I think it was Roy Harris that described Rickson Gracie as a 400lb mind reading anaconda. Time and time again, world champions in jujitsu would make the pilgrimage to Rickson only to be flummoxed at how quickly they were tapped out.
Back in the day, around UFC 2, I was training with Fabio Santos. Fabio had been with the Gracie family for 15-20 years and had just started his new studio in San Diego. I got in on the ground floor. Dean Lister just got his blue belt and was interested in a little known grappling tourni called I think "Neutral Grounds". That's how far back we're going.
Fabio, hand down, called Rickson the best of the best, and this is when Royce Gracie was the darling of the martial arts world. Fabio also talked about Rolls Gracie, saying he was the last person to submit Rickson. "Mean as a snake", Fabio said of Rolls.
I never did meet Rickson. I met Rorion, Royce, I even met Helio Gracie at Torrence, and had a conversation with him through an interpreter. "Do you know who this man is?" the interpreter first said to me, "Yes I know who this man is", I said.
Being primarily a boxer at the time, I told Helio how fascinated I was with Grappling and how dominant it played out. At the time most thought that striking arts were shown up and dead.
"Do NOT forget your boxing... when you learn enough grappling, your boxing will be critical." The old man was prescient to me, but he'd lived it for years.
Anyways, back to San Diego - Fabio Showed me a grainy match between Rickson and Rigan Machado that was phenomenal. Fabio turned to me and said, "How can you score a match like that? It's impossible!"
Rickson Gracie was absolutely a legend in those days. For those of us who lived it, he will always hold a special place in the world of grappling, of Brazilian Jujitsu and Mixed Martial Arts.
Please share with us your stories, your pictures, your videos of a true living legend of martial arts - Rickson Gracie.
The video I've posted is of Rickson rolling with Pedro Sauer.
Is Fabio the fellow that eventually went to Abu Dabi ?
Met the prince while he was in CA for school ?
No, that was Nelson Monteiro. Nelson met the prince for private lessons. The prince was so fascinated and impressed, he flew Nelson out to Abu Dhabi. The top military martial arts instructor took umbrage to Nelson's favored status and challenged him to a true NHB match in front of the royal family.
Nelson choked him out in 20 seconds.
I took lessons from Nelson Monteiro. He had just bought a very used pick up truck and he thought he was a rich man. Had his freshly opened, very small studio close to Del Mar racetrack.<br />What a fantasy to have those private lessons lead to that ticket of fame and wealth.<br />One of my memories of that time was their reaction to Kimo coming a whisker away from kicking Royce's butt. They realized some of the lustre of BJJ invincibility was going away.<br />The concept of no weight classes was always goofy.
goodson,
I probably knew you. That studio was on Jimmy Durante blvd in Del Mar.
That match against Rigan...if I remember correctly, Rickson had come straight from the hospital, hadn't had any sleep. Was it the birth of one of his boys or something? Maybe I'm thinking of another match. But if it's the correct one, Rickson was far from rested, but was just that fierce of a competitor.
RevivalFire,
I didn't hear any story behind the match... just that it was, clearly, a fierce match!
Maybe. He wasn't there long and I only took privates. I then took some classes at Roy Harris. Moved to Irvine area, took lessons under a blue belt at the time, John Jensen?, then it switched to Chris Brennan and after about three months of that, I decided I was too old for training.
I love reading stories like these
Great thread op. It's always cool to hear from people who were involved in some way with Rickson, or just the Gracies in general.
For those of you who got into MMA late, it really was the wild west in those days. I remember grappling with people who would think they would kick my ass, and choking them out like children. No one knew this stuff back then.
You had no idea who would show up in those ufc days. For all the shit Fred Ettish has taken, take my word for it - he had enormous courage. You could fight anyone of any style at any weight in a no rules fight. Ettish stepped up to fight. He has my respect BIG TIME... and anyone who's actually laced it up understands what I mean.
Kimo vs Royce was a big deal. Royce said he couldn't see Harold Howard on the other side of the ring. Howard was a wildman, doing a summersault kick in the middle of the ring. Big guy, about 220lbs. Everyone was blaming "the gracie diet" on Royce's "cognitive malfunction".
Yep Sergio not Rigan match when he came from the hospital.
Ah ok, thank you for clarifying. I love seeing those old videos! I can't imagine what it must have been like to have been there when most if not all of that original talent was all in one central location before branching out around the world.
I love Fabio...I don't know that I was ever formally introduced to him, but he reffed an inordinate amount of my matches, and he was always extremely nice to me. Back in the day in the big Cali tournaments, it was hard to get black belt super-fight matches, because back then a loss was unforgivable and could be devastating for your school. So even when they could get one going, they usually played extremely conservative (boring). Well at one tournament to my surprise, Fabio was fighting. I was like how old is this guy and he's willing to fight? Awesome! Then the match started and the first thing he does is go for a flying armbar...attack after attack...I became a mega-fan of the man for life.
I love the way Rickson took Pedro's back at about 50 seconds of the 1st video. Awesome.
Rastus - For those of you who got into MMA late, it really was the wild west in those days. I remember grappling with people who would think they would kick my ass, and choking them out like children. No one knew this stuff back then.absolutely rastus.
You had no idea who would show up in those ufc days. For all the shit Fred Ettish has taken, take my word for it - he had enormous courage. You could fight anyone of any style at any weight in a no rules fight. Ettish stepped up to fight. He has my respect BIG TIME... and anyone who's actually laced it up understands what I mean.
Kimo vs Royce was a big deal. Royce said he couldn't see Harold Howard on the other side of the ring. Howard was a wildman, doing a summersault kick in the middle of the ring. Big guy, about 220lbs. Everyone was blaming "the gracie diet" on Royce's "cognitive malfunction".
it takes balls to step in to a cage. End of Story.
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ChipW - I love the way Rickson took Pedro's back at about 50 seconds of the 1st video. Awesome.
True dat!
I used to train with Fabio and Kid P back in 2000, I lived in MA and tossed everything I had in the back of my car and drove cross country met Dean Lister who was a brown belt and getting ready for king of cage.
Those were the days everyone wore Rickson patches it was great. 