Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

http://www.ufc.tv/index.cfm?fa=news.Detail&gid=2098

does this go in sports?

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

Matt Hughes by GNP.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

Not a big fan of this match-up at all. This is going to delay the fights I want to see Matt in such as vs. BJ Penn or rematch with GSP. Also, Karo looks like he is not getting his shot now.

Don't get me wrong though, I still want to see Royce choke him out bad.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

Hughes's strength is his strength. Royce was able to handle Severn (270 lbs.), Kimo (270 lbs., and Shamrock (220 lbs.) while only weighing 170 pounds himself. And before you say, "Wait a minute! Those old school guys weren't as evolved as today's fighters!" let me remind you that Royce pwned Judo Golde medalist Yoshida who weighed 225 pounds and who beat Bob Sapp in tug-of-war contest on a Japanese gameshow.

Hughes's strength will be totally nullified.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

I'm just getting back into UFC. What has Grace been up to over the past 5 or so years, he has go to be mid 40's by now. Is age going to be a deciding factor?

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

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I'm just getting back into UFC. What has Grace been up to over the past 5 or so years, he has go to be mid 40's by now. Is age going to be a deciding factor?

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Probably not. He fought a 90 minute fight with Kazushi Sakuraba, so I think he's got the stamina. Hughes may be strong, but Royce has fought strong people before. Hughes would probably do well to keep the fight off the ground and take a page out of Sakuraba's book.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

pig,

Severn, Kimo, and the Shamrock in match 1 were all horrible at submission defense. Also I recall Kimo effectively ended the tournament for Gracie due to injuries. Kimo wins that fight 2 out of 3 times.

With that said, the rules will play a huge factor here. If it's a 90 minute no stoppage / no forced standup fight, Gracie will have a big advantage. If it's the standard UFC rules, Gracie will need to get very lucky.

J

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

Does Royce get to wear a gi to choke his opponents with?


I hope Matt Hughes beats him into a coma. I freakin' hate Gracie.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

Announcer: "do you think the game has passed Royce Gracie by"
Hughes: "yes"

what a [censored] d-bag. also, on ultimate fighter season 2, he was a dick. I hope Royce dominates

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

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Does Royce get to wear a gi to choke his opponents with?


I hope Matt Hughes beats him into a coma. I freakin' hate Gracie.

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He can, but he doesn't always wear one now. He used to wear one all the time, but now that people are getting wise to jiu-jitsu I think he'll drop it totally.

I think Hughes has to keep the fight standing. Royce doesn't have knockout power and his standup striking is pretty shabby.

Royce otoh, has to do the opposite. Go to the ground (probably by pulling guard) and stay busy to avoid being stood up. Royce is technical enough, imo, to keep Matt in defend mode on the ground which means he'll come out ahead in the judges eyes. If this match has normal time limits, I think Royce wins by decision unless Hughes royally screws up.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

bcpvp,

How precisely is Royce going to win a decision if he pulls guard and lies on his back? Hughes would simply GNP like always and take the decision unless he gets submitted.

No way this stays standing.

The gi would probably help Royce.

J

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

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How precisely is Royce going to win a decision if he pulls guard and lies on his back?

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...and stays busy. Of course he can't just lie there and take shots. But his standup skills are bad so he can't win the fight standing. He HAS to go to the ground.

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Hughes would simply GNP like always and take the decision unless he gets submitted.

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This is why Royce has to stay busy. He has to keep Matt on defense to avoid the GNP.

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No way this stays standing.

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Probably not. But that is what Hughes should strive to accomplish. He wins standing. He probably loses on the ground.

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The gi would probably help Royce.

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Maybe. If it goes a while, it'll mop up the sweat.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

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I'm just getting back into UFC. What has Grace been up to over the past 5 or so years, he has go to be mid 40's by now. Is age going to be a deciding factor?

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I don't know if his father is still alive or not, but I think he was still able to kick some ass.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

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[ QUOTE ]
I'm just getting back into UFC. What has Grace been up to over the past 5 or so years, he has go to be mid 40's by now. Is age going to be a deciding factor?

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I don't know if his father is still alive or not, but I think he was still able to kick some ass.

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As far as I know, Helio is still alive and still practicing bjj.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

How precisely is Royce going to win a decision if he pulls guard and lies on his back?

Did you see the fight between Hughes and Charuto? Most of the fight was with Hughes in Charuto's guard and Hughes did very little GNP. IMO, that fight is an excellent example of the difficulties Hughes will face with Gracie on the ground. Hughes won the fight against Charuto by unanimous decision, but Hughes definitly didn't dominate.

OTOH, Hughes' submissions seems to be improving. It will definitely make for an interesting fight.

Cup

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

General comments on this thread:

Gracie hardly "dominated" Yoshida in their two matches in Pride. In their first matchup (a grappling-only match) Yoshida won, albeit with some controversey. Their second match was a full MMA match that Gracie dominated but didn't technically win (he actually had insisted on a no judges' decision stipulation!)

UFC follows NSAC regulations which won't allow him to wear a gi. Assuming this is a title fight it will have 5 5 minute rounds scored on a 10 point must system.

I'd put Hughes at about a 4-1 favorite.

