Someone tell me...How good was Rickson Gracie

Not really sure what to make of it, but I watched a feature of NatGeo regarding BJJ and they said Rickson has never lost a BJJ match. :yikes

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdRIBYw6kNQ[/ame]

 

Controversial character......

There is not too much things documented about his fights....so it´s impossible to say how many fights he won etc......
Some people say that he was the greatest in BJJ.....some people say that his jiu-jitsu was not as good as today´s level.....

Let´s put this way...Rickson is considered as the greatest most because of the stories about him......without footages, etc.......

 

Rickson is the greatest. He came from Brazil after conquering all of his rivals there and it was only a marketing choice that kept him out of UFC 1 instead of Royce and the rest is history.

 

In MMA it was hard to say. In some of the early fights in Pride he had that kind of stoic look to him and real stiff movement while standing. I don't think he would do too well today in MMA if we were to bring him along in time to where we are now. Sure he'd win some but where along the spectrum he'd be is something of a question.

Now in terms of pure BJJ the dude is an absolute legend. The stories you hear are true. Whatever position there is, whatever position you're in with him, he's been there tens of thousands of times, he knows how you're going to react and he is literally like a grand master chess player: he really is 5 moves ahead of you. You think you've regained half-guard or something and you're already in motion to be hit with a side choke. He planned it before you realized you were even in a position to be put into a choke. The stories also include a very telling feature: that you would be struggling for your life, you'd be exhausted, sweating through your Gi resisting and his heartrate probably wouldn't even increase beyond that of a normal person lightly jogging.

In short, you're on the ground with Rickson and it's like a snake wrapping around your body: you're going to lose. Just a matter of what the snake decides to do.

 

This.

Everyone I've spoken to who's seen him train has said that it doesn't matter what belt you are, purple, brown, black, red, whatever, Rickson will make you look like a white belt. I think it was in the Choke documentary where one guy says you'll roll with him and think you're doing okay, but it turns out Rickson wanted to work on something specific, he's he was only playing with one or two moves.

 

the most telling quote about rickson is the one below from dave camarillo.
To fully comprehend what hes saying it helps to know who dave camarillo is and what he is about. Dave is a bit of an outcast in the bjj community and a somewhat controversial figure in that hes very open about whats wrong with the sport, he doesnt do hero worship and has no ties or obligations to the gracie family. Definately not the type of guy to just blindly follow what people say.
hes also an accomplished grappler and teacher in his own right he could step on the mats with almost anyone and hold his head high, so when a guy like him says this:

"Training with Rickson is like trying to move a house. What he lacks in size he overwhelmingly compensates in technique and pressure. From the moment I engaged my guard, till the time I was tapping, I felt as if there was nothing I could have done to better my situation. His basic techniques nullified my game almost immediately, So to all the non-believers, I can only try to persuade you to eliminate all doubt and open your mind to Rickson Gracie"

you better believe rickson is something special.

 

Rickson was the best fighter in the world at the time of the first Pride and UFC 1, and probably the first recognized best fighter in the world in the sport we now know as MMA.

 

Rickson is probably the best BJJ fighter ever, a ground God.

 

Yes, he is to BJJ what Ray Robinson is to boxing.

 

As fine tuned a fighting machine as you'll find physically and the strongest and most intelligent ground grappler as their has ever been.

As an MMA fighter? His stand-up didn't impress me all that much but he was a strong clincher. He wouldn't be an undefeated monster in a long and challenging MMA career today IMO, but he's ****ing up everyone who doesn't avoid the ground game.

 

under modern rules i think he would have lost alot of decisions personally.
thats not a knock on rickson though. with no rules or time limits hed be a dreadnought imo

 

A nice quote from Rickson:

"Fighters shouldn´t let themselves become slaves to one daily routine, to one physical activity alone, as they´ll end up losing the necessary creativity, or even give up on the objective out of monotony." by Rickson Gracie.