Royce Gracie's statement to his fans
Royce Gracie has posted a message to his fans on mma.tv's Underground Forum following Saturday night's loss to Matt Hughes:
The fight was not embarassing because Gracie lost (we all expected that). Matt Hughes is younger, stronger, faster, more athletic and has more consistently fought top level competition. But the loss must be embarassing for Gracie because Hughes beat him using a classic Gracie Jiu Jitsu strategy - take down your opponent, pass the guard, work for a submission, take your opponent's back when he tries an ill advised escape and finish your opponent from the back. That should have been the one way Hughes could not beat Gracie - by being a better at Brazilian jiu jitsu. The only thing that would have been more surprising would have been if Hughes submitted Gracie from Hughes's guard.
As for Gracie fighting again, it is hard to think of a match-up that I really want to see. He will always be one of my all-time favorite fighters, but his time has passed.
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That's a classy response following an embarassing fight.I would like to thank all the fans that were supporting me for this fight against Matt Hughes. I want to thank 15,000 plus fans that showed up at the Staple Center and really made me feel welcome and hundreeds of thoughsands that purchased the PPV. I am very disapointed in the outcome of the fight. I did not train for a fight like that and want to appologize to the fans who expected more. Matt Hughes is a great champion and he was the better man that night, I give him all the credit. He was very humble in his victory and that shows a true champion.
From: RoyceGracie
Date: 05/29/06 01:31 PMMember Since: 01/01/2001
1145 Total PostsIgnore User I am going to take a little time off from training and spend with the family. BUT I WILL BE BACK TO FIGHTHTING BEFORE THEN END OF THE YEAR.
Thank you again for your support
Royce Gracie
The fight was not embarassing because Gracie lost (we all expected that). Matt Hughes is younger, stronger, faster, more athletic and has more consistently fought top level competition. But the loss must be embarassing for Gracie because Hughes beat him using a classic Gracie Jiu Jitsu strategy - take down your opponent, pass the guard, work for a submission, take your opponent's back when he tries an ill advised escape and finish your opponent from the back. That should have been the one way Hughes could not beat Gracie - by being a better at Brazilian jiu jitsu. The only thing that would have been more surprising would have been if Hughes submitted Gracie from Hughes's guard.
As for Gracie fighting again, it is hard to think of a match-up that I really want to see. He will always be one of my all-time favorite fighters, but his time has passed.
technorati tags: / del.icio.us tags: royce, gracie, matt, hughes, ufc, bjj, jiu, jitsu, mma, whaledog
