Was the early UFC matches deliberately rigged to make the Gracie's win?

Answer 1

No, jiu jitsu is a very effective martial art and even more effective against fighters who have never seen it before and have no idea how to defend against submissions. But it has been made public that the several of the fights in Pride 1-3 were rigged to show the effectiveness of certain martial arts.

Answer 2

Yes and No. The ring and mat material favored ground fighting. If you notice in the early days, people's footing while standing was very "off balance" and slippery. Not because they sucked, but the floor was more of a "grappler's advantage."

While the matches running long in length weren't exactly a "cheat" or "rigged" action. It also favored grappling. I will say though that this is the advantage of grappling. You burn less energy over a set period of time than in striking. Therefore you can go longer. A lot of those matches were simply outlasting the opponent. However a 20 minute match on the ground, while victorious, is not exactly the best show of effectiveness for any art. If it takes twenty minutes.....

The Gracie's are good fighter's. However they have always chosen opponent's carefully. They have not accepted every challenge issued to them. They have never denied a challenge either though. Sometimes simiply "not hearing" goes a long way. They did help organize and plan the first UFC's. They helped design the ring, the mat, the whole thing. Whether intentional or not, that format was condusive for grappling versus standing.

All that being said.. I've seen the matches from the early days (back when they weren't "the early days.") and I think they would have won those events anyhow. Regardless of the mat surface. SO.. yes they had an advantage, no I don't thing it made a difference.

Answer 3

No dude back in 93' when the UFC started being televised not many people knew MMA (Mix Martial Arts) like many people know it now days. But the Gracies had so much knowledge on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu that was not really all that complicated for any of them, specially Royce Gracie, to beat up big muscle guys because of their lack of knowledge in the submission game. I don't know if you have seen early Royce Gracie fights but there's was one time when Royce dislocated a fighter's elbow joint and I doubt that was a rigged fight. Now days the Gracies are not doing as good as they did back then because fighters have more knowledge, with the exeption of Rickson Gracie who is kicking a lot of butt in Japan on the Pride Fight.

Answer 4

No, it is just that most of the other fighters did not have an answer to the submissions that are the crux of Gracie Jujitsu. Fighters now are much more well rounded, and many of them have taken a page out of the Gracie's book. Also, new regulations have 'civilized' the sport, and some of the Gracie's fights were a little bit dirty.

Answer 5

No, because Jiujitsu is extremely effective against opponents who are not skilled in it and the Gracies are excellent practitioners of Jiujitsu. The reason that the Gracies lost their dominance in the UFC is that fighters evolved and began to incorporate Jiujitsu and submission fighting into their games and became more capable to deal with what the Gracies were using.

Answer 6

No They are Skilled Fighters
from a non UFC fan

Answer 7

no. the inclusion of BJJ and their high ability in it showed it to be superior to the beliefs at that time. through their participation, the world changed focus and started to take JJ and BJJ more seriously.

so now the fighters are functional in it to a better degree.

Answer 8

No.