why was royce afraid of hackney?

Royce told Keith's coach afterwards, that he never wanted to fight him again. That's some serious respect coming from Royce.

Keith actually has a pretty solid ground game nowdays. Too bad he isn't younger, because he could make some noise if he were.

I know that he'd actually been trying to convince the UFC officials to give him another chance, as recently as two years ago, but they were leery.

He kept pushing, but then hurt himself in training and that kinda put an end to the discussions. Too bad, because I believe he could've surprised some people if he'd gotten a chance.

Hackney had that working man's physique that spells old man strength.

Hackney's style was not a great matchup for Royce. Although other fighters such as Severn and Shamrock didn't mind immediately shooting or clinching with Gracie, Hackney was able to keep him away with a decent sprawl and his good use of striking/blocking. Although kempo may not be greatly respected on this forum, I believe that Hackney demonstrated the potential of this style and represented it well.

It has been my experience that strikers with very quick hand techniques (such as those displayed by Hackney) can sometimes be more difficult to clinch with compared to standard kickboxers because they tend to rarely off-balance themselves and thereby leave openings for their opponents to capitalize upon. After having watched this fight many times, I believe Hackney was as close as one could come to an anti-Gracie in the early days of the UFC.

A friend of mine went to the Gracie Pocono camp. He told Royce felt the back of his head after Hackney punched him. He thought his skull was broken.

Doesn't Hackney run an MMA school now?

Yes, he has a school in Roselle, IL called Hackneys Reality Combat. I have spent some time there, interviewing him and his stable of fighters. I remember being initially surprised at just how well-rounded Keith was-he really knows his shit. i agree that if he were younger and healthier he would be very exciting to watch again in the UFC. He's got a couple of fighters, Gideon Ray, and Mustafa Huessanni (sp?)who are doing pretty well here in the midwest shows, and although both had setbacks at the June 5 IronHeart Crown, they are names to look for in the future.

"And yea, I remember the punch he caught. It wasn't a haymaker either."

Bones, maybe we have a different definition of "haymaker". Just a punch meant to put someone to sleep. Get it? Hit the hay? Doesn't mean a wild punch or anything.

Classic fight. One of the most entertaining ever. Royce vs Kimo is up there too.

"That white tiger is somethin else. I like the techniques!"

--Jim Brown immediately after the fight.

I have read a few articles with hackney and in each one he states that he wants to come back to MMA. Since the UFC is bringing back alot of the legends of the sport, I think they should bring back hackney too. Boy, that tigar claw/punch technique he used was deveastating, I wonder if he still uses it.

Hackney was a bad ass. He really showed the effectiveness of the
sprawl and brawl attack at an early stage. I thought he was an
exciting fighter.

ttt for Hackney - his three fights have UFC classics.

Give him a shot in the 205 division!

Hackney was badass...but someone please tell me what "Kenpo" he used, cuz I didn't see any.

I think Hackney was just a good street fighter-- I highly doubt it was his kenpo training that made him good.

Bones, maybe we have a different definition of "haymaker". Just a punch meant to put someone to sleep. Get it? Hit the hay? Doesn't mean a wild punch or anything.A haymaker is a wild, looping punch.It comes from the action you use when you swing a scythe , which was in the old days how you made hay. cut the grass, let it dry, stack it in the mound.

Cool,BIC. I'll take that definition. ;)

"You make it sound like Hackney was some slob. Actually Hackney employed a very solid strategy, gave Royce fits by frustrating his takedown attempts, and landed some clean shots."

WTF? Nothing about what I said implys this. Way to misread between the lines,Einstein!

Its the hair!

LOL @ the fools dissing Kenpo.

Gary Hughes