After announcing retirement from MMA and return to Jiu-Jitsu competition, Roger Gracie changes his mind and announces his return to….MMA!

According Brazilian BJJ news website bjjforum.com.br In an interview with LANCE website the best fighter in the history of Jiu Jitsu announced that he is very close to signing with a MMA event, but did not disclose the name nor which country where this would be.

– I’m in a practically final negotiations and in the coming days I will announce my return. I’ll fight again this year. Soon everyone will know in which event I will fight in. I was retired from MMA and did not know if I would just compete in jiu-jtsu. But now I’ve received this proposal, which was very good, and I reconsidered my retirement.

In the same interview, Gracie harshly criticized the UFC:

– I’m older now, and I’ve accomplished all that I ever wanted. Anything else would be a bonus. In MMA, the UFC monopolizes everything, but there are other events. The problem is that as the UFC is the biggest, and they control how much the fighters are paid and in fact they do not pay that well. I have my BJJ academy and do not need the money from MMA to pay my bills.

 

Roger Gracie vs Tim Kennedy

Check out the interview:

How difficult was your time in the UFC?

I left the UFC because they would not renew my contract and, for them, I was a weaker athlete compared to others. They refused to pay me what I received at the time of Strikeforce. I don’t agree to receive less and do not want to fight just for the sake of  fighting. I’ve got my gym which is better.

Have you decided that go up to light heavyweight?

I’ll fight in the light heavyweight division. Middleweight was not for me. It was a mistake I made ​​and now I regret it. In any fight that did mean I worked in the best way possible.

What do you think of banning TRT? The sport gains more credibility?

If you are a professional athlete you do not need to use hormonal additives. That’s an excuse that some give for taking steroids. I do not want to judge others. In some cases you may have athletes that really need it, but they are special cases. If an athlete does everything right, he achieves the same result as someone with treatment.

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