If it matters Gracie recently fought a mediocre Japanese fighter (Hiedo Tokoro) to a draw in K1's New Year's Eve show.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

bdk,

That all assumes that the fight is under standard UFC rules. Royce would be foolish to do 5 5 minute rounds.

Inthacup,

Thus my point, Royce cannot simply pull guard and win a decision as another poster alleged. That is nonsensical.

J

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

Gracie fought a mediocre fighter (Tokoro) that he outweighed by 30 pounds on New Years and looked like crap. Hughes probably wins with ease.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

i think the only factor to consider is whether they go rounds or not.If Gracie is able to play the "waiting"game on the ground -he will win.I really dont think this will happen due to no action and that being said Hughes will win.Garcie's strenght is on the ground and not on his feet although he is tough enough to take a shot or two on his feet to get the match on the ground but the continual breakups and standing the fighters up will do Gracie in.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

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Inthacup,

Thus my point, Royce cannot simply pull guard and win a decision as another poster alleged. That is nonsensical.

J

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I thought I covered this. Of course Royce can't just pull guard and win. I'm quite sure I said Royce has to be working hard while on the ground or else 1) they'll get stood up (what Hughes probably wants) or 2) Hughes can GNP (also what Hughes wants). Royce has to be active on the ground or else it's Hughes' fight. IF Royce attacks Hughes on the ground then Matt will have to play defense and won't be able to GNP.

Hughes would do well to just stay standing. Royce is a tough bastard (evidenced by the Saku fight), but you just need to keep chopping away and not fight on his terms.

I guess the real questions are will there be rounds and will there be any judges' decisions?

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

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bdk,

That all assumes that the fight is under standard UFC rules. Royce would be foolish to do 5 5 minute rounds.

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I don't think you understand how UFC operates--all their events take place under rules established by the NSAC and are shared by other states UFC events take place in (mainly New Jersey and Florida recently.) NSAC MMA regulations include things like equipment, round structures, rules, and judging.

All fights are done with 5 minute rounds (3 rounds for non-title fights, 5 rounds for title fights, which this will presumably be) and scored with a 10 point must system.

UFC doesn't determine its own rules. They have to petition NSAC for all rule changes (such as allowing restarts on the ground, which was recently introduced.) Other than that they just have to do what NSAC tells them.

Gracie has made weird stipulations when fighting in Japan for Pride (including unlimited 10-minute rounds vs. Sakuraba , no strikes on the ground in the first fight against Yoshida, and no judges decisions in the second fight against Yoshida) but won't be able to make such demands to UFC directly. NSAC might change their rules but I doubt it.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

i predict matt will win on the ground.

i really wana see GSP vs matt. gsp is like the next bruce lee imo.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

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Does Royce get to wear a gi to choke his opponents with?


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He didn't wear a gi his fight with Akebono a year ago.

http://www.youtube.com/w/Royce-Gracie-vs...%20mma%20humour

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

Royce dominated the Tokoro fight, it was a draw because he had the same "win only by submission or knockout" rule that was in place in the Yoshida fight. Royce doesn't want a decision loss on his record, so he asks for that rule. It will be interesting to see what the rules are in the Hughes fight.

Assuming it's standard UFC rules, I think this is a tough fight for Royce to win. Hughes has been vulnerable to submissions (Charuto should have tapped him, and Hallman did twice, also Newton was very close), but all those guys are slicker than Royce on the ground. Royce's strength is his ground defense not his submissions.

I'm excited to see it. Should be a good fight, although I'd rather see BJ smoke Hughes again.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

Matt Hughes is gonna pound Royce's skull in. I hope Royce is gettting well paid for this. He might have a slight chance in a ring but in the cage he's gonna get his [censored] ruined.

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Gracie hardly "dominated" Yoshida in their two matches in Pride. In their first matchup (a grappling-only match) Yoshida won, albeit with some controversey. Their second match was a full MMA match that Gracie dominated but didn't technically win (he actually had insisted on a no judges' decision stipulation!)

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If by "some controversy" you mean Yoshida won via complete BS, then I agree. He insisted on no judge's decision because he knew if it came down to JD he'd get hosed. I love PRIDE but those refs and judges are biased as [censored] to Japanese fighters, especially when it concerns national heroes like Yoshida.

I suppose you'd say Takada beat Coleman with "some controversy" as well?
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UFC follows NSAC regulations which won't allow him to wear a gi. Assuming this is a title fight it will have 5 5 minute rounds scored on a 10 point must system.

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Not a title fight.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

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Not a title fight.

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Then it'll be 3 5 minute rounds like every other non-title UFC fight.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

Just clearing up some thing for the thread.

-3 5 minute rounds
-the fight will be at 175, so no title fight
-Royce can not wear the gi

The more I talk about this fight the more I hate that match up. I think it is a stupid move to get Royce for one fight and have him go against somebody with a different and sometimes boring style...and Royce isn't exactly mr. excitement either. This could end up easily being a three round snooze fest with Hughes in the guard not moving.

I would love to see Royce vs. BJ Penn...now that would be a fight. Both are great BJJ guys and BJ does have some heat with the Gracie family. I think the only thing that can save it is that maybe Royce or Hughes gets hurt in training and they have to take another fight.

Re: Royce Gracie vs Matt Hughes in May
 

This should be in Sporting Events, methinks