(This piece appeared in 8CountNews on January 22, 2009)

by Mark Lorenzana

I was flipping channels the other day when I stumbled upon a rerun of the 2006 fight between Royce Gracie and Matt Hughes in one of our cable sports networks. I admit I wasn’t able to catch the fight live three years ago, having to content myself with reading the results afterward. And at that time I wasn’t too eager to watch even the delayed telecast when I learned that Hughes TKO’d Gracie in the first round.

This time, however, I decided to watch the fight, no matter how agonizing it would be for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Matt Hughes. In my opinion, he is one of the best MMA welterweights of all time. But Gracie was my childhood MMA hero ever since he burst into the scene in the early ‘90s with a string of submission victories over much larger opponents. Between 1993 and 1994, he won 11 matches by submission and was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2, and UFC 4. He also fought to a draw with Ken Shamrock in the super fight at UFC 5. These results contributed to the movement towards grappling, cross-training and mixed martial arts. Gracie summed it up best, in a pre-fight statement prior to the Hughes bout: “This is my house, I built it.”

Perhaps the most memorable fight by Royce Gracie that I witnessed was against wrestler Dan Severn. The fight was Gracie’s final UFC victory and it lasted 16 agonizing minutes as there were no rounds or time limits at that time. For most of the fight, Gracie was continuously pinned underneath the 260-pound Severn. The match ended when Gracie locked his legs in a triangle choke for a submission victory.

In the Hughes fight, however, it could be argued that it wasn’t the same old Royce Gracie that stepped into the Octagon. Not that I am taking anything away from Matt Hughes. Prior to the fight, Hughes pointed out that MMA had evolved and improved immensely since the early days of the UFC. By that time, fighters were already more well-rounded in both the stand up and the ground game. In fact, to prepare, Gracie had cross-trained in Muay Thai and was even frequently shown in publicity materials from Fairtex.

Gracie’s crash course in Muay Thai, however, didn’t prepare him for the punishment that Hughes dished out. Not a few fight fans expected Gracie to dominate Hughes on the ground, but it was the other way around. Gracie stepped into the Octagon wearing MMA trunks in lieu of his trademark jiu-jitsu gi, and sported a shaved head. A few minutes into round one, Hughes hyperextended Gracie’s arm in a kimura but Gracie refused to tap and held on with a poker face. Hughes went on to win the fight by TKO due to strikes at 4:39 of the first round.

In a later interview, Hughes stated that he purposely let Gracie out of the arm lock because he knew that Gracie would not submit and would rather allow his arm to get broken.

If there’s one lasting legacy Royce Gracie should successfully impart on current and future MMA fighters, it’s his heart and fighting spirit. How many fighters today would rather suffer a broken arm than have his will broken?

This year we should look forward to a lot of exciting fights. In fact, this month alone, there are several highly anticipated MMA events and one of the biggest for 2009 — the rematch between Georges St.-Pierre and BJ Penn at UFC 94 – is just around the corner, happening at the end of this month. Affliction Entertainment’s Day of Reckoning comes even sooner, on January 24, and its main event features current World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko defending his belt against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski. On January 25, the little guys take center stage at WEC 38, where WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner will defend his title against number one contender and undefeated Donald Cerrone. Also featured on the card is the highly anticipated rematch between former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver.

Yes, we should all be excited because Mixed Martial Arts is here to stay, and it has evolved and improved throughout the years.

But we all should not forget the fighters that came before and helped make MMA what it is now. And Gracie is one of those fighters that we should be thankful for.

Indeed, it is one wondrous house that Royce Gracie built.