Why did Royce Gracie come back to fight Matt Hughes ?

[Reffson]

Royce looked sick from losing too much weight. An insider I know said he was having bad digestive problems just before the fight. Matt meanwhile looked like Hercules.

 

[Dirge]

Must have had yes men around lying to him that he could win.

I’m pretty sure they paid him in money too.

didn't he piss hot for that fight? Or was it the fight before. Can't recall.

 

[Richard Fannin]

Royce looked sick from losing too much weight. An insider I know said he was having bad digestive problems just before the fight.

An insider I know said that Royce's bowels were forging some impressive stool before that fight, almost no need to wipe... who's your insider?
(Mine isn't full of shit)

 

[jeff7b9]

didn't he piss hot for that fight? Or was it the fight before. Can't recall.

My recollection is that he failed that test in another org. And did so with flying colors, putting up some big numbers.

 

[TSK]

Money and probably thought he could win. It didn’t look as bad going in. Royce was only 39 (that’s old but not ancient) and had looked decent in his few fights prior.

Also, at that point Hughes exclusively took people down. He had an unbelievably good top game, but Royce likely wanted to test himself against the young guns and liked the idea of doing it against someone who wasn’t going to blast him on the feet.

 

[maximus__]

you COMPLETELY changed the context from "It wasn't the worst style match up on paper" to 'he got $400k'

it WAS a terrible match-up on paper.

It really was his best option for any chance of a good payday and win. Atleast Hughes would take him down and open up the chance for a hail mary triangle or similar.
Rich franklin was out with a broken hand from a title defence and would have arguably been a worse match up if Royce couldn't take it to the ground.

Above is what I wrote in my post. I actually wasn't aware of the payday being that different until I went and saw who else he could of fought after your comment which was definitely true.
Hughes was the only champion at the time that would have actually grappled with Royce in anyway at all. That makes him a good style match up on paper. Hughes would take him down and Royce would have believed his guard might let him catch the super strong wrestler. He basically won every other UFC fight in that way. Why would he believe any different at the time?

 

[Cuzcatlan]

I never understood this. Did Hughes challenge him or something ?
Although I found the fight very satisfying to watch,
I could never figure out what made Gracie think he could beat Hughes
I believe it was at a catchweight of 175,
which meant Hughes didn't have to cut as much as he regualrly did.
That kimura must've hurt Gracie for a few months

Did you enjoy the fight ? Imo it was a freakshow

 

[Jesus X]

ego plus delusion

 

[eddymotto]

I thought the fight was bizarre when it was announced

the aura around Royce was long gone

but I admit the UFC hype machine had me watching by the time the fight happened

I always cheered against Hughes. It did not take me long to conclude it was going to be rough for Royce

did great business though

 

[austinblair]

This is the fight that made Royce start using roids. Hughes made him look like a little kid and then Royce juiced for the Saku rematch.

Royce fought again after Hughes mauled him? Interesting. Wasn’t aware

 

[Strychnine]

 

[AFewDollarsMore]

"this is my house" got a million $ to get whooped. skinny and barely any muscle tone. payday only

 

[The Chosen]

Delusions of grandeur

 

[Reffson]

As soon as Royce entered the ring I knew it was bad because he looked unhealthy. They should have fought at open weight.

 

[justalurker]

I would have fought Matt Hughes for 400,000 at that time. Look at that pay difference.
It really was his best option for any chance of a good payday and win. Atleast Hughes would take him down and open up the chance for a hail mary triangle or similar.
Rich franklin was out with a broken hand from a title defence and would have arguably been a worse match up if Royce couldn't take it to the ground.
Wiki below. It's worth a read just to see how much pay has changed and how big a fight this was at the time.

Headlining the card was a non-title catchweight (175 lb) match between then-current UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes, and UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie, the winner of UFC 1, UFC 2 and UFC 4. This was Gracie's first match in the UFC and in the United States since UFC 5.

The event drew 620,000 buys, becoming the best-selling pay-per-view in UFC history up to that point, and the first to break the $20 million mark in gross PPV sales.[3]

Results[edit]
Main Card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Catchweight (175 lb) Matt Hughes def. Royce Gracie TKO (punches) 1 4:39
Light Heavyweight Dean Lister def. Alessio Sakara Submission (triangle choke) 1 2:20
Welterweight Diego Sanchez def. John Alessio Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) 3 5:00
Heavyweight Brandon Vera def. Assuerio Silva Submission (guillotine choke) 1 2:39
Middleweight Mike Swick def. Joe Riggs Submission (guillotine choke) 1 2:19
Preliminary Card
Middleweight Jeremy Horn def. Chael Sonnen Submission (armbar) 2 1:17 [a]
Lightweight Spencer Fisher def. Matt Wiman KO (flying knee) 2 1:43
Heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga def. Fabiano Scherner TKO (punches) 2 0:24
Lightweight Melvin Guillard def. Rick Davis KO (punch) 1 1:37

1. 
   
   
   • ^ Sonnen was a late replacement for Evan Tanner, who reportedly withdrew due to personal issues.
   • ^ Wiman replaced Leonard Garcia, who broke his leg in training.[4]

Reported Payout[edit]
Royce Gracie: $400,000

Matt Hughes: $110,000

Jeremy Horn: $70,000

Brandon Vera: $32,000

Diego Sanchez: $24,000

Mike Swick: $14,000

Spencer Fisher: $14,000

Joe Riggs: $12,000

Gabriel Gonzaga: $10,000

Melvin Guillard: $10,000

Alessio Sakara: $10,000

Dean Lister: $10,000

Assuerio Silva: $8,000

Chael Sonnen: $5,000

Fabiano Scherner: $3,000

Matt Wiman: $3,000

John Alessio: $3,000

Rick Davis: $2,000

Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $740,000

Chael Sonnen 5000 bucks! Holy shit!

 

[Fadetoblack918]

 

[kwijyboy]

I saw it as someone mentioned earlier in the thread. To signal a changing of the guard. There was a similar fight between Rich Franklin and Ken Shamrock at one point when Shamrock basically was beaten easily. The New UFC vs old. We also saw it with the Pride fighters getting set up with hard matches in the UFC. Dana being Dana.

 

[Mickey Mick]

Chael Sonnen 5000 bucks! Holy shit!

and rick Davis was paid $2,000 to have his lights turned off by Melvin Guillard lol, that’s rough.

 

[Kertol]

This is the fight that made Royce start using roids. Hughes made him look like a little kid and then Royce juiced for the Saku rematch.

I think he might have started in pride before his rematch with Yoshida.

 

[ufc_vs_pride]

It's only a freakshow in hindsight.
Gracie handled yoshida before that. Who arguably could have won a dec against a prime wand.

Royce last fight before making his Ufc return, was losing to Hideo Tokoro who was 145er