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I wished Benny Urquidez( Wheels on Meals with Jackie Chan) was in his prime right now training in MMA. That dude was such a badass and would've been up there in the MMA ranks. Some wiki info on him:
The article was written by Royce Gracie.What do you think he was going to say? He has a reputatiojn to exaggerate or stretch the truth especially to promote his BJJ business at that time.
Last edited by adudehere; 09-11-2013 at 10:53 AM..
The article was written by Royce Gracie.What do you think he was going to say? He has a reputatiojn to exaggerate or stretch the truth especially to promote his BJJ business at that time.
actually the interview was from blackbelt mag, not written by royce. now royce could have exaggerated or flat out lied who knows. but there are other sources telling similar stories.
bottom line, there really is no definitive proof of what happened, who declined, what money was on the table or if the whole thing is just a hoax.
as i said, im no gracie fan by any means, (though some of their lines are great, the rorion lines while great practitioners, are imo more propaganda artists to make a buck.) i have known some of them, trained some with them, and have close friends who have trained with them for a long time. one of my close friends was one of carlson gracies 1st 5 students when he opened in california. carlson gracies line was/is no joke and they are not the propaganda artist/sales people the rorion line is. carlson was a BEAST also, one man i would NOT want to fight for sure.
actually the interview was from blackbelt mag, not written by royce. now royce could have exaggerated or flat out lied who knows. but there are other sources telling similar stories.
bottom line, there really is no definitive proof of what happened, who declined, what money was on the table or if the whole thing is just a hoax.
as i said, im no gracie fan by any means, (though some of their lines are great, the rorion lines while great practitioners, are imo more propaganda artists to make a buck.) i have known some of them, trained some with them, and have close friends who have trained with them for a long time. one of my close friends was one of carlson gracies 1st 5 students when he opened in california. carlson gracies line was/is no joke and they are not the propaganda artist/sales people the rorion line is. carlson was a BEAST also, one man i would NOT want to fight for sure.
TheBlack Belt magazine published his article....in any event, it does come down to he said and he said from both sides, but i'm more inclined to believe Benny than Royce.
Here is wiki excerpt from wiki...again both sides seems to say the opposite, but Royce has always been a salesman for BJJ and his family biz. He was the one initiated the Gracie Challenge to put his name out there for more exposure/publicity.
steven was a good fake movie fighter ,would lose to most any real pro mma fighter ,now chuck Norris was real , Chuck Norris middleweight champion of world 1968-1974, retire undefeated
I don't think Seagal was ever trying to sell himself as a true ring fighter. I'm sure a lot of people - perhaps even a Tank Abbott bad-ass barroom fighter - might put him in a hospital bed. Still, he's fairly skilled and could probably whup the average person's ass even now.
Gracie family wanted to fight him, but they got scared or something after he trained with Lebell to hone his ground game.
Anyone who trains would see this is pure BS right here. It takes a hell of a long time to get good at grappling. It takes almost as long just to get decent at it. But here, he's preparing to fight vs. some freakin' GRACIE? For supposedly $100,000????? That's a lot of money 20-30 years ago... a lot today also, but around $200,000 in today's money. Holy moly. It's like saying Benny got scared after hearing how the Gracies were being trained standup by Chuck Norris and the Ghost of Bruce Lee or some shiznit. C'mon now.
In general, pure standup fighters are like flipped over turtles when they get taken to the ground. While pure grapplers will start doing weird cartwheels and crap like Brock Lesnar did when they get popped in the face. MMA is just a completely different animal. And this was much worse 20+ years ago when MMA wasn't even around yet for people to cross-train. Yet the Gracies were already masters of its precursor, Vale Tudo, at that time. Their mastery was clearly proven in the early UFC's. It took at least 50 more UFC events before fighters really figured out BJJ and then, MMA in general.
Benny ain't no prodigy of Lebell. He probably just spent a couple of weekends with that freaky old man.
I don't think Seagal was ever trying to sell himself as a true ring fighter. I'm sure a lot of people - perhaps even a Tank Abbott bad-ass barroom fighter - might put him in a hospital bed. Still, he's fairly skilled and could probably whup the average person's ass even now.
What made Segal most dangerous when he was young and in good shape was that he's a gigantic fart. Size does matter. Being a master at Aikido ain't that great, but it's still better than nothing. Even now, he's still a giant of an old fat fart.
Sure, Seagal can beat up the average dum-dum in a bar, but so can most other experienced, Amateur fighter from an MMA gym. And experienced meaning those who spars for full knockouts regularly (not just pure grab-assing) and actually steps into the ring or cage to fight. Training at an MMA gym doesn't necessarily make anyone a fighter. While beating up bar dummies, street toughguys or dopeys who just lifts weight at Gold's Gym is usually easy as pie.
I'm so glad MMA destroyed the smoke and mirrors BS that surrounded the martial arts for so long. I remember believing all that nonsense as a kid in the 80's. I remember my buddies dad always telling us that the martial arts we saw in movies was major BS and that any real accomplished ring fighter or amateur wrestler would absolutely murder a guy like Steven Seagal or Bruce lee. The older I got the more I realized this to be true. Some of these actors are the real deal and some are not. a young Chuck Norris or Micky Rourke would end the life of Steven Seagal in a real fight.
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