Hughes/gracie....It ends in the first round

[green meanie]

I've watched it over and over again....My conclusion....

Matt Hughes Pinned Royce. Yeah. as in wrestling. He took his back, with both hooks, beautifully flattened him out. but royce was still squirming to get out. at no time did he lose conciousness. at no time did he tap. obviosuly the rules say if a fighter is not intelligently defending himself then the referee stops the fight. well, does that apply to pin techniques when the fighter CANT defend themselves in a reasonable time?

I gotta disagree. Royce went belly down with over a minute left on the clock. If he had an escape in him there was enough time left for him to execute it. He couldn't get out and by the time the fight was stopped he was at a point where he appeared to be making no attempt to escape and was having a very hard time protecting himself. It was a mistake to belly down and he paid for it.

 

[Kensai]

Damn!!! Royce was pretty humbled there from what I could see. I think his legend will remain intact, but I don't think I'd be particularly pleased if I was Royce... It was almost too easy. Taking nothing away from Matt Hughes mind you...

 

[Makalakumu]

I didn't see the fight, I wanted too, but I didn't want to spend the money on something that I knew would end like this.

I am just an average guy. I've never been a natural athlete, however, I work pretty hard to do what I do. Royce always struck me as someone whose skills I could at least approach if I worked really really hard.

Matt, on the other hand, is your typicaly professional athlete. When someone like that works as hard as "a gracie" then you are bound to see something extraordinary. I think that if a fighter like Matt would have walked into the UFC of old, he would have utterly demolished the competition.

The UFC is now drawing the combination of extraordinary skill, hard work, and genetics. I don't think it will ever be an arena where an average guy can even compete no matter how hard he works.

 

[Kwiter]

For those that missed the fight I see it's now on youtube.com so anyone can see it. You might have to register I'm not 100% sure, alot of Crazy videos on there besides UFC 60 main event.

 

[evenflow1121]

It was a very good fight and well worth the $39.95 I will tell you though that the two fights after the main event (which are always taped because they happen before the card) were amazing as well.

I don't know if it tarnishes his legacy, he may have been 11-0-0 in the UFC, which actually I thought was incorrect because if I remember correctly he drawed to Shamrock the second time around, but he has been defeated before. Its a loss, I am sure he will come back up from it. Matt is a well rounded fighter, and being well rounded is prob a lot more practical than being an expert in one particular discipline. Though I love watching Royce especially the old school stuff because of how technical he is as a fighter, I cant say in my opinion that he is as well rounded a fighter as Matt Hughes.

 

[Robert Lee]

After looking at royces training I would of thought he would have performed better. But then both haveing a chance to study what the other was doing give a plan. And Hughes was able to pull it off better. Shows still that a rounded game is much better today. But you have to give both respect for getting in there and testing out there method

 

[AceHBK]

Everyone in the UFC fights the way they do because of the Gracies, they are legends and their rep has not been tarnished a bit. Even in Japan, people where doing this stuff already, when the Gracies showed up they had to rewrite a lot of their "books"

Royce is a legend, and a incredible fighter. He's not a natural athlete, he's just a average guy that worked hard, and changed the way people fight. Nothing that happened tonight, or in any other fight he might take will change that.

Agreed! Well put.

You could tell Royce was pissed if you saw the post fight interview on UFC's website.

Then Matt Huges says in post interview that Royce had no business even being in the ring with him...
wow

 

[Andrew Green]

and here are those post fight inteviews:

Gracie - http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=MultiMedia.Detail&gid=2659

Hughes - http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=MultiMedia.Detail&gid=2660

Yes, Royce seemed rather annoyed...

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

In the Torrance academy, before the UFC's, everytime there was a challenge match up this way, or a MMA event in Brazil that led to some distinct victory or defeat, the academy was always buzzing with chatter.

After the fight with Kimo, and not being able to go on to the next round of eliminations, word got out that both the old man and Rickson were pissed. The Academy was in a hush for weeks, until enough word got out that Rickson, per the old man, would be taking over Royce's training. Normally, when Rickson came by the academy, he would get flocked by students who hadn't met him yet, and greeted like an old friend by those who had. For the next several weeks, when Rickson came in looking very business-like, nobody but the very old, very familiar, or very brave bothered to obstruct his path for pleasantries.

