Roger Gracie slated for May 15 Strikeforce debut

[Luke]

Roger Gracie, a 2005 ADCC champion, finally is set to make his Strikeforce debut on May 15.

Sources close to the event told MMAjunkie.com former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman is the leading candidate to face the grappling ace at the as-yet-unannounced show, which is likely to be hosted by the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo., and air live on Showtime.

Randleman, however, is not confirmed as an opponent, and PRIDE and UFC veteran Rameau Thierry Sokodjou is also under consideration should the original matchup fizzle

Hope this turns out better than the last gracie debut.

Rolles what do you think about this?

[FuckRollesGracie]

Oh, Hi Guy. Roger is gonna be makin the first fight for Strikeforce. Monster is a tuff guy ya know. But Roger has a better gas then me so he should get submission when he gets mount like I couldnt do.

K bye.

[Luke]

Oh, Hi Guy. Roger is gonna be makin the first fight for Strikeforce. Monster is a tuff guy ya know. But Roger has a better gas then me so he should get submission when he gets mount like I couldnt do.

K bye.

[Svino]

I'm going to call this one right now: "Gracie def. Randleman via submission (cross-collar choke) in round 1".

[MMA_scientist]

I'm going to call this one right now: "Gracie def. Randleman via submission (cross-collar choke) in round 1".

Nice.

For those that do not follow BJJ, Gracie defeated all 9 of his opponents in the Mundials (world championships) via mounted cross collar chokes (I think he had a couple of Ezequiel chokes in there though- but close enough). He also submitted all 8 of his opponents in route to the 2005 ADCC win. The bottom line is that if gets you down, you are done. Best pure grappler in the world, maybe ever. That said, his takedown game is not as good as some of the other high calibur grapplers. Randleman is a tough first opponent because he has the tools to keep it standing, but I think Gracie will sub him with relative ease. Randleman's standup is not good and Gracie is like 6'5".

[Mr. IWS]

Lets hope the tank is better than Rolles, and he has no injuries coming into the fight.

I may get on Roger myself, provided the line isnt too crazy.

[MMA_scientist]

Lets hope the tank is better than Rolles, and he has no injuries coming into the fight.

I may get on Roger myself, provided the line isnt too crazy.

There really is no comparison between Rolles and Roger, other than they have the same last name (but Roger's real last name isn't even Gracie- his mom was a Gracie, so he had to change his name). Rolles had never done any significant competition grappling, while Roger is widely recognized at the best grappler alive (some people say Marcelo because of his size, but I do not think you can argue with what Roger has done).

Everyone who has defeated Roger, Xande and Jacare, have done so on points. While Roger has subbed both of those same guys. Hell even when Jacare defeated Roger, he did so because Jacare did not tap to an armbar- so he essentially won on points though he got his arm broken in the process.

All that said, I don't think his style will translate to MMA as well as Jacare or Maia.

[Mr. IWS]

Im thinking more along the lines of, last time I bet on a highly touted Gracie, I got my ass handed to me.

[MMA_scientist]

Im thinking more along the lines of, last time I bet on a highly touted Gracie, I got my ass handed to me.

Understood. Me too. But Rolles was not really highly touted, just sayin.

[Ludo]

I'm not touching this Gracie until I can see what he does and see if his cardio is built for something beyond 3 minutes.

[Svino]

I didn't know that about Jacare's win over Roger, that guy's pretty hardcore. Definitely one of the more underrated guys in MMA right now.

I'd really like to see Xande and Roger commit more to MMA. So far, it seems like they just treat it as a side project, content to pick up a fairly easy win every year or so. (Not that I don't understand the hesitation to make a lifestyle out of getting kicked and punched in the head, but as a fan, you know...)