Rickson Gracie

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The Greatest Fighters Never to Enter the UFC

RG
(Rickson. That’s all you need to know.)

FIGHT! Magazine’s May issue just hit newsstands and features a list of the seven best fighters who never did battle in an Octagon. This exclusive excerpt showcases four of them, starting with the undefeated legend of the Gracie family…

RICKSON GRACIE
Career: ‘94-‘00
Record: 11-0
Prime: ’94-’97

Tournament Experience:
Rickson won both the 1994 and 1995 Vale Tudo Japan eight-man tournaments.

Key Victories:
“Zulu” Nascimento, Masakatsu Funaki, Yoshihisa Yamamoto

Why it never happened:
This one is easy to answer. Rickson should have been in the UFC because it was designed with him in mind. As the family’s recognized champion, Rickson was Rorion Gracie’s first choice to show the world what Jiu-Jitsu could do. It was only after a falling out between the two brothers that younger brother Royce was selected to represent the family in the UFC. Rickson did help train Royce for the event, and he eventually established himself in another arena: Vale Tudo Japan.

IV
IGOR “ICE COLD” VOVCHANCHYN
Career: ‘95-‘05
Record: 51-10-1
Prime: ’96-’99

Tournament Experience:
Vovchanchyn is the winner of six eight-man tournaments, including three eight-man tournament titles and a four-man tournament in just sixty days. He competed in three other tournaments, losing in the semifinal or final bout.

Key Victories:
Kazushi Sakuraba, Mark Kerr (1-0-1), Gary Goodridge (2-0), Enson Inoue, Yuki Kondo

Key Losses:
Mark Coleman, Quinton Jackson, Mirko Filipovic, Mario Sperry, Alistair Overeem, Heath Herring

Why it never happened:
In 1996, Vovchanchyn’s name was mentioned for participation in the UFC 11 tournament, but visa issues kept the Ukrainian nightmare from ever stepping foot in the Octagon. Ironically, Mark Coleman went on to win that tournament. Like the PRIDE FC 2000 Grand Prix, he only fought twice that night to claim the title. Had Igor faced “Tank” Abbott in the semifinals, or Coleman in the final of UFC 11, we might be discussing a much different UFC history.

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Written by admin on April 18th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on fight magazine and Rumina Sato and Misc. and Rickson Gracie and UFC and MMA.

Kang vs. Sakuraba appears to be off; Rickson Gracie likely to fight on New Year’s Eve

I came across a couple of interesting links on FightOpinion.com (a site I recommend everyone check out if you don’t already) today.

First, there are strong signals that Rickson Gracie intends to fight MMA again on New Year’s Eve. Gracie doesn’t specify for who or for where, but K-1 is the only major MMA promotion left in Japan and I don’t see Gracie fighting in the States.

Also, it appears a life has been spared. Sherdog.com is reporting that Kazushi Sakuraba’s next fight will be on Sept. 17 for K-1 Hero’s in Yokohama, Japan against former pro wrestler Katsuyori Shibata. There had been rumors that a bout between Sakuraba and Denis Kang was going to take place but Kang apparently is not formally signed to K-1 (the UFC has no idea how bad its middleweight division needs Denis Kang). Kang would have wrecked him.

I also noticed in the Sherdog.com report that former Pride and Cage Rage fighter Zelg Galesic will be fighting Dong Sik Yoon on 9/17. Galesic is a strong prospect who would have been perfect for the WEC’s 185 lbs. division.

Written by admin on August 28th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Rickson Gracie and Denis Kang and K-1 and MMA.