BJJ was invented by the Gracie's and they are the best at pure BJJ. the Gracie's themselves say Rikson is the best, I sure as hell am not going to argue with them about BJJ because they are the authority.
"The Gracies" are a fragmented group though, first between Helio and Carlson, and then mini groups on down. Carlsons side obviously still praises Rickson highly, but are a little more reserved about calling him unquestionably the best. Some say Rolls was better, some don't, but I don't think it's just as simple as Rickson being completly on his own.
What? Royce Gracie not in dicussion? This guy family made BJJ famous. He has been practicing BJJ since he was a kid. He is one of the best BJJ fighter out there.
has anyone noticed that in the fourth video a guy that knows absolutely nothing about jiu jitsu passes ricksons guard??? :admin
Well, it seems that they have removed that 4th vid for whatever bull**** reason but I do remember Rickson winning in all the vid`s & never looking troubled.... my guess is that the guy does know a fair bit about jiujitsu as he fought Rickson in a tournament of some kind, both wearing the gi & I never saw Rickson being mounted in any of the vid`s so to use the term `pass` his guard might be stretching the truth a little, half guard isnt a full pass, you get minimal marks for that if it goes nowhere.
Like what? Since when was Royce considered to be one of the top BJJ players? His only real fighting accomplishments are beating a bunch of one dimensional fighters with very little knowledge of submission grappling in those famous infomercials for Gracie Jiu Jitsu....errr, I mean early UFCs.
in the rickson vs the wrestler video the wrestler isnt wearing a gi. He pressures rickson to the ground and walks around his legs to the side and gets side control. after a little while rickson slides his knee back in then gets full guard. but he didnt "let" the guy pass.. very strange.
In my mind there is a difference between greatest and best; Royce is one of the greatest, pobably not one of the very best.
That wrestler in the last vid would have made a great mma fighter, even more than the average Gracie.
How about this definition: who's the best at MMA/Fighting? If thats what BJJ was originally for, that should be the ultimate arbiter; Rickson doesn't come into this discussion, but someone like Nog might...
To be fair, Rickson was about 35 or 36 yrs old when MMA was barely born, UFC 1-5 roughly, he fought in a couple of Japanese tournies aswell as pride 1 & 4, he never fought great fighters because there were hardly any to fight but those he did fight were beaten with ease & ALL finished by submission inside distance. Its unfair to expect a 40 yr old Rickson to fight guys like Wand & Nog when they were in their mid 20s.