"Are you out of your mind?" - UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie details reaction after he accepted Akebono Taro fight
Royce Gracie recently opened up about his infamous openweight bout against Akebono Taro at K-1 Premium 2004 Dynamite! and described the reaction from his family after accepting the fight.
K-1 was clearly a promotion that had some outside-the-box ideas as they booked the jiu-jitsu practitioner against the sumo-turned-MMA fighter, who outweighed him by over 300 pounds. This was definitely a risk for the UFC Hall of Famer as there was a large weight discrepancy, which could have left him exposed had he been on the receiving end of a heavy strike.
During his appearance on MMA legend Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's Jaxxon Podcast, Gracie described what the reaction was regarding his decision to accept the fight and what the potential gameplan would be. He mentioned that there were doubts about his striking, so he needed to manage the distance and submit Akebono quickly.
Gracie said:
"[Taro Akebono was] 6"8', 490-pounds. Before the fight, everybody was like, 'Man, are you out of your mind? How are you gonna take the guy down? The guy's huge.'...'He gets paid not to go to the ground. How are you gonna take him down? You cannot punch him. We seen you punch, you cannot punch him.'"
Gracie took advantage of his superior ground game and submitted Akebono with an omoplata at 2:13 of the first round.
Royce Gracie details why Art Jimmerson fought with one glove at UFC 1
UFC 1 was quite a unique event, and the fighters who competed have also noted that they didn't know what to expect going into it.
Royce Gracie recently detailed why his first opponent, Art Jimmerson, famously fought him with one glove. During the aforementioned appearance, the UFC Hall of Famer mentioned that the boxer competed with one glove to ensure he didn't break his left hand. He said:
"That glove was not to break his [Art Jimmerson's] hand. You guys know, the boxers put the gloves on not to break their hands. It's not to protect the person's face, protect their hands. If there's no gloves, they'll punch you once and they break their hand. You don't go down, now they can't punch again."