the beating that Hughes gave Gracie? I was rooting for Hughes, but was surprised at the lack of fight Royce had on Saturday night. That fight was not competitive at all. Royce is past his prime, but he has to be embarrassed by what took place. On the other hand, Hughes expected the result and seemingly gained nothing. All of the sudden everyone could beat Royce Gracie. Last week at this time it was a coin flip fight according to most on this forum. Does this win give Hughes any credibility?
I'm still amazed that so many people thought Royce had a legitimate chance of winning. To read their posts, it seemed as if Matt would either lay on Royce for a boring decision or would actually get submitted by Royce. I still don't know what these guys were thinking.
I honestly thought it would last longer than four and a half minutes, but I'm not surprised at all that Hughes dominated and mauled him.
Like most, I wanted Royce to win because of old school history and my fondness for the early UFC's. However, I never thought he would. His only chance was in closed guard, of which he never got. he4 should have walked out and immediately jumped full guard. His only shot period. And as such, I never thought he's sub Hughes. I thought he'd lose the three rd decision and look beat to hell at the end. But that was domination. period.
Thanks for the honest posts. Anymore, it is uncommon to find a thread on this forum where people actually make intelligent posts.
I am a big Royce fan and fan of very technical BJJ in MMA in general but I too was surprised that people thought Royce would win. I did think he would last longer but knew that if Matt got the same openings Royce gave many earlier fighters, he would deliver fast, hard shots and get the Ground N Pound KO or stoppage. I expected it to occur from inside Royce's gaurd though....
In Royce's early fights he seemed to lack a sense of urgency when in trouble, I always thought it was 'cause he knew people way back then didn't know how to really capitalize on a good position fast. But he seemed to have the same lack of urgency when Hughes got the back. Like he thought Hughes would look for the choke or something.
I am impressed with one thing. I think Royce knew what we all know, that he was gonna lose. But he went in there anyway. I know I'd lose to Matt Hughes...Don't know that I walk in there to make sure...kind of ballsy....
As for Hughes' status or credibility, it gives him some in the eyes of some fans who thought Royce was unbeatable. For me, I wanna see him against BJ again, GSP again, Karo, Allessio, Diego and any other potentially fun fights for him. I'd like to see Hughes vs. Lindland too...If he beat Lindland I'd be impressed.
"I am impressed with one thing. I think Royce knew what we all know, that he was gonna lose. But he went in there anyway...kind of ballsy...."
I don't really agree with this. I think Royce had enough pride to actually think he "might" be able to beat Hughes. In the past, Royce did really well from his back, and he knew Hughes would be trying to put him there. Hughes isn't exactly known for his KO power and his submissions are vasty underrated. Royce was probably deluded enough to think he could at least survive the distance, and maybe even pull out a decision. And if he lost? Well, then he could have claimed it was because of the round system and new rules, and that it took a champion to beat him. Plus, the 1.5 million dallars are bound to make a man take risks.
Still Royce stepped up, and that's all I ever really wanted from him. He gets my respect.