Rickson Gracie Not Fan of McGregor vs Mayweather
BJJ legend Rickson Gracie talks about the difference between the sport of Mixed Martial Arts today. And how it used to be back in his days. Now, in much the same way as BJJ. Fighters are trying to play it safe once they know they have the fight won when ahead on points. Now things are more about simply winning, rather than the honour aspect of the fight.
Now he believes it has become more about entertainment than the moral aspect of the fight itself. When asked about the Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather fight. Rickson isn’t at all interested and didn’t even watch the fight. It’s great for Mayweather, great for Conor McGregor. Great for the UFC, but terrible for the sport and terrible for the audience.
He believes that nobody wins in that fight except for the guys that made a load of money. Rickson says that he doesn’t mind too much that it has become about the entertainment aspect. But that he himself just cannot relate to it. But they aren’t trying to see who is the best fighter out there. They are just trying to bring great entertainment circus and that’s what it is.
Which Fighter is Rickson a Fan of Nowadays
Currently, Rickson is a fan of Demian Maia because he brings the Jiu-Jitsu. He fights with the goal to be the best guy out there regardless. What he does in the first round is what he does in the last round. Get in there and try and submit a guy as quickly as possible. But Rickson says that he does feel the rules now in MMA diminish the chances for the grapplers.
Chael and co-host end up chatting about a famous fight on the beach in Rio. Where Rickson and Hugo Duarte who had opposing gyms, met up to settle their dispute. The pair basically fights it out in front of the entire beach and the guys from their gyms. In what became a famous incident in the BJJ world.