That was a sad affair.

I was pulling for Matt because I felt he had to win to show the public and martial artists that the "fight game" has evolved.

I truly love Royce, but his style is only good against one dimensional fighters like himself.

The beating he took was sad.

Things one could learn from this is:

You have to train all facets of fighting.

You have to train all facets of fighting with resistance.

You have to train all facets of fighting with resistance...with people better than you in each facet or range of fighting.

It's not 1993 anymore.

Rob, this is Bob, from Ann Arbor, u couldn't be more right my brother. ps. thx for all the help u gave me along my the way

Sure, I hope you are doing OK!

I really enjoyed the "clinch" work with you.

"It's not 1993 anymore."
I agree. a couple of friends I watched it w/ (BJJ guys) were really upset, but only b/c he lost and not b/c he took a beating. Their argument was that if there weren't any rules and there was no time limit that Royce (i.e. BJJ) would win out. kind of an ironic rehashing of the "too deadly" argument posed in the '90s about why some styles sucked in the octagon. After watching the replay they stopped saying that and started talking about how Hughes is just a freak of nature.

"It's not 1993 anymore."
seriously, its not like Hughes has never heard of BJJ.

I think it goes back to being well rounded technically, AND for having a lot of strength and power. Admittingly, I am not well rounded technically (nor all that strong and powerful) lol...

It didn't look like Matt spent a lot of energy, or time, passing Royce's guard or taking his back.

i told you guys!!!
i love the gracies!
but he was out match!
i was right,and you asses should bow!!!!
or worship?

royce WHO???

Not Master Daoust wowsty talking the Crap again!Cos the Shyte dribbles out your mouth!

so gracie lost eh? bravo matthughes, i bet hughes trained his ass off for that one

The Gracies (BJJ) did a lot to bring reality to MMA with their submission techniques and now anyone can grasp those details with good conditioning and instruction.
Anyone can be beaten anytime by the one who is most hungry. It is the man behind the art and can he adapt to circumstances?

uh...

if royce is such a great grappler, why was it so easy to pass his guard?

why did he give up his back?

"if Royce is such a great grappler..."

I can't fathom why anyone would question the greatness of Royce Gracie. I think Matt Hughs (who is reputed to be abnormally strong for his size) had a great night- and rattled Royce, who wasn't having a great night.

They're both awesome fighters.

Shane,

Are you ever going to relinquish making everything all right with the retards as they argue about inconsequential dribble?

You bleed orange with your nauseating political correctness. You want to see some awesome fighters, go pull duty in Iraq.

If I thought my job was to make everything all right with the retards as they argue about inconsequential drubble, you would've driven me into early retirement. (but thanks for writing my name correctly, maybe progress is being made)

I'll pull duty when I believe in the cause- I'm more of a peacemaker by nature.
(but I do admire our troups).

"Anyone can be beaten anytime by the one who is most hungry. It is the man behind the art and can he adapt to circumstances?"

I think the person who is most skilled wins. Whether that skill is innate, or trained. I don't know what "hunger" has to do with it.

Mike Tyson knocked out numerous boxers who were more skilled than him.

The enraged, flailing animal that we see today is not the Tyson that fought in the early days. In his early days he was a very skilled boxer.

He may have scared a few people by his reputation or his demeanor, but that had nothing to do with the ambiguous idea of him being more "hungry." It would take some awesome skills to deal with a guy like him, as at his prime, he was a powerful, agile, and used great boxing strategy.

The formula:

Skill+Conditioning+toughness

+"luck"!

Whoever has the most out of those four will usually win.

while I admit that Royce is a brave man, a tough guy, an experienced veteran and an accomplsihed BJJ practitioner, he was clearly outmatched in at least 3 if not 4 of those categories.
Skill: Hughes: 7 Gracie: (you know he's a 9 on the ground, but he was playing like a 4)
Condtioning: HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Toughness: Hughes: 9 Gracie: some fights, he has the heart of champion. some night they throw in the towel
Luck: Who here believes in luck? I dunno, but if it exists, it was not on Royce's side last weekend

I've never been a fan of the "he just got me with a lucky shot" thing. I mean, luck is the lottery or meeting the right girl. You're in a ring, with someone who is trying to hurt you, and you're doing the same, and you know the rules going in and the tools you're using. Even the most random strike should be somewhat "expected" don't ya think?

I respect Gracie, but his striking didn't seem very together.