Can the first-born son of the most influential figure in modern mixed martial arts extend the legacy of the sport’s first family?
From a locker room inside Denver’s McNichols Sports Arena, Royce Gracie watched the televised carnage. The first clash inside a caged enclosure called the ‘octagon’ ended in 26 seconds with a flying tooth and the 400lb sumo wrestler it belonged to bouncing face first off the fence. Cameras caught tears welling in Teila Tuli’s eyes after the Dutchman Gerard Gordeau punted his mouth and socked him with a bare-knuckle fist. This was the cascade of violence that ushered in a martial arts revolution 25 years ago. Pausing from warming up, Royce calmly chuckled with his family in agreement: the giant Tuli should have known Gracie jiu-jitsu.
By Royce’s turn, the third bout of a single-elimination tournament that required the champion to win a trio of nearly-anything-goes hand-to-hand fights that night, Denver was awash in aggression. Viewers caught their breath as they took notice of Royce’s solemn entree into the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Continue reading...from US news | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2BhgCK5
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