Those early UFC days were a lot of fun. Gracie, Abbott, Frye, Severen, Shamrock, Taktarov, all these fighters from different places with different styles. It was like Street Fighter come to life.
It was like that for me. At that time I was into Street Fighter 2 at the arcade. I was a kid so when I saw it I viewed Gracie vs Shamrock kinda like Ryu vs Ken
well, not exactly... did you notice there was no Muay Thai, Letwei or Sambo in the first events? Any martial art that could grapple, clinch or wrestle was not invited because the goal was to make the best Martal Arts ad ever. They did have Shamrock but he was no olympic wrestler. And they did better than they expected. Only around UFC 4 they allowed any kind of fighter to participate and guys like Tartakov started to emerge. They invited Bill Superfoot Wallace for UFC 1, because he was very popular in MA world at the time, but he asked to change the rules to something similar to todays MMA rules. They refused and he ended up being the commentator of the event (the first Joe rogan). Try to look on the web for "the Gracie Conspiracy"
I was a black belt in traditional karate when the UFC started. I thought I knew how to fight, then in a matter of 20 min I realized I knew nothing. (edit) Some goofy comments.......This was over 30 years ago. No cell phones, no internet......it was a different time.
GSP and Stephan Thompson have done Karate right. The problem is most gyms don't have pressure testing. GSP had real-life experience because he grew up getting into real fights to put his martial arts to the test. Most people that take up martial arts are civilized so they don't get to practice.
(fun fact) before big john fury suffered his catastrophic under water welding injury whilst saturation diving in the south Chinese sea mid 80's this was.. he was fluent in 37 languages, taught mindfulness courses and opened the very first clinic for cats with erectile dysfunction , he was a true Renaissance man , the Caucasian sensation,straight as an arrow and as sure as the bow that fired it , god speed
Rorion's brilliance for showcasing Jiu Jitsu was picking Royce to represent the family. Royce's brother Rickson was already a world class fighter in Japan, but Rickson looked like Ken Shamrock, and looked like he could kick anybody ass. They picked Royce because he was a skinny kid and looked unassuming. It was absolutely BRILLIANT marketing showcasingnthe family's legacy and changed the way the whole world looks at fighting.
I started with Royce when we were both untrained and learning the basics from Rorion. I spent hours locked in a grapple with him. We were similarly skilled and I still can’t believe it. Rorion was the man. I remember the day he quit training me personally and said I’m going to pair you with Royce because you are both learning the very same thing. We did 2 hours training every other day in the beginning and we started with EVERYTHING we learned previously before we learned a single new thing. Royce, can’t believe how awesome you became. We learned together back in 1985/1986. You have become a fine man my friend! -Tod
I know this is real because he was clearly an adult in 1985 and only someone over the age of 50 would think his comment would be read. Story is awesome
@@josephlittle1752 Who could make up such a story, that’s only a bit of it, but basically learning all these years later how far Royce took it just makes me super proud of him. My bragging days are far behind me but my sons are impressed. Rorion was the true spark and the mentor for all of us! Aloha Joseph.
Starting with UFC 1, we watched all the originals at my brother's place. He would order the PPV, and I would bring the wings. Those tournaments were crazy! No weight classes, no gloves, no rules(except for biting & eye gouges), and here's this little brazilian guy kicking ass on EVERYBODY!!! Thanks Royce, you are the man! Those are great memories.
back in high school, me and a couple friends rented UFC#1 from blockbuster couldn't believe what we were watching. this dude changed combat sports forever. he looks like he could still destroy dudes half his age and twice his size
I remember one day my brother and i were watching WWF and my father said "this aint real. Its not real fighting. Let me show you something real" he had a tape of UFC 1and it changed our lives forever. My brother and I eventually enrolled in karate and we represented the U.S in a pan american championship. And part of the reason was watching royce!
I wrestled in high school. I always thought dirty wrestling would be a good martial art. And when I saw Royce, and the double leg take down.. wow!! I didn’t wonder anymore if a wrestler could beat a boxer. I knew.
Royce Gracie was incredibly important for MMA because he was the living proof that grappling was very efficient in 1 on 1 fights. BJJ literally changed the way fighters thought about the importance of grappling and being able to defend against it.
I remember watching the first, 2-3rd.. etc UFC. It blew us all away. Nobody had ever seen anything so damn gangster. No rules. No weight classes. When Royce won, it was inconceivable. The smallest guy. I remember my guy was Dan Severn(?) Then the next year he won again. After that, every time the VHS tapes would come out, we'd buy it . When they imposed rules, we were upset and like dumb young men, we didn't watch it for a couple years... Lol What a ride we've been on, my friends. I can't believe Royce, now lives in my town. Hopefully I'll run into him one day
I watched this when I was about 15 years old in the 90s, this was the real UFC, so inspirational to see someone like Royce do what he did it was like watching magic, if anyone needs inspiration in anything in life and need some belief just watch UFC 1 and Royce Gracie...
