Royce Gracie – the legendary UFC champion and pioneer of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – recently shared his thoughts on the evolution of combat sports during an appearance on Jake Shields’ podcast.
Among other topics, the conversation also turned to Gracie’s training experience with Gordon Ryan.
He gave an honest opinion on “The King” – and shared his thoughts on what he believes would happen if the two faced each other in a grappling match:
I don’t care what people talk about Gordon Ryan, man the guy’s awesome.
He’s one of my good friends.He would have smashed me with one hand behind his back.
Royce also reflected on one of the training sessions he had with Ryan.
He underscored the respect Ryan showed to him during the roll:
And guess what?
He’s rolling and giving to me, like: “Go ahead, catch me.”He understands the respect hierarchy of Jiu-Jitsu.
In reflecting on modern athletes, Gracie pointed out the advantages they have today compared to his era:
The guys train today…
They are better athletes today because it’s not the choke that got better – it’s how to cut weight and how to exercise and the food.Everything got better today.
Sloth Jiu-Jitsu: you can be slow and unathletic and still kick butt in Jiu-Jitsu.
