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Want to see UFC fights with no time limits & no judges in 2011?
By Zach Arnold | June 26, 2011
I bet some of you out there who hate the current state of MMA judging might be sympathetic to Rorion Gracie’s attitude right about now.
KENNY RICE: “Well, you hadn’t seen it all until 1993. What was this Ultimate Fighting Championship all about? Why were these guys going in here giving up 50, 75 pounds and beating guys and what was this Brazilian JOO-JITSU? What? What was going on? That was what people were saying back in 1993. Now, of course, MMA has become a way of life thanks to the UFC and it’s been the fastest-growing sport in the past decade and the man who got it all started is right here to my right. When you look back at it all, when everything got started, Rorion, did you think, ‘Wow, this sport’s going to really get this big?’
RORION GRACIE: “You know, it never surprised me it got that big because when I came to the United States in 1978 with the objective of establishing Jiu-Jitsu here, I was very confident that the techniques are so proficient, they’re so good that the world would not let them go by unnoticed. So, it doesn’t surprise me a bit that eventually everybody embraced the concept as I hoped they would.”
KENNY RICE: “Do you ever sit back and go, you know, if I could have worked out a business plan differently, I could have maybe still had a piece of this action here?”
RORION GRACIE: “Uh, actually, you know, it’s interesting that you’re talking about that. When I originally developed the concept of the UFC along with my friend Art Davie, the idea was to create an educational platform where the people could watch the fights and understand what works and what does not work and that’s why it was so surprising to all when Royce, a little skinny guy, goes in there and like you said gives up 50, 60, 70 pounds and he’s able to overcome his much bigger, stronger opponents. It caused an impact to where people said, “Wow, the little guy can do well.’ That was the objective of showcasing Jiu-Jitsu in those circumstances.
“Of course, eventually, everybody learns this stuff, they see how effective the technique is and that eventually helped level the playing field. So, after UFC 4 when Royce was squeezed by Dan Severn, the big huge giant that we had there, we had a 2 hour PPV window for the transmission of the event and the live show went for 2 hours, 3 minutes which means at 2 hours exactly the PPV transmission was interrupted, causing the biggest mishap in PPV history. My partners at the time then decided we should put time limits on the fights and by implementing time limits, as I told them, they’re going to kill the concept of the show because now the fights can use the time limit to determine a better way to use the rules, as you say, to take advantage of that. Because, until that point, there was no time limit, no judges, no points. Two guys walk in, one guy walks out. And you let them do whatever they want, that was the beauty of the original concept. Once they started putting time limits, if you get to the end of the fight and there’s no winners, you’re going to need judges to determine who wins and that would be a little risky business and that’s why I decided eventually to walk away because I felt the whole idea of letting judges determine who would win would take a little bit away from the reality of the fight. I’m sure very glad that UFC has grown as big as it is, as like you said, a major revolution in terms of fighting. I’m always going to be the father of the child…”
A bonus video clip here, as Rorion Gracie & Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill) respond to Dave Herman’s comments about BJJ in MMA. Al Bundy, ‘legendary expert’ as HDNet calls him. Shades of greatness.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The Gracies are to MMA today what Karate was to combat sports 20 years ago…. Maybe not that bad, but it’s still outdated with the times. BJJ has needed to evolve for 5+ years and for some reason we are just not seeing that.
Jake Shields has the right attitude towards BJJ. I think he calls it “American JJ”. Basically BJJ needs to be used in an attacking method, and not the typical defensive mode that has ruled the sport for years.
Watching a guy like Fabricio Werdum still butt flopping in 2011 is sad….
Too bad no time limit is completely unfeasible, whether on TV or PPV.
What Herman said had some validity…all he was saying is that if you are versed in submissions(offensively and defensively) that it’s really difficult to submit someone(of course you can sweep someone to improve your position)…it’s not like what he said was absurd…he is just outspoken enough to say it…
Look at all the guys that have lost lately because they have played the guard game for too long on the bottom(Werdum and Story come to mind instantly).