"There's only going to be no. 1, and that's you" That hits hard. This man is a definition of a pioneer. Props to Joe for giving this GOAT of a man his flowers.
From a UFC fan from the beginning this is a huge treat! As Royce once correctly declared from the Octagon, “This is MY house!” All respect and honor to him!
Royce Gracie choked me out one time :) He is a legend, and a truly GOOD dude. I have so much respect for this man! He is so humble, and willing to share his knowledge and experience. Thank you for taking time out to train us, Royce!
I remember seeing my first UFC (3, I think) back in the mid 90s and not having a clue what I was seeing. Years of watching martial arts movies led me to expect to see two guys stand in front of each other, exchanging unblocked roundhouse kicks to the head for several minutes, before one finally went down. When they started grappling on the floor, I genuinely couldn't understand what was going on, and the submissions just left me completely bamboozled. Definitely an eye-opening experience. Royce and his family really showed us the way, huh...
I am old enough to have experienced this. 1994 saw the second UFC, 1995 saw an ad in Black Belt magazine and signed up training with David Lentz in NJ. Renzo and Craig Kukuk were training there. Steve Maxwell in Philly was the only other practitioner at that time. Good stuff, crazy to look back at it all.
In 2003 I named my first pup as an adult living on my own Gracie. After this man, Found her in the woods with 32 ticks on her and throwing up worms, vet said she wouldn’t survive so I gave her the strongest name I could think of. She was the best dog ever and lived long. Also made me a pit bull lover, was hard to tell at 4 weeks old what kind of dog she was but quickly became apparent she was a pit, great dogs and was very protective of my wife and son.
He only spoke Portuguese when we trained together. Rorion was bilingual and my first teacher and Royces. A solid and totally smart and family man! Love you guys!
Ju jit su & muay thai is still the best combo. Love Royce Gracie. I have an old UFC belt with his signature & it says UFC 1, 2 & 4 hof then his signature. With an authentification card.
I got to train with Royce once as a white belt. He came to our school for a seminar. Also train with some guys who know him really well / have become friends with him. Very stoic guy. Nice to see him laughing and smiling here. 🙏🏆
Wow, this is the first time I saw Royce in a casual conversation. I always saw him in formal interviews and never realized what at a chill dude he is! Totally levelled up my respect of him more.
I was on a Carnival Cruise in the 90's .Royce and his brother Horian were doing a seminar. I met up with them and ask if I could take a picture. They said sure and invited me to stand between them. I wasn't part of the seminar but they treated me as though I was. I wore their Gracie tee shirt for years.
I jumped into ufc quite late, round the rousey era so it was soooooooo fun for me to go back and watch the original shows. This man literally made my jaw drop. Legend.
I remember scrambling for the VHS tapes and watching the UFC. Nothing was like it and it changed everything. Nobody knew what Jui Jitsu was and it changed the world. Royce is a living legend and put the UFC on the map.
Royce Gracie was in the first ufc fight I ever saw back wen I was about 17, on a vhs tape, so the fight may have happened a couple of years before I actually saw it, can’t remember his opponent, but loved ufc ever since
I watched UFC 1 when I was in the Marine Corps and was blown away. As soon as I got out in 95 I started training in Orange under Alan Goes..Despite having grown up in wrestling, the BJJ guys made quick work of me. Love this sport.
One beautiful thing that emerged from the UFC is the recognition of MIXED Martial Arts. Jui-Jutsu isn’t enough but it was essential. Stand up isn’t enough but you need a stand-up game. You need a take down game, take down defense and wrestling. Bruce Lee understood this. Pankration understood this. There were others but that well rounded reality did emerge.
Absolutely Joe didn't compare apples to apples. He said kickboxer to kickboxer with a weight difference the person that's smaller would most likely lose then proceeds to compare a BJJ practitioner to someone that doesn't know anything....make that make sense. Imagine if a 250 Marcelo Garcia went up against smaller 160 Marcelo if he even weighs that😂
I had the privilege of meeting Royce quickly at the elevators in the Flynt building next to the Brazilian consulate. What a nice and humbling experience! Nice man!
My only complain it's in UFC 1 there's no Elite Judoka, no Sambo Fighters and no Catch Wrestlers I wonder if Sakuraba are in UFC 1 how story would change.
My father was into judo and jujitsu in the 60s he was a navy veteran special forces. When i was a kid my father taught us some judo so that we could be ok living in our neighborhood.
Mostly tale downs and disable, arm bars just things to get the upper hand he wanted us safe but I was always afraid to use it toll I received my first real ass kicking . After that I decided I was going to get hit ever again .
I'm 61. When I was 58 I went to a BJJ school. First day, OK. 2nd day I was concussed. 3rd day dropped on my bad shoulder. At 52 I did a 9,000 bicycle tour around the USA. No problems.
