Why did Royce Gracie come back to fight Matt Hughes ?

[nhbfan8080]

ego plus delusion

Any version of Royce would've lost to Hughes but the lure of the limelight and a big purse probably pulled Royce in.

 

[MCS]

The commentary, of course not most reliable, suggested he came back to show their way was still the best. Like in early UFC.

I don't believe Royce, or any popular Gracie, would NEED the money. They make a lot from teaching. Of course a quick payday is always easier. Just take the beating and the paycheck instead of hours and hours of seminars and classes.

Of course Royce made a bunch of excuses after losing, the Johnny Hendricks big book, so that rather than submitting to the 2-art beating their 1-art it's just always easier for them to bang the head against the wall and still think they're the shit.

But I think this fight was important. I, like many others, was under the impression the Gracies are untouchable. Or that Saku is the special one, while the Gracies otherwise still sub 'em all. Hughes showed the evolution up to that point, 2006. Wrestling and BJJ combined, though without striking, beats just BJJ. Now most know how to do all 3, meaning Royce would be more fucked.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Dont care; made 1k off my father that night.

Lmao awesome

 

[NoStoneUnturned]

Money, arrogance, money, rose colored glasses, money, gracie bjj, money, delusions, money, I built this, money...

 

[skylolow]

Gracie's have always been motivated by money like most other people. Put enough money in front of them and they'll go. The whole point of the fight was to make Hughes the face of the UFC. Gracie still had a lot of clout around his name and they knew Hughes was going to destroy Gracie no matter if it was 1993 or 2006.

 

[Joe_Armstrong]

I have to say, when the fight went to the ground,
I though Gracie might get a submission.
But Hughes was way to seasoned for that.

 

[Tapatio]

Hughes used no lube on him

 

[ShinkanPo]

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

Big cash,endorsements and more exposure well exposure to get his head busted!

He just does not have the Physicallity and grapling technique to deal with Hughs

 

[ShinkanPo]

dis my house, i build it.

That is really cringy from Royce/

 

[bubbleboyjones]

the funny thing about that is that there were still a LOT of people who thought that royce would win.

Holy shit^^^ this times 100.

I watched that fight at Hooters and the sheer stupidity I was overhearing back then was mind boggling. Easily over half of the people I overheard had Royce as the favorite.

Great marketing by the UFC though. Just lie about his MMA record hahaha

 

[Kwic]

1) Royce's family made the UFC. The company was bigger than it had ever been at the time of his comeback and he wanted the recognition/to show the "new school" how it was done, 2) More specifically, he felt that his family's BJJ was still sufficient enough to beat any challenger and wanted to prove that it is the most effective form of martial arts (even though all fighters were now training across different disciplines), and 3) It was a huge payday for him.

Really don't see how this is so surprising. Yes he got whooped but there's a loser in nearly every single fight... clearly he thought he could win??

Yeah, but did you know that if Jardine's last name were Johnson, the nickname Dean of Mean would make no sense?

 

[rob mafia]

Great marketing by the UFC though. Just lie about his MMA record hahaha

fo'real.

and people would get mad if you told them otherwise.

 

[r-harper-1]

I made over 200$ betting against drunks at a local bar .... Gracie named still carried weight with the casuals ....... 90% at bar thought Gracie would strangle him .....

 

[kimocomplex]

Hughes was a wrestler, Royce knew the fight would hit the ground and thought he would have a chance

unfortunately he learned he was too old to be fighting in the UFC, let alone against a division Champion

 

[Pakman]

Guessing the same reason as fighting Shamrock at 205... Money... or Pride. Royce gives zero f**** and if he ever fights again, will probably still be listed as undefeated.

Royce and O'Malley are the only two undefeated fighters in MMA's history.

 

[r-harper-1]

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

He weighed 5 lbs less then he normally would .... stop crying

 

[Pakman]

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

Yoshida was still beat up from the Wand fight. Still dropped him in the 1st round of that snoozefest too.

 

[Reffson]

He weighed 5 lbs less then he normally would .... stop crying

10 - 15 pounds less.

 

[Deleted member 267581]

He thought he could win and it was a good payday. Pride and money, the same reason a lot of fighters fight

he made 400k disclosed purse. The rest of the card combined made 360k.

royce made 1 mill for that fight.

also, I knew who royce was using as sparring partners for that fight when I used to train with mutual friends. He used high school wrestlers who were part timers, and his old black belts. He was getting smashed

 

[Blayt7hh]

Hubris Royce started believing his own hype. Truth is the contestants in the early UFCs were handpicked to look tough but lose to BJJ and Royce. They didnt have any young stud wrestlers in those. I remember telling my friends Hughes would rape him and he did. And yes Royce started using after that as he realize you have to have some strength backing your technique. It all matters.

They chose Dan Severn for UFC 2. Pretty sure he is as dangerous as a pure wrestler gets.

Hughes wasn’t a pure wrestler. Hell his bjj was probably better than Royces, or at least on par