I'm a huge Royce fan. He is a true fighter with a great attitude. And we are all indebted to him as he was the pioneer of Mixed Martial Arts. With that being said, I hope this question doesnt sound disrespectful. But was Royce anything special. Could a majority of the BJJ black belts, at that time (early 90s), do what Royce did in the first UFCs?
yes...royce was not an accomplished bjj player (that was another reason why he was picked)...never won any major tournament in brasil with the gi.
i dont think that matters though...he WAS the one that did it in the ufc.
Yes, very much so , and he still is.
Early UFC was a marketing tool for BJJ. The fact that royce wasn't special is what made BJJ so special.
I think yes. Even if there were other BJJ blackbelts with the same "skill level" as Royce, or even greater; not many in the world have the kind of mental toughness, physical toughness, conditioning, heart, willpower, and fighter attitude that Royce had. These are the attributes that helped him defeat people like Severn and Kimo.
Yes he was, end thread!
"not many in the world have the kind of mental toughness, physical toughness, conditioning, heart, willpower, and fighter attitude that Royce had."
So, why didnt he continue after Kimo?
(insert excuse below)
"Could a majority of the BJJ black belts, at that time (early 90s), do what Royce did in the first UFCs? "
NO! they could not. There are many Sport JJ'ers out there that could walk through Royce. That said, BJJ in MMA and BJJ in Sport JJ is totally different. Look at some of the BJJ phenomonons out there like Saulo Ribero, Mario Sperry, Royler, Roberto Travern, Wallid Ismael, Amori Betteti, Allan Goes, etc etec etc. All these guys would likely walk over Royce in a sport JJ competition like the Abu Dhabi but that does not equal to MMA success. All the ones I mentioned above were involved in the early competition like Royce and all had a very rough MMA carreer.
Also note that being great at what you do is one thing, capitalizing on it is another. Royce was the first and took a stab at the opportunity (that he created). There may be greater BJJ fighters at the time, but not many created the opportunity and capitalized on it. Thats the difference. This goes beyond MMA toughness.
Royce is over-rated and under-rated.
How could that ever happen on the UG?!?!
that's why i avoided practicing sport bjj moves.
stephen
not many in the world have the kind of mental toughness, physical toughness, conditioning, heart, willpower, and fighter attitude that Royce had.
Disagree. People had been doing nhb in Brazil for years, plenty of people had the toughness, conditioning, heart, willpower, and fighter attitude. Royce was not special among nhb jiu-jitsu fighters at the time; he was special in the UFC because of his unknown game plan.
"not many in the world have the kind of mental toughness, physical toughness, conditioning, heart, willpower, and fighter attitude that Royce had."
So, why didnt he continue after Kimo?
(insert excuse below)"
everyone has their physical limits and Royce had surpassed his. It just so happens that Royce's physical limits went well beyond those of most other human beings on the planet. Not an excuse, a reason.
Marco Ruas would have absolutely cleaned house.
But yeah, royce was very special, IMO.
I believe Rorion was some kind of partner in the early UFCs.
Only if by "some kind of partner" you mean creator, owner, and match-maker. As stated above, UFC was created (by Rorion) as a marketing tool for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.
Royce opened your eyes...
Without Royce's skill and Rorion's vision the US would still be in the dark.
"Royce was not special among nhb jiu-jitsu fighters at the time; he was special in the UFC because of his unknown game plan."
That's funny, I don't think many people knew what Sperry's game plan was either. He was supposed to be the Michael Jordan of the sport with skill level leaps and bounds above Royce. Yet he was demolished in his 2nd American MMA debut (admited that he gassed after 4 minutes).
Say what you want about Royce, but the guy has balls and believes in himself 100%.
Kakkarotto_san is correct!
"Royce's physical limits went well beyond those of most other human beings on the planet"
That can be said about any well conditioned athlete.Infact, Kimo walked out on his own power, not carried out.
"They didn't want to put Rickson in since he was their best."
Rickson was his own man, he wouldnt take marching orders from Rorion.