Say It Ain’t So, Ro(yce)

To fight or not to fight, that is the question currently facing mixed martial arts legend Royce Gracie.  And it appears he is strongly leaning towards the ‘fight’ option – at UFC: Rio on August 27th look for Royce Gracie to enter the Octagon and compete.  So, apparently the UFC has turned into the senior’s tour of MMA.

The UFC prides itself on being the top mixed martial arts promotion on the planet.  They have the best fighters.  They put on the biggest and best fights.  And with them swallowing up competing MMA promotions seemingly daily, they have more than enough quality fighters to stock their cards with.  So why exactly do they need to trot out a 44-year-old who hasn’t fought in over four years (and only five times in the past decade) and who had to use steroids to level the playing field his last fight.  A one-dimensional fighter who would look severely overmatched, undersized and limited in today’s UFC.  A fighter 10-20 years past his prime.

And who exactly are you going to match Royce Gracie up with?  Matt Hughes?  The same Matt Hughes who destroyed Gracie five years ago?  A striker, who would beat the tar out of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend?  Another BJJ ace, who would probably be younger, stronger and in better shape?  Maybe if you want to see Gracie get a limb broken off (remember: Gracie’s don’t tap).  Is there really any fighter currently on the UFC’s roster who Royce would have a fighting chance against?  (Match him up versus cousin Renzo, however, and we might change our minds, just for the sheer novelty of seeing a Gracie vs Gracie match).

No one wins if Royce steps back into the Octagon.  The UFC would just be hurting their image by forcing another “gimmick match” (see Toney, James) down its fans’ throats.  The fans would be stuck watching a brutally one-sided fight, or worse, a matchup of two over-the-hill “legends”.  And Gracie would further tarnish his reputation and legacy, not to mention doing it live in front of his fellow Brazilians.  And with his vow to never tap out, regardless of the predicament he finds himself in, it could get real, real ugly.  So, please, say it ain’t so, Ro(yce).