Pancrace, Rings, The UFC, shooto & others were absolutely not MMA. How could they be? That term MMA back then wasn’t even made up yet. UFC was NHB (no holds barred),Pancrace was Hybrid Wrestling using catch wrestling as a base. Rings was a convoluted mix of works, shoots & Hype. The sport of MMA didn’t happen until years later. In the UFC we weren’t even a sport, banned in a ton of states & considered a Bloodsport. You can’t trace anything back to the beginnings of MMA cuz back then that Mixed Martial Art scene was non-existent . We fought .mma came later with it’s rules, drug tests, and sissified shit til it’s now unwatchable.
It was 450-0 two years ago.
Wild that people are still discussing Rickson’s ‘record’ in 2023.
His autobiography is an interesting warts-and-all read and puts to rest a good chunk of the Rickson mythology on its own. And its his own book.
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Was 400-0 for ages… now it’s 450? Fuck right on off.
Hasn’t been two years.I was looking at an old post of mine wrong.
But yeah,he is claiming 450-0 now.
There’s a whole thread about that too.
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Not gayer than your username
When you are a red belt you accumulate wins by not competing
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Look at who he fought…
At Pride 4 he could’ve faced Kerr, Ruas, Saku, Goes, Wallid, Igor or Goodridge. Instead he rematched Takada who was coming off a win in a fixed fight against Kyle Sturgeon (his only fight ever as well)
Rickson had plenty of opportunities to prove himself against legit fighters. It never once happened except for Funaki who was already fucked by then
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My issue is this
In MMA look at who he called out as compared to who he fought…
- his fans will say that there just wasn’t enough money for his right the people that he called out
In grappling
His fans will say that he is the greatest ever
- my BJJ heros also state this sentiment
The claim that mma didn’t have enough money
- he was offered countless super fight by ADCC and always turned them down - maybe the sheik couldn’t come up with enough cash for him
How many state and national JJ titles did he win in Brazil???
In the gym, I will believe that he was an incredible competitor
I personally don’t think that it is an outrageous thing to say that Rickson has a lof of anxiety when it comes to competition outside of a closed door setting
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If I wrote something about touching Ken shamrocks robe to get good at leg locks id expect some insults headed my way
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If you mentioned “purple cape”, you might get a pass…. Just sayin
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I wish Rickson didn’t price himself out of a lot of the fights that should have been made. The only legit excuse he had was when his son passed. That sucks and the timing was horrible for the fight world.
Some fights we were robbed of I can think of quickly;
vs either Shamrock
vs Saku
vs Bas
vs Fedor
vs Cro Cop
vs Big Cat
vs Randleman
vs Ruas
vs Rizzo
vs Igor Vovchanchyn
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My old professor got his brown under Rickson. He said that Rickson definitely counted beating his students during rolling.
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The anxiety was evident in “Choke.”
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He puts too much pressure on himself claiming to be undefeated, that’s the worst mindset for competing and testing yourself. Def could see the pressure coming out in Choke.
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He actually called out Coleman (Pride Grand Prix era)
Coleman accepted
Rickson then said it would not be worth his time due to Coleman not being “strong enough”
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Thats right I forgot to put Coleman. shit. I remember that call out and dic… backing off.
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Rickson deserves a lot of flack but i dont blame him for rematching takada. 99% of fighters would have taken that fight if given rickson money. It was the main event of the show and what drew most of the crowd. Rickson vs anyone else you mentioned at PRIDE 4 and the event would not have done as well. Saku himself was still not as established and his name didnt carry as much weight as it eventually would.
Rickson was and is so overly hyped its not even funny. You will find people who still place him higher than roger. Rickson has cared more about surfing and pot for a few decades now than he has about bjj and his own kids.
Rickson got paid though when the vast majority of his peers were not. Many of his peers wouldnt have been fighting period if they had been able to make more money doing something else, or perhaps even hold a job. Thats just how it was back then.
Rickson never should have bought into his own ‘aura’ though and talked trash about all the other fighters.
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There are more than a few people that act like cult members rather than someone with observations and an opinion
Opening the Closed Guard by Robert Drysdale
In itt he does out of his way to mentions that the Rickson myth is just that and that people from Brazil tend to roll their eyes when the topic comes up
THAT IS A GENERAL QUOTE FROM HIS BOOK
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