| It was the damnest thing I ever saw. I first saw | | | | whole match. But right at the last second, Dan |
| this guy, Royce (pronounced like Hoyce - the R is | | | | Severn taps out! I and the rest of us onlookers |
| an H sound, the guy is Brazilian!) Gracie at the first | | | | freaked out. Gracie got him in an arm bar and |
| ever Ultimate Fighting Championship. I was kind of | | | | that was that. Victory for Gracie and Brazilian |
| underwhelmed, I must say. | | | | Jujitsu. A Hero was born. |
| First off, for a little history lesson. The Gracies go | | | | Up to that point in time, no one really understood |
| way back in the world of Jujitsu. When young | | | | the importance of having a killer ground game in |
| Royce was just a kid, his grandfather Helio taught | | | | martial arts. No one had done the types of things |
| him everything he needed to know to win | | | | Gracie did. No one knew them. But after Gracie |
| tournaments. At age eight, little Royce started | | | | captured three UFC titles, people were talking |
| competing in tournaments. And he started winning | | | | about jujitsu, believe you me! It changed |
| all the time. | | | | everything. Technique was critical from that point |
| So, here I am at the first ever UFC tournament | | | | on. Everybody was scrambling to figure the next |
| seeing this dude I never heard of choke out men | | | | best submission move to get their opponents to |
| so much huger than he was, they looked like they | | | | tap out like Royce was doing to everyone. The |
| could take his lunch money. I remember thinking, | | | | smaller man now had an advantage if he knew |
| is this hombre for real? He is 180 pounds, but a | | | | what he was doing. |
| rangy 180, you know? He was skinny and did not | | | | So the world took notice of a fighting style that |
| look too strong. He certainly was not muscular or | | | | had been perfected by the Gracie family for over |
| anything. | | | | 7 decades. Watching him fight with guts and skill |
| You see, I always heard you get two martial | | | | made me a big fan of mixed martial arts. The |
| artists, both of them talended and the bigger guy | | | | sport received publicity and legitimacy the day he |
| wins, 9 times out of 10. That is how it is | | | | hit the scene. When he won the tournament and |
| supposed to work, right? Not with Gracie. I saw | | | | starting setting records, it was like everyone else |
| him get hammered one time against a monster | | | | came on board and the sport blew up in |
| named Dan Severn. He must have outweighed | | | | popularity from there. The world of mixed martial |
| Gracie close to a hundred pounds! Severn picked | | | | arts would not be what it is today without Royce |
| Gracie up and slammed him back down to the | | | | Gracie and his family doing what they did for the |
| mat a dozen times. He was on top of him the | | | | sport. |