"Took a bite of my ear" - Hall of Famer Royce Gracie recounts wild exchange with Gerard Gordeau in UFC 1 finals
Royce Gracie recently opened up about his famous UFC 1 tournament win and recounted a wild exchange he had with Gerard Gordeau during the finals.
The Brazilian famously put his family's Jiu-Jitsu on the map at the inaugural UFC event. He demonstrated its effectiveness as he submitted all three of his opponents to win the no-holds-barred tournament. During his recent appearance on Jaxxon Podcast, Royce Gracie revealed that his bout against Gordeau was quite a unique experience in the octagon.
The Jiu-Jitsu specialist recounted what exactly transpired during the fight and what Gordeau had been doing as a last-ditch effort in order to escape his guard on the ground. He mentioned that the karate specialist bit him, which resulted in him taking some liberties when he applied his rear-naked choke:
"As soon as I took him down, he took a bite of my ear. So I put it out, I whisper in his ear, 'You cheating.' And he just gave me a look...So that's why I hold the choke a little longer...It's a man's agreement but I talk to Gerard Gordeau, he's super nice, super tough guy, still tough today...But we talk and he's like, 'Man, I just hate to lose. I cannot lose. I'll do whatever it takes to win, doesn't matter. There's not rules for me.'"
Although, at the time, Gracie was clearly upset that Gordeau bit him, it appears as though they are on good terms as the Dutchman has explained his reasoning as to why he did it.
Who did Royce Gracie defeat to win the UFC 1 tournament
Royce Gracie proved the strength of Jiu Jitsu at UFC 1 as he competed against and defeated three opponents in one night, with each of them having different fighting backgrounds.
Gracie began the night by submitting boxer Art Jimmerson with a choke in 1:49. From there, the Brazilian matched up with Ken Shamrock, who had a shoot-fighting background and was good with submissions.
'The World's Most Dangerous Man's background wasn't much of an issue as Gracie managed to sprawl and apply a rear-naked choke that forced Shamrock to tap. He then fought karate specialist Gerard Gordeau in the finals, where he once again earned a submission win via rear-naked choke to win the tournament.