An absolute legend. I respect Royce Gracie so much, it's very difficult to put in words. This man changed my way of thinking, when it comes to life and Martial Arts. Much respect. TERRANCE OUT
Wrestled in college and had to unlearn a bunch of stuff when I started BJJ. You don't realize how much you put yourself in danger against someone who knows what they're doing.
I remember recording the first UFC on Vhs and my friends and I must have watched it 1000 times. Nobody knew anything about it back then and couldn't believe what they were seeing.
I trained with the Gracies in their garage , mainly with Royce , before the UFC , and I can tell you for a fact , they are exactly what you would hope a martial artist would be like ; helpful , generous , gentlemanly , and also really , really cool !
A true fighting champ. I was a kid and still remember watching the first couple ufc. I rember it being a tournament, not just a single match fight like they are now
I trained with black belts that trained under Royce Gracie in Lynwood CA back in the day as a young teen. I wish i took advantage and actually stuck with the classes for longer than i did.
Top 5 greatest of all time, no debate. The man who started it all, he introduced the idea that a smaller man can beat a bigger man in a real fight with proper mixed martial arts training, all while using techniques that nobody had seen before.
Ken Shamrock said that in the locker room before the first fight, everyone basically just assumed that it was fake or it was going to be a bunch of works to use the Japanese term. Essentially everyone thought the promoter will say to you "Go out their and spar, make it look real." then tell you who was going to win. Japan was doing this in Pancrase, etc. a year before the UFC. Works were also a part of the Catch Wrestling tradition that gave birth to "Pro" wrestling in both Japan and the U.S. Ken said that was everyone was watching the first fight on the monitor in the back, everyone was laughing, joking, warming up. But when Kathy Long said, "A tooth just landed in my lap." Ken said the entire back room went silent. He then realized - along with everyone else - that there weren't going to be any works but actually fighting each other. I was fortunate to have BJJ experience at a Rickson seminar in 1992 before the UFC started. It was two days of learning, rolling, learning, rolling. At the end of each day Rickson would go live with everyone. He let everyone do ANYTHING. One guy even had a rattan stick and another guy had a staff of some sort. He would either take someone down or pull guard and submit everyone no matter what they did. He was unscathed after about 40 such bouts each day. At the time I had been fighting in the streets with my buddy and we both had years of Folkstyle wrestling and boxing, but we wanted to keep adding things to make us better in the street, this the Rickson seminar. So, when the UFC started, we already had the eye-opening experience about BJJ. We would laugh at all our friends that were boxers, kickboxer, Kenpo and Karate guys, Aikido, etc. We were like, "Your Kenp guy is going to get his butt kicked." We won a ton of money for like the first 15 UFCs because even after that many UFCs they were STILL in denial. Our friends would say stuff like, "He's a 5th-degree Ed Parker Black Belt and can kill someone with one punch. He can break 5 bricks with one punch or elbow so imagine what the punch will do to someone's head or spine? They'll be paralyzed or die." My buddy and I would laugh and scoff at them. We already didn't think highly of Karate and Kenpo because we beat up too many black belts to remember in the 80s and 90s and EVERY chance we got we would ask people, instructors, black belts, etc. to come down to our cellar gym for sparring. We didn't know what Vale Tudo was back then but my buddy and I were trying to do MMA in our cellar without knowing it. NO I am not saying we invented MMA, just that we were boxer/wrestlers that dove into BJJ to make us better streetfighters. We would use Bruce Lee's Tao Of JKD since he was saying to combine all the arts and just use what works and throw away what doesn't. That book had not just kickboxing, but submissions, takedowns, leg locks, elbows, kneeing, you name it. That's where we got the idea of putting all the arts together in a proto-vale tudo, It was Bruce's idea. Having said that, the first recorded CONTEMPORARY historical documentation of no-holds barred/Vale Tudo was by European settlers in the Americas. The settlers would entertain themselves with fights. Think Irish Travelers or something. The whole hamlet would gather and make bets. There were literally no rules. You could throw people, choke them, use "hooks" or submissions from Catch or Lancashire wrestling, bite, pull hair, and the fights kept going when they were on the ground. Of course, Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, etc. had no rule fights as well.
I remember this guy was telling me he saw this no rules fighting contest over the weekend. I kept teasing him saying...."was it the Kumite..." I kept telling him that was a movie...it was Bloodsport. He told me to go to his house as he recorded it on VHS. Went there at lunch and watched the UFC 1. I was hooked ever since. Royce was amazing.
I started doing Jiujitsu since last year because of Joe at the age of 21. I am still a white belt who's mostly been focusing on survival-grappling and wrestling. I fell in love with this sport. In only a few monthe I have been able to take down and dominate most other white-belts. There is no martial art like Jiujitsu. I recommend anyone who is curious to just go for it
The GOAT. My brother an I got to watch UFC 1-10 because my dad had a black box back in the day... I remember being absolutely blown away by Royce being able to beat a giant monster like he did.