As I watched Royce getting beaten in the back of the head with moves I would expect Rickson to use in a challenge match, I couldn't help but wonder where he was last night, and what was going through his head. I'll bet he's pissed, and that his guys are giving him a wide berth.

D.

 

[AceHBK]

In the Torrance academy, before the UFC's, everytime there was a challenge match up this way, or a MMA event in Brazil that led to some distinct victory or defeat, the academy was always buzzing with chatter.

After the fight with Kimo, and not being able to go on to the next round of eliminations, word got out that both the old man and Rickson were pissed. The Academy was in a hush for weeks, until enough word got out that Rickson, per the old man, would be taking over Royce's training. Normally, when Rickson came by the academy, he would get flocked by students who hadn't met him yet, and greeted like an old friend by those who had. For the next several weeks, when Rickson came in looking very business-like, nobody but the very old, very familiar, or very brave bothered to obstruct his path for pleasantries.

As I watched Royce getting beaten in the back of the head with moves I would expect Rickson to use in a challenge match, I couldn't help but wonder where he was last night, and what was going through his head. I'll bet he's pissed, and that his guys are giving him a wide berth.

D.

You make me wonder that the fallout will be at the academy with Royce's loss.

 

[grimfang]

Heres a full video of the fight.. Youtube keeps pulling them offline as fast as they can, but more copies keep popping up.... not sure how much longer this particular version will be online...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uart4xsN-4s&search=royce

 

[James Clifton]

Guys,
There is an old saying,Providing both fighters are equal in abilities & one is bigger(&stronger)than the other...a good big man will beat the smaller man.Look at Matt at the match & then look at Gracie !! Gracie was TOO skinny!! Just my opinion !
Jim

 

[FearlessFreep]

It was sad for me to see Helio have to watch his legacy take a beating in a sport he started. If it weren't for Helio first, then Royce, we would never have even known who Matt Hughes was; he'd be off playing baseball or something, rather than fighting in MMA events. The lutra livre guys finally did it, I guess.

"He who lives by he sword, dies by the sword"

Whenyou've built your legacy based on the 'superiority' of what you do, and someone beats you at it, then you fall as fast and as hard as you were once high and untouchable

I think what this means in any real sense is that...Matt Hughes beat Royce Gracie That's it. Matt fought better, Matt was probably a better fighter overall, and on this night, he was. Happens all the time.

I think what this means in a perceptive sense though is that BJ has become another TMA. It is what it is. Poweful, useful, good, But, if you meet someone who can beat you at it, you're going to get beat. And on any given day, that can happen.

Any 'technique' can dominate, when someone doesn't know what to expect, what moves are coming, how to react and how to fight it. When the opponent knows what you are going to do, now it just becomes a matter of who does it better. No matter how good you are, if he is 'good enough' to stop you, you are in trouble, if you don't have a serious plan b

 

[tshadowchaser]

Just saw a reply of the match. I think Matt did an excellent job of countering everything that Gracie did. His moves and counters where at the top of anyones game. He deserved the win.
I thought he broke Gracie's arm at one point but noticed that it was able to move after and did not look disformed ( this i am happy for, i would have hated to see an arm broken) I saw matt start to ty to chock Gracie out the it looked like he had an after thought and just beat the hell out of him. Damn good match

 

[Grenadier]

Royce Gracie, or for that matter, any fan of the BJJ folks, has nothing to be ashamed of. Royce's legend is, and always well be, intact, as he and the other Gracies, certainly put Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on the radar screen.

Matt Hughes is at the top of his game, in his early 20's, very well physically fit, and one strong character. Hughes is also well-rounded, and can both strike and grapple at will. He really doesn't have any weaknesses that Gracie could exploit, and it's not surprising that the younger, stronger fellow is going to win in that situation.

 

[Shogun]

actually, Matt Hughes is in his 30's. 33 or 34

 

[hong kong fooey]

I saw that match it was amazing. I thought it was going to last longer but you never know. goos fight though

 

[Sapper6]

actually, Matt Hughes is in his 30's. 33 or 34

32

 

[bluemtn]

I thought it was a good fight- short, though! I'm amazed Gracie's arm didn't break... That had to have hurt a lot, though!

 

[Shogun]

^what they said