why do fans think so highly of rickson gracie?

Question

considering his toughest opponent was a pro wrestler called nubohiko (the work) takada?

im not doubting his bjj but as far as mma goes the likes of fedor emelienenko, big nog, liddell, hughes, gsp, wandy, shogun and many more would destroy rickson

Answer 1

His image comes from the fact that he is in fact a gracie and his father was helio.

Which of course the gracie name carries with it noteriety.
Rickson would of course have a tough time with anyone today as he is 49 years old.

However much of his noteriety comes from the fact that he has a professional record which is undefeated (although it is not a particularly large record) he does have "claims" of being undefeated in 400+ fights that were unsanctioned. Normally people would scoff at any such claim but I think the fact that he is a gracie, the gracie reputation adds credibility to such a claim.

Just like people believe that bruce lee claims to have fought "unsanctioned" full contact fights and he has had NO professional record ever. And no proof that any fight took place. But his reputation as built up by fanboys has people believing it. Is it any surprise that someone with an actual fight record would have people believing the same as it is much much less of a stretch?

Alot of gracie nut hugging can also be compared to the nut hugging of bruce lee fans. I bet the gracie name even translates to who you would rather bone:

Kyra Gracie:
http://www.graciebarra.jp/res/photo/kyra.jpg

Diana Insonato:
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/hh/0409262/HH/0409262/iid_890121.jpg.html?path=pgallery&path_key=Inosanto,%20Diana%20Lee

I'll bet most of you went with the gracie name before looking at the pics right?

Answer 2

I honestly don't know. In this particular case, less rules favor Bruce because Bruce is known to have heavily practiced eye gouges and other similar brutal techniques. But that doesn't stop Rickson from doing the same, which I imagine makes him just as equally dangerous. Bruce was an advocate of doing "anything that worked" - that is the basis of Jeet Kun Do. But Gracie Jiu-jitsu has been successfully proven and tested under all kinds of real combat conditions. If Bruce could avoid being taken down, he could pick at Rickson with various types of strikes to the face. Bruce would have to pound away here and there, keep the fight active, and hope he could swell Rickson's eyes up with shots. He would then have to measure a disabled Rickson and unleash strikes at him until Rickson is KO'd or dead. If Rickson were to take Bruce to the ground, Bruce would have to immediately work his way up to the feet again to keep the fight going. There is no question that Bruce would have a broken limb(s) or be choked unconscious or dead in minutes. Fighting Rickson on the ground is tantamount to a death sentence. Rickson was an expert in taking it to the ground so I see Bruce jumping around all over the place. A larger fighting area favors Bruce. A smaller fighting area favors Rickson. Bruce was about 5'7" - 140 lbs. Rickson is 5'10" or 5"11" - 190 lbs. We will never really know. Unless a genius creates a computer program that calculates each fighter's traits and abilities and tests them against each other under literally millions of different types of scenarios many times over.

Answer 3

First of all, you answered your own question. They are FANS! Every athlete has fans who think they are better than everyone else.

If you look back at Rickson during his prime, he was fighting in Japan as Royce was introducing the world to BJJ. Royce made a name for himself particularly because he wasn't the biggest dog in the fight. He was a smaller guy who dominated the early UFC (a.k.a. Gracie Jujitsu infomercial). After seeing what Royce did and then seeing the larger, more intimidating Rickson, people concluded that if a guy like Royce could steamroll through the UFC, then Rickson must be a monster. Whether this was true or not is irrelevant since Rickson continued to fight in Japan and few Americans ever got a chance to actually see him fight.

There are many fighters out there that I would consider to be formidable opponents to any of the current UFC or Pride circuits, but they choose not to compete in those arenas for their own reasons. It would be disrespectful and foolish to assume that they don't compete because they aren't good enough. The same could be said about the Presidency. Most of the people that are qualified to do the job are smart enough not to run. We are left with those that stay in the race.

Answer 4

Perhaps the fans have seen more fight footage,personally I've only seen 2x 30sec clips of Rickson Gracie fighting although he did look quite impressive.

Yes he would have his hands full if he fought Chuck Liddell
but cant see that happening as Rickson Gracie is that bit older.

But yes I would certainly like to see more footage of Rickson Gracie.

As to allow a comparison

Hope this helps

Answer 5

I think before people start Gracie 'knocking' they should consider what the Gracie family have brought to the Martial Arts. They (and to a large extent Ricksen himself) broke new ground which others have followed and no doubt will improve upon. In just about every sport the athletes get bigger, better, faster stronger due to new training methods and sports science. I work for a nuitritional products company and I know for a fact athletes (and we can include MMA competitors in that) nowadays have a distinct advantage over predecessors.

Answer 6

It was a different era in the MMA fight scene, so comparing older fighters to new ones is ridiculous. It's like comparing George Mikan to Shaquille O'neal, obviously O'neal is better, but you have to consider it was guys like Mikan who helped the game evolve and the players nowadays would not be where there at if it were'nt for the ones that came before them. You can't just throw away history like it was meaningless, thats disrespectful to our past and if you can't respect them you will lack understanding of the true nature of things.

Answer 7

Supposedly he is one of the best sports BJJ grappler ever with a record of 400-0 although everyone knows he lost at least one match.

Nobody says he is the best MMA fighter. I haven't heard anyone who thinks he could beat Fedor for example.

Answer 8

because he's a gracie...and heaven forbid anyone say anything bad about a gracie
even though theres plenty of better fighters out there

Answer 9

He's the grandson (or is it great grandson?) of the inventor of BJJ for one thing. Also being the first UFC champion is a pretty big feather in his cap even if his competition wasn't as good as the new champions have been.

Answer 10

I agree with you...they hear the name Gracie and think wow!