[cmeisenzahl]

I like both guys, but am rooting for Gracie. I've studied Gracie Jiu-Jitsu for about 4 years.

The game has changed a bit since the early UFCs. Gracie can't surprise opponents any more, everyone has some grappling skills. And I think Hughes has a college wrestling background.t

[James L]

Originally Posted by cmeisenzahl

I like both guys, but am rooting for Gracie. I've studied Gracie Jiu-Jitsu for about 4 years.

The game has changed a bit since the early UFCs. Gracie can't surprise opponents any more, everyone has some grappling skills. And I think Hughes has a college wrestling background.t

Hey dude,

Fellow BJJ'er here.

In my opinion yes, Hughes will win tonight. I think this will happen for a few reasons:

1) Dimension. Royce has a pretty weak stand up game. I have seen the recent training videos and his stand up looked alright, but not great in anyway. He is amazing on the ground though.

Hughes, on the other hand, has been cross training for a long time, and has won by TKO, by KO, by slam, and has a lot of wins by submission (RNC, Keylock, armbar, triangle, kimura, etc).

I honestly think Hughes is the more well rounded fighter.


2) Ring experience. Since 1993, Royce is 13-2-3, for a total of 18 fights. Since 2000, Royce has only fought 5 times, an average of 1 fight per year. Of those 5 fights, he only won 2, tied 2, and lost one.

Hughes is currently 38-4, and since 2000 he has fought 29 times, with 26 wins and 3 losses.

So, Hughes has averaged 5 or 6 pro fights per year, to Royce's 1. He has 26 wins since 2000, to Royce's 2.


3) Rules. The UFC rules simply do not favor Royce's style. Royce is the king at two things: Wearing you down and submitting you over the long haul, and taking a beating while doing it. I give Royce huge props for his ground game and his heart. You can hit him over the head with a sledge hammer and he will keep coming.

BUT, and tonight this is a huge but, having only 3 5 minute rounds, with stand ups for inactivity, are a huge detriment to Royce's style. I just do not think it will be enough time for him to work his game.


Honestly, I want Royce to win. On paper though, when you look at the above, it is a Hughes win all the way.

Anything can happen though, and I hope Royce does it. The smart money is on Hughes though.

Looking forward to watching it!

Cheers,

James L

p.s. GJJ for 4 years... blue belt?

[shunt]

My brother is taping it, I'll probably watch it tommorow.

I have more of a traditional boxing background, I but I enjoy a good fight nonetheless.

That Diaz kid is a firecracker, eh?

[abe]

http://forums.macnn.com/89/macnn-lounge/297020/royce-gracie-got-destroyed-matt-hughes/

[James L]

Well, that went faster than I thought it would, but with the result I thought would happen.

The other fights had some great technique in them. Lister and Swick had particularly nice submissions.

[himself]

I figured Matt would beat Gracie, but I wanted to see Gracie take this match-up... I guess the game has changed a lot since his heyday. Nice stuff.

[scaught]

hughes absolutely destroyed and dominated gracie. it was insane. i want to say i expected hughes to win, but not with that amount of intensity. hughes is a bad man.

that flying knee that fisher landed on wiman in round2 was amazing. he rang his bell so good, the look on his face seconds later as he tried to determine what planet he was on was priceless.

and that melvin guillard is someone to look out for. he looked INTENSE. that shot he landed on rick davis made MY face/neck/life hurt.

good ****, all around.

UFC61 looks amazing too. shamrock/ortiz is enough for its own payperview. i can't understand why shamrock would want back in the ring with ortiz. he DESTROYED him the last time they met up. his face looked like a pile of ground beef. it's not going to be any better this time. sylvi/arlovski will be entertaining again. i gues arlovski had something contractual to allow him to go for the belt again should he have lost it in UFC59 (which happened). kinda shady. whatever. it will be a good fight to watch, for sure.

[scaught]

oh, and this video is pretty priceless, gracie's thoughts after his loss. obviously he's not going to feel good about it and he's enough of a man to not talk **** or say he got hit by a cheap shot or something, but MAN. he looks like he's about to cry.


http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=Mult...l&gid=2659

[ak1nza]

I thought matt would win. I didnt think alot of other people were into UFC since the only reason my entire town is into it is because I live in Hillsboro IL, hometown of Matt Hughes. Its cool seeing someone you know on TV, especially doing that.