• UFC 112

Renzo betrays Gracie Jiu-Jitsu roots

Renzo Gracie's gameplan made defeat inevitable against Matt Hughes © UFC

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When Royce Gracie donned his gi back in 1993 to compete in UFC 1: The Beginning, his aim was very clear. The Gracie family were the masters of an art called Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that few others knew about - let alone mastered, and Royce was about to prove it was the most effective of the martial arts when it came to fighting.

Art Jimmerson, Ken Shamrock and Gerard Gordeau were all left scratching their heads after they were beaten by a man 40lbs lighter than them, and the very core of MMA had been cemented. This was a sport that determined which style of fighting was the best, and against a boxer, a wrestler and a karateka, Gracie proved Jiu-Jitsu reigned supreme.

Fast forward 17 years and Royce's legendary cousin Renzo had the opportunity to reinstate the relevance of Jiu-Jitsu, in a sport that is fast getting used to a diet of wrestling and top control thanks to Brock Lesnar and Georges St-Pierre.

That's not to say Jiu-Jitsu is dying out. Quite the opposite. Its importance in working for position on the mat has never been so crucial. But as a trump card in winning a fight, wrestlers have been holding all the aces in recent times - as proved so decisively by St-Pierre against BJ Penn and Lesnar against Frank Mir.

The fact that Renzo was fighting Matt Hughes at UFC 112 gave the Brazilian a perfect opportunity. Hughes destroyed cousin Royce at UFC 60 with his relentless takedown offence and, having dominated the UFC welterweight division for half a decade, was the man who carved out the path for St-Pierre to follow. A submission of the former two-time champion would be a statement for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

Renzo stated in the build-up to the fight that too many people now consider Jiu-Jitsu a means of establishing guard. The veteran wanted to prove to the contrary, even if it meant doing it off his back.

However, when it came to the crunch Renzo opted to revert to his less-than-adequate striking game for 15 minutes, barely making an effort to take the fight to the mat. With Hughes acknowledging Gracie's Jiu-Jitsu skills and Renzo clearly respectful of Hughes's wrestling, the Abu Dhabi crowd instead got to watch two ageing fighters engage in a sub-standard display of striking.

The plan worked for Hughes, whose improved kicking game crippled Gracie's legs, but the victory did nothing to decide the debate over Jiu-Jitsu vs wrestling. Rather than seeing two legendary fighters playing to their strengths in order to see who came out on top, as Royce did against Ken Shamrock at UFC 1, we instead got to find out what we already knew: Renzo's striking will not leave a legacy.

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