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

[Shogun]

Hughes defeats gracie via referee stoppage (ground and pound) in the first round

 

[rompida]

It was ugly.... I was rather disappointed in Royce. Matt Hughes dominated him on his own turf - grappling. I still can't understand how Royce's elbow didn't dislocate. I expected Matt to win, I just didn't think he would do it so quickly and easily.

sigh.....

 

[Kempojujutsu]

Didn't get to see it yet. Friend taped it and will watch it tomorrow. Glad to hear Hughes won.

 

[Lisa]

It was ugly.... I was rather disappointed in Royce. Matt Hughes dominated him on his own turf - grappling. I still can't understand how Royce's elbow didn't dislocate. I expected Matt to win, I just didn't think he would do it so quickly and easily.

sigh.....

Yeah, I thought his arm was gonna break too. Don't think he would have tapped, no matter what, until the thing actually did break.

Short fight but good none the less. Glad Matt won.

 

[MJS]

It was ugly.... I was rather disappointed in Royce. Matt Hughes dominated him on his own turf - grappling. I still can't understand how Royce's elbow didn't dislocate. I expected Matt to win, I just didn't think he would do it so quickly and easily.

sigh.....

I too, thought for sure the elbow would dislocate. Too hard to tell if it was seriously injured, as Royce didn't show much concern.

Looked like Royce was trying to escape rear mount, but Matt certainly had the upper hand. I was hoping that it would've went a bit longer.

It'll be interesting to see if Royce makes another comeback in the future.

Mike

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

Sad Matt won. Was rooting for Royce, as an old instructor and acquaintence. What got me is that Royce clearly didn't have his head in the game. Not that it would have changed the outcome, but we used to START on Royce's back with hooks in, and he'd shake us like a slipper snake.

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.

Regards,

Dave

 

[MJS]

It was sad for me to see Helio have to watch his legacy take a beating in a sport he started.

Yes, I noticed that too. It was obvious the man was hurting.

If it weren't for Helio first, then Royce, we would never have even known who Matt Hughes was;

Agreed. The family certainly changed the Martial Arts world.

Mike

 

[Andrew Green]

Royce seemed way to confident in his ground skills, seemed like he was giving stuff up thinking he'd be able to get out cause ground is his thing and completely underestimated Matt's ground skills.

Still, he gave a decent fight, especially considering Matt's the Champion and Royce hasn't faced that level of competition in a while...

 

[Andrew Green]

Rumor floating around on pay is that Royce picked up 1.3 million tonight, about time MMA fighters started pulling in big money, boxers shouldn't get all the perks

Bet Hughes didn't get a quarter of that though...

Edit:

JF: What are you guys making for this fight?
MH: Royce is making $1.3 million. I'm getting nowhere close to that.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-ufc-hughes,0,2743126.story?coll=ny-sports-headlines

 

[mantis]

Hughes defeats gracie via referee stoppage (ground and pound) in the first round

oh awesome!

 

[MardiGras Bandit]

I heard the money rumor, but I'm pretty sure Royce only got $250,000.

Props to Royce for stepping up, but we all knew it would turn out this way. Hughes beat Royce with Jiu-Jitsu and like Royce said in the pre-fight, that is his best legacy (not that I believe he wouldn't have prefered a win).

How do you see this fight affecting Royce's legacy? I say it tarnishes it, but not too badly.

 

[Andrew Green]

Money rumor started with Matt Hughes, I'm guessing he'd know...

 

[Cruentus]

I was very happy with the turnout. The game has changed so much that you have to have as good of a standup game as a ground game, and you have to train with multiple methods. The Gracie method, although good and what started the UFC, won't cut it by itself anymore. I have been watching what info has been available for the fight prep, and I think that it is clear that Royce clearly underestimated that.

 

[Cruentus]

How do you see this fight affecting Royce's legacy? I say it tarnishes it, but not too badly.

I would say that it does tarnish things for them quite a bit when you look at the entire picture.

Back in the early 90's the overwhelming number of martial artists weren't prepared for the groundfighting game. I didn't realize how true that was until the first few UFC's. This blew my mind because I was lucky enough to be trained in wrestling, and to work with people who were grapplers back then. I always considered grappling as a part of the fighting picture, so I was suprised to see the overwhelming number of people not trained well on the ground in the first few UFCs.

Well, the Gracies used this fact as a marketing ploy, in my opinion. They had it out there that they would take on all challangers, and that no one could beat their family style. What they didn't realize or take into account was that there were back then as today grappling methods from all over the world. Back then, there were proficient grapplers out there who just didn't get the respect and exposure.

Yet, despite this, it was put out there that Gracie jujitsu was an end all be all. So much so that the US army changed their military combatives to reflect a Gracie BJJ based program. It got respect and has been looked at to this day as an end all be all for many people.

That is, until this fight. The fact is, grappling skills have always been out there as an important part of the fighting picture. There are multiple circles out there who are very skilled at it. You'll find some of the best wrestling skills simply in freestyle and roman greco wrestling circles, in my opinion. And although I have a lot of respect for the Gracie legacy, grappling skills are not all confined and dominated by any one family method. This fight proved this fact, and will be a reality check for many.

So, in that sense, this fight does tarnish them a bit. It wouldn't be that way, I don't think, if it wasn't for the marketing tactics and bolstering that has been done in the past.

Paul

 

[Andrew Green]

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.

 

[matt.m]

Matt beat him, that was apparant. What points need to be brought forward are that:
He gave up an age difference, yes that is a factor
He maybe knew in the back of his mind that he is now 13 yrs. older and the sport has evolved.
You have to give huge credit to Gracie, he stepped up to the challenge and got in the ring.

I met Rickson, Royce, and Helio in Culver City once. I had just graduated from Marine boot camp. My dads friend Clay took me to meet them.

Clay was studying under them at the time. It was September 1993.

 

[kenpohack]

Gracie was great in the early nineties. He's still a great martial artist. The fact of the matter is that the MMA game has drastically changed since 1993. The first UFC saw average martial artists, weekend warriors, and Royce compete. Subsequent UFCs sported slightly better competition, but not anywhere near the caliber of competitors in today's MMA game. Today, MMA competition attracts gifted athletes who train in a variety of disciplines, including jujitsu and other forms of grappling. Royce's technical proficiency cannot overcome the skill of extraordinary athletes with multiple disciplines under their belts. It's the equivalent of a talented high school football star trying to compete with Pro Bowl players.

 

[Shogun]

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?
what if matt were to cradle gracie?

anyway, Kudos to matt...great technique. actually, it looked as if gracie had the advantage on his feet and hughes did on the ground....how ironic.

cheers to Gracie for fighting. he admitted this was simply a personal challenge beforehand.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I do not think his legacy is tarnished by this loss. However, we are seeing the evolution of the mixed martial arts world in that you have to be a very complete fighter to even have a chance now a days.

Hughes won because he is the most complete fighter in the UFC right now. Next month or sooner or later someone else will come along with better skills and also a little more hungry and that person will be the best and so on and so on.

Brian R. VanCise
www.instinctiveresponsetraining.com

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

You might be able to view it hear for a bit. http://www.youtube.com/p.swf?video_id=1zmgbFTe2Iw&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//sjl-static8.sjl.youtube.com/vi/1zmgbFTe2Iw/2.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskJI_p-TVnHH-XOKu7LzYtwo

Brian R. VanCise
www.instinctiveresponsetraining.com