You're avoiding the real question. Will the fight go to the ground? I'll take Rickson's guard over any of their ground and pound games. But yes - fighters like Liddell, Rampage, Couture, Henderson are exactly the kind of style needed to beat Rickson. We could have seen some great match ups but the timing wasn't right. Rickson was on his way out by the time these guys were coming into their own.
What you've got to understand is that while Rickson may have been better at Jiu Jitsu than Royce, thats still all he was - a Jiu Jitsu player; he wasn't a striker and he wasn't a wrestler of any distinction, ability or even experience. Any fighter who could handle Royce in a real MMA fight could handle Rickson, hes just a more skilled guy but in exactly the same style.
Well said. Rules have helped today's fighters and hurt them as well. At least Pride allowed kicks to downed fighters and such. It's ridiculous in UFC when a guy on the ground can't even up-kick an opponent over him. The one rule I do agree with is the no-headbutts rule - but strickly from an entertainment point of view. Headbutts always caused ugly cuts resulting in bloody, ugly fights. MMA is much cleaner without them.
Im not, Im answering you directly - if Randy Couture fought Rickson Gracie, and Randy wanted to keep it standing, there is absolutely no way on Gods green earth Rickson could take him down.
More correctly, Rickson is a fighter - who happens to be the best Brazialian jiujitsu exponent of the past twenty years.
tim sylvia saw lots of holes in fedor's style also. rickson gracie would never have beaten fedor in anywhere close to their primes.
Yes, there is. Rickson won't just look at him. he'll punch him in the face and initiate a clinch even against the great Randy Couture. It will end up on the ground eventually. It's silly to argue about such outcomes anyway. I don't want to argue about Randy fighting Rickson because they are probably my two favorite fighters of all time. let's not make them fight. Go back to Rampage or Chuck.
Or Fedor would never have beaten Rickon anywhere close to their primes. . . It's a mythical match up - Fedor is the number one P4P fighter in the world and by rights he should beat any man in the world - but Rickson Gracie was an exceptional fighter with a chance against anyone. To count him out of any fight is absurd.
So he's going a outstrike a better striker, clinch and take down a better wrestler, how do you envisage this happening :huh It doesn't make any sense, you can't argue that someone with no wrestling or striking credentials, and who is giving away significant poundage, is going to employ tactics that require him to be more well rounded that guys who are patently WAAAAY more well rounded than he is, with proven track records against legitimate modern fighters.
If you are talking about taking these guys down, and putting them on their backs, yeah. If you are talking about getting these guys down and not caring what position you wind up in, maybe you're not crazy.
Well, so you say. The fact remains he has 9 recorded fights since 1993 - he apparently found himself in a period of inactivity at this juncture in time, having recorded his previous 391 victories in the period immediately preceding the time when anyone cared about MMA. He, at the same time as claiming to be the best fighter in world, refused to actually fight any live body of note, and when he did actually fight would only compete under Rickson created rules. Im not saying Rickson isnt a pioneer, or that he isnt very good at Jiu Jitsu, but to claim he would beat modern fighters (ANY fighters at 205, mind) stretches credulity almost as much as his 400-0 record.
Possibly......but probably not. Even for that early era...those guys were still learning what Rickson already knew.
This is just going round and round. I can start cutting and pasting if you like but we're obviously looking at it from different points of view. Brazil is where MMA started. There is a storied rivalry between the Gracie family and the various Lute Libre schools. The Lute Libre fighters preached that training with a gi was unrealistic as well as incorporating muay thai striking into their philosphy. Rickson defeated their best fighters. Rickson has dealt with every kind of fighter he could face under situations with far less rules than any modern MMA organization allows outside of Brazil. Rickson has fought well rounded fighters. Rickson has fought tournament style fights. Rickson has won every fight he's ever had on the ground. Fights go to the ground. yes they do or else why is everyone training BJJ? Ten years ago probably only four people on this forum would even know what BJJ is supposed to mean. to say that Rickson hasn't fought modern fighters is in no way a means to indicate a weakness in Rickson Gracie. All fighters can only be judged based on how they performed against the fighters available to them. Rickson never faced fighters like Rnady Couture, GSP, Rampage Jackson, or Chuck Liddell because he came along ten years ahead of them. Had he somehow arrived in the modern era - he would have adapted just fine and would no doubt be sitting on top of a pile of bodies with the UFC belt under one arm and the Pride belt under the other.
