Royce Gracie was one of the reasons the UFC came into being. When plans were being made for the inaugural UFC 1 tournament, Royce's brother Rorion hand picked him to represent the Gracie family and show that technique could overcome size. Royce did exactly that, submitting all three opponents within three minutes and had similar success at the UFC 2 tournament. However, at the UFC 3 tournament, Royce withdrew when he was too exhausted to continue following a match with Kimo Leopoldo. He returned to his winning ways at the UFC 4 tournament and drew with Ken Shamrock before leaving the UFC due to his families dispute with the increased number of rules. Royce would spend almost five years off before returning to action in Pride FC. The problem was that rules had become more prevalent and because of this Royce only fought an average of once a year. In his last seven matches, Royce won three matches, lost two and drew in two special rules matches. The problem with Royce's latter part of the career is that MMA changed to a more well rounded fighting style. Royce Gracie was and is to this day a life long grappler and as a result never adjusted his style.
Matthew Salzer fell in love with Mixed Martial Arts when he watched Pride Fighting Championships on Japanese TV. He is a lifelong wrestler having earned a Bachelor of Science at Missouri Baptist University. Matthew is the Senior Editor at MMA Freak and has written for Funky Monkey MMA, H4 Entertainment, and MMA Fiends.
