royce gracie possible ufc fight

On December 15, 2010 the UFC held a press conference in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil announcing an event August 27, 2011 at the HSBC Arena. During the press conference Royce stated:

"This return of UFC to Brazil touched me, made me feel the wish of coming back to the Octagon. Everything has being negotiated with Dana White. Let's wait,”.

I suppose it makes a lot of sense promotions wise. I'm just trying to think who they would match him up against? We talking 170lbs here or what or some sort of catchweight maybe?

I wonder if Royce would ever entertain the Idea of fighting Renzo or vice versa?

Matt Serra,Almeida,Thiago maybe

I don't know it's a hard one,I think it needs to be against a big name,but probably against a fighter that's not really that relevant in the WW division anymore.

I'm not sure that Almieda or Thiago actually qualify for that as i think they both are above average to top end WW's,but at least they are both South American and would probably be appreciated on the Brazil card.

payneNglory1 wrote:I think it needs to be against a big name,but probably against a fighter that's not really that relevant in the WW division anymore.

Penn/Fitch loser? Hell, Matt Hughes even? Retirement fight.

Matt Hughes v Royce Gracie is a fight we don't need to see again.

I do like the Idea of BJ Penn though

The sport has left Royce behind, you can't give him anyone relevant.

Maybe Ken Shamrock? I know he just lost his suit against Zuffa, but he needs the money to pay those legal fees.

to be perfectly honest i dont think there are many welterweights on the UFC roster that Royce could be competitive against.

maybe they should sign Takenori Sato, if only for this fight.
11-8 welterweight so he has a chance against him, even though he has never been submitted.
he fights out of the Sakuraba dojo (Laughter 7) SRC, Pancrase, DEEP vet.

if dana ask welterweights to put there name forword i think they all will as it will be an easy win for most of them,

I say have him face BJ in a straight up grappling exhibition

There's no point having him annihilated and embarrassed in front of his home fans and probably his entire family. Have him facing BJ would at least allow him to perform against a big name fighter who is incredibly talented on the ground. If not BJ maybe Sotoropadopalos the dinosaur or someone.

Art Jimmerson is still employed by Zuffa as a boxing coach at the UFC gym. Maybe that rematch could bring back some fond memories?

Moose Stuff For Money... wrote:Art Jimmerson is still employed by Zuffa as a boxing coach at the UFC gym. Maybe that rematch could bring back some fond memories?

on a sidenote of old ufc talent ken shamrock is paying tank abbott to fight him in april.

Anfields5thKing wrote:I say have him face BJ in a straight up grappling exhibition

There's no point having him annihilated and embarrassed in front of his home fans and probably his entire family. Have him facing BJ would at least allow him to perform against a big name fighter who is incredibly talented on the ground. If not BJ maybe Sotoropadopalos the dinosaur or someone.

agree with this,but at a expo or something not the event.No fun for anyone watching another hughes style beating.

Oleg Taktarov had a business meeting with UFC owners Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta, to discuss the prospects of mutual cooperation and the selection of the best MMA fighters from what used to be the USSR. Taktarov has repeatedly talked about the hard road that he had to travel to the UFC. Thanks to cooperation with Taktarov, Russian and Eastern European fighters should have an easier time in future.




or is this Royce's next opponent

Increasing Speculation That He Will Fight at UFC Rio: Royce Gracie Reportedly Pulls Out of UK Seminar Tour to Focus on Training for Fight in August


CagePotato.com received word over the weekend from a source close to the situation that Royce Gracie has cancelled the European leg of his spring seminar tour and that the official reason given to the group organizing his UK appearances (NJM promotions) is that the UFC Hall-of-Famer has accepted an offer from the promotion to fight on its August 27 card in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

According to NJM, Gracie’s manager, Mike Kogan revealed the news to them, which was relayed to the seminar host gyms in an effort to explain why the 44-year-old UFC 1, 2 and 4 tournament winner would not be able to make his scheduled appearances in England.

When contacted by us today via email to ask if Royce has indeed signed on to fight on the card, and if so, whom he will face, Kogan did not deny the stated reason for his client pulling out of his European tour, but said that nothing is official YET.

“We are talking about fighting in August,” Kogan confirmed. “Nothing is locked down, no.”

No potential opponents have been named for his possible return to the Octagon, but a few names come that with pre-built story lines would make sense.

Following his UFC 60 loss to Matt Hughes in 2006, Gracie expressed his desire to rematch the former UFC welterweight champ, explaining that he overtrained for the bout and didn’t perform as expected as a result, so a rematch would make sense, but there are at least two other opponents that would make sense, especially for a card set in Brazil.

With BJ Penn’s past history with Royce’s cousins Ralph, who calls “The Prodigy” a traitor for leaving him to train at Nova Uniao before calling out his brother Renzo for a 2005 K-1 bout, that’s another grudge match that wouldn’t take much marketing to sell. A third possible scenario would see the UFC sign Kazushi Sakuraba to face Gracie in a heavily-anticipated rubber match. In their last fight — a June 2007 Dynamite!! USA bout in California, Royce defeated “The Gracie Killer” by unanimous decision, but subsequently tested positive for the anabolic steroid Nandralone. He has disputed the test results for the past four years, claiming that the accusation that he uses PEDs is preposterous as he weighs just two pounds more than he did when he made his UFC debut in 1993. Sakuraba defeated Royce in 2000 by TKO and has beaten Royler, Renzo and Ryan Gracie, which is how he earned his nickname.

Considering that the show is nearly five months away and that there are a number of other suitable opponents from Dan Hardy to Mike Swick whose stock in the Octagon would benefit from a fight with a legend like Gracie, it’s likely that we won’t know until April or May if and whom Royce will fight on the card.

http://www.cagepotato.com/increasing-speculation-that-he-will-fight-at-ufc-rio-royce-gracie-reportedly-pulls-out-of-uk-seminar-tour-to-focus-on-training-for-fight-in-august/

Herschel Walker?