10 MMA Fights That Changed The Business
3. UFC 3: Gracie def. Kimo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTSujCNrq9oUFC 3 was the first UFC Tournament that Royce Gracie failed to win, but it surely wasnt due to lack of effort. UFC 3 was structured in the hopes of Gracie and Shamrock meeting again in a high profile rematch. Unfortunately, Shamrock suffered an injury after his second round contest and Gracie was forced to forfeit his second round match altogether.
The UFC decided to have Gracie fight the heavyweight Kimo in the first round match, because apparently they couldnt legally force Gracie to fight a bear. A beast of a man, Kimo outweighed the wire-framed Jiu Jitsu expert by north of 60 pounds. Not one to be intimidated by any man, Gracie went right after Kimo and, after extensive effort, finally secured an arm bar for a victory at 4:40.
The fight was such an uphill battle for Gracie that he was forced to withdraw from the rest of the tournament due to exhaustion. This was the first UFC fight to really sell how important BJJ is to the arsenal of a fighter. Where Gracie had previously dominated some unknowing or incompetent fighters from the first two UFC tournaments, his fight with Kimo showcased how the discipline could be used to endure and overcome an opponent that is twice as big and twice as strong.