to see what Sherdog thinks. All I know is that he didn't 'create' mma, like some people claim.

I've never heard anyone claim he 'created' MMa, he has said himself he used to fight when it was art vs art and that the sport evolved into MMA later one. As far as whether he's over or underrated, well that depends who you ask.
 
Only an idiot would deny what he did for the UFC, what would later become the sport of MMA as we know it, and BJJ. That said, he wasn't terribly skilled at MMA as we see it today and people need to understand that when looking at him as a fighter. It's pretty accurate to call him the best of the first wave of fighters though, although there's an issue with deciding when the first wave ends.
 
Royce is what he is....The UFCs, by far and away, first star.

You cant over rate him in the sense that how can he be over rated. He was the man. You cant compare him to todays fighters cause that wouldnt be fair. Guys today are training from a young age in various disciplines. A guy thats in the UFC today spent years striving (and training) for that specific goal. Back then there was no UFC to strive for. A fight leaugue got created and dudes were coming out of the woodworks telling themselves "i can do this" and jumping right in the ring. From that first group of fighters Royce reigned king.
And you cant really under rate him either cause its undeniable that he was the man back then.
With him, it is what it is.
 
A legend and pioneer of the sport...who never evolved his game. When Matt Hughes beat the shit out of him, it was like the new generation vs the old...and we all know how that turned out. He should just stick to seminars and demonstrations...but back in the day, he did win the first few tournaments...I'll always remember him as a pioneer, but also a cheater! come on man!
 
<36>he's a pioneer in a way, but no

Royce bringing BJJ to the limelight is the key that launched the aspect of MMA. There's a reason why UFC 1 highlighted fighters with primarily one martial art they were good at.

After Royce tapped everyone out it was clear people needed to go from know one martial art to mixed martial arts.
 
Royce bringing BJJ to the limelight is the key that launched the aspect of MMA. There's a reason why UFC 1 highlighted fighters with primarily one martial art they were good at.

After Royce tapped everyone out it was clear people needed to go from know one martial art to mixed martial arts.
the gracie family sent royce. it could have been any other member of his family and the result would be awfully similar.
 
overrated as fuck.

tapped out a bunch of handpicked opponents hand-selected by his family.

failed a drug test.

Gracies didn't bring anything new to this world- submission fighting has been around long before them and just because they automatically consider every ground technique a part of jiu-jitsu doesn't mean that they invented something ground-breaking.

any champion Samboka would have mopped the floor with Royce if they were brought in.

scumbag Brazilians finna scumbag Brazilians.
 
I've been watching mma for two years now.

Also, Royce did accelerate the growth of mma by a lot, but I think it was eventually going to catch on later. Shooto and Pancrase and Kudo existed before UFC. Sure, the sport may have never grown to the popularity it is today, but it still would of existed.
Had
True, but he sucked by 1995's standards because of evolution too.



What he did was impressive, but he won his fights not only because of his skill at jiu jitsu, but because of his opponent's almost complete lack of knowledge of submission grappling. Art Jimmerson tapped because he was taken down, not because Royce choked him or threatened a limb. His success forced fighters to learn jiu jitsu, and that's why he's a legend. But within a very short time after his debut at UFC 1, his opponents were able to defend against his attacks and batter the poor guy.
Yeah and that's why he was so great. He knew a skill that his father and family practiced ...that others didn't have. . The logic you are saying is, you can beat Cain as long as he knows less skill than you do
 
True, but he sucked by 1995's standards because of evolution too.

This is just factually wrong. The lack of knowledge about MMA history ITT is cringey. Ya'll posting on a MMA website and don't even know about Royce

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You have to measure an athlete by the era he competed in. If you don't, there are a lot of people in the NFL Hall of Fame that would be considered scrubs if compared against modern guys.

For his era, Gracie was the DOMINANT fighter in what would be the preeminent MMA org. He was the guy who changed what everyone thought they knew about fighting. Granted, he likely wasn't the best fighter in his own family, but that only helped his case. By sending a guy out who looked like he could be an accountant, and having him totally dominate all the monsters like Kimo and Shamrock, it totally changed everything. Had Rickson come out it might well have lessened the impact due to Rickson being a more physically imposing man.

So, he IS a legend and likely the single most important fighter in MMA history even if he wasn't the best ever.
 
A lot of sports are like this, it's like comparing Babe Ruth to today's baseball players. In some ways, it's a different sport. When he competed, it was a one night tourney with three wins required for victory. He should be considered a legend with how he showed grappling/submissions can overcome size disadvantages in a fight. Very few outside of the wrestling world understood this prior to Royce's three UFC wins.
 
Royce is a fighter from a different time. Yes, by today's standards his MMA game is from the jurassic period. He has good fundamental Jiu-Jitsu but his striking game consists of a front kick and punches on the ground to open up submissions and that's about it.
Where do you think Anderson got his front kick to the face from??
 
the gracie family sent royce. it could have been any other member of his family and the result would be awfully similar.

I'm well aware of this but...it was Royce who won the first 3 UFC's, not anyone else in the family. You can't say "oh well ___ Gracie would have won as well so we shouldn't give Royce props"

Not how it works.
 
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