One of the most famous figures of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Royce Gracie will return to MMA, eight years after his last MMA fight, when he faces nemesis Ken Shamrock at Bellator 149 in February. The veteran who is now 48 years old, however, does not forget his Jiu-Jitsu roots. In an interview with TATAME, Royce criticized the current format of most BJJ competitions, which uses a point system.
“Martial art was not made to compete in point competitions, it is for you to defend yourself in a fight, confrontation. I’m not in favor of point competitions. Why they (the BJJ athletes) are going from Jiu-Jitsu to MMA? I don’t know, maybe for money, fame? What I know is that martial arts in general were not made for you to score points, but to be used as a SELF defense ” Royce argued AND went even further in his reasoning.
“I am against the point competitions. If you want to make money, do something else. The guys today are winning competition because of points, then the fighters have to follow this system…”, he concluded.
