After his loss to Penn, Hughes' bjj skills improved and he executed a perfect spinning arm bar against GSP.
This fight will answer the quetsion:
Can the difference between black and purple in Gracie jiu-jitsu overcome a strength advantage in an MMA match?
I can't wait to find out.
hughes DOMINATES! end of thread
worst case scenario: Hughes gets takedown and lays in Royce's guard (Shammy style) most of the fight, and the ignorant judges give Hughes the nod for having the top position.
outside of that possibility, it should be a good fight.
btw, I like that these mma noobs think Hughes will win. More money for me. :)
danield. i hate to see you lose all your money,but i would love to take it
no doubt MMA has improved since '95 (Royce's last octagon appearance), but we'll see if Royce has improved with it.
Is a strong purple with wrestling skills better than a GJJ black belt taught by Helio Gracie himself?
I don't think so, but we'll see.
common sense has to tell you that hughes will win this fight! i know royce has fans and the fans hears want him to win, but its more than likely not going to be a good night for him
IF Hughes dominates Royce, that would easily be the biggest "passing of the torch" in UFC history.
I notice it's mostly the noobs who are SURE Hughes will win. They are the modern day Jim Browns.
what makes one a "noob",DanielD? is your member since on this site when you first started keeping up with mma?
I have to admit, I came on the scene a little late, I discivered mma at UFC 2.
How about you?
ufc 2 myself
Daniel D: Did you happen to miss all the UFC's inbetween now and then? Hughes will dominate a 40 year old Royce in every way. Yes, even grappling. At least positionally, anyway. What exactly do you think Royce is going to do to Hughes that Newton couldn't?
Royce knows his shit, but he only looked so awesome in the early UFCs because his opponents didn't even know enough about grappling to know what Royce was doing to them until the submission was locked. Hughes is younger, he is stronger and he has faced WAY better competition. Royce recently drew with a 143 pound Shooto journeyman in Hideo Tokoro.
Knowing all this, you'd have to be retarded pick Royce.
"Is a strong purple with wrestling skills better than a GJJ black belt taught by Helio Gracie himself?
I don't think so, but we'll see. "
Nice trolling.
"Can the difference between black and purple in Gracie jiu-jitsu overcome a strength advantage in an MMA match?"
Lol, enought with the belt shit already.
LOL! :)
Does Hughes have an actual BJJ purple belt or is that the level you are basing his no-gi skills at?
You do realize that grapplers with no bjj rank have beaten Gracies in no-gi grappling competition.
Now add the strikes... I really don't see why even bother mentioning the belt ranks. I would be more concerned with the fight records and stats if anything...
I know this is a troll post but I had to bite! :)
I believe Royce will take it out, and I'm willing to money on it. In fact I have.
Marcos,
I'm estimating Hughes to be a bjj purple based on submission skills. Since getting subbed by BJ Penn, he's had submission victories over GSP and Riggs.
He also shows good submission knowlege on Bas Rutten's Big DVD's of Combat set as a guest instructor.
I also specified Royce as having "Gracie" jiu-jitsu skills vs. Brazilian jiu-jitsu, as Royce has been trained since he was a kid for reality fighting vs. the point fighting of grappling tournaments.
I mentioned belt ranks as a way of comparing submission knowledge. When Royce was winning UFC's on a regular basis, most current top fighters (including Hughes) had no knowledge of submission.
Maybe Hughes and the top MMA fighters have evolved to the point where GJJ knowledge is eclipsed?
You make an excellent point about Royce's age (40). And most people are under the impression that Royce has not evolved at all since his last UFC.
Royce is at a big physical disadvantage, but I think his fighting knowledge will help him overcome that.
Hopefully this fight will answer these questions, which is why I think it's a perfect fight for Royce.
both brain and heart says: Royce wins!