“He’s Top Five UFC All Time Great”- Snoop Dogg and Joe Rogan Laud Royce Gracie’s Contribution to MMA

Royce Gracie is one of the, if not the most influential figures in mixed martial arts. Brother of Rorion Gracie, the co-founder of UFC, he took part in the inaugural UFC event. Royce Gracie won the UFC 1, UFC 2, and UFC 4 tournaments, and became very popular.

Gracie is known for making Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu popular and revolutionizing mixed martial arts. His style shifted focus towards grappling and ground-fighting in the sport. According to many, he’s one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. Recently, hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg and Joe Rogan talked about Royce Gracie.

During an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, Snoop said, “When I first watched, I fell in love with Royce Gracie. This mo**erf*cker used to come out with a robe on and lay down and kick your a**… I used to just watch him like, this mo**erf*cker is amazing. Then I met him, and when I met him, I’m like, he’s so calm… In my book, he’s top five UFC all-time great.”

Rogan praised his technique and said, “He was the guy that introduced everybody to the idea that you could be a smaller person with superior technique. And win a huge no-holds-barred competition with giant people.”

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“What he did by showing people that you could win with technique. Not with being big, not with being strong but with knowing something the other people don’t know changed what a martial art was. All of a sudden martial art became interesting to really intelligent people.”

“He’s probably the most important martial arts figure ever,” he added.

The legacy of Royce Gracie

Believed by many to be one of the greatest martial artists of all time, Royce Gracie hails from the legendary Gracie family. At the inaugural UFC event, Gracie displayed his impressive BJJ skills on his way to the win. He was the smallest man in the tournament, but defeated three men, including Ken Shamrock, to win the tournament.

In the next tournament, he defeated 4 opponents on his way to winning UFC 2. After a tough and long opening round; he bested his next three opponents in a combined time of fewer than four minutes. At UFC 3, after a grueling first-round win against Kimo Leopoldo, Gracie withdrew from the tournament because of exhaustion.

However, he returned to UFC 4 and won the tournament. At UFC 5, the highly anticipated super fight between Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie took place. It is still the longest fight in UFC history at 36 minutes. There were no judges for the fight, and it ended up in a draw, as neither man could get a finish. However, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner received heavy punishment in the fight, after which he retired from the sport for a while.

Since then, he has fought in Pride FC and even made a return to the UFC for one fight. He fought Matt Hughes, but lost the fight via TKO. His last fight was a trilogy battle against Ken Shamrock.

He won the fight, but it was not without controversy. Gracie appeared to have landed a knee strike to the groin of Shamrock, which led to him getting the upper hand and finishing the fight.

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Even though he’s now retired, his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu networks still run, and he even trains celebrities and various law enforcement. Gracie made Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu popular around the world, and will always be one of the most influential martial artists of all time.

What do you think of Royce Gracie? Where would you rank him on your all-time list? Let us know in the comments!