Australia Impact promotion

[SPX]

Re: Australia Impact promotion

Suppedly Rickson choked Benny out. Then Royce wanted to fight him. That is where it gets murky. From Royce's wiki:

Interesting story. One thing I can definitely believe is that the Gracies wanted to fight under "their" rules. They've always kind of been that way.

I know Benny's claim to fame is his kickboxing career, but apparently he fought in some MMA-like matches as well, at least according to some of what I've read this morning. There's talk on his website about him having competed in a "no holds barred" competition that sounds kind of like UFC 1, though I've never heard anything else about it:

He was soon sponsored by Elvis Presley and asked to fight as a member of the Los Angeles All Stars, the Chuck Norris United States Karate Team. It was literally the pinnacle of success, with nowhere left to go. Undaunted, however, instead of settling for what would be the end of the road for most, Sensei Benny turned away from professional boxing and instead accepted an offer to compete in Hawaii in the first ever World Series of Martial Arts World Championship. This meant that Sensei Benny - weighing in at only 145 pounds - would now be fighting in a no-holds-barred contest against challengers from all weight classes.

After fighting seven different opponents over two grueling days, Sensei Benny achieved the impossible: he defeated Challenger Dana Goodson, the 225 pound challenger for the World Championship title.

If that's true, especially the part about him only being 145 pounds, then that's pretty impressive.

[SPX]

Re: Australia Impact promotion

He also fought Jackie Chan twice, which was undoubtedly his biggest test:

[MMA_scientist]

Re: Australia Impact promotion

Interesting story. One thing I can definitely believe is that the Gracies wanted to fight under "their" rules. They've always kind of been that way.

I actually tend to believe Benny's version here. It sounds more in line with what I have heard about the early days. They wanted to prove GJJ could beat other styles, they did not want to fight other closely related grappling styles. What Gokor was doing was pretty damn close to bjj.

But in defense of the Gracies always wanting their rules... that usually meant no time limit and no referee interference. They realized that it sometimes takes strong guys a while to tire out before you can submit them. Hell, it took Rickson like 15 minutes to put Zulu away. But I think that they just wanted the purest for of combat. That is the major complaint now about MMA. I heard Relson talking about the self defense aspect, and saying if you have a guy that won't go to the ground with you, you won. It was after Thales' fight with Anderson. In self defense, Thales could have sat there and waited all day and most never taken a shot.

In GJJ, it is not about winning. It is about enduring until you can improve your position. So time limits really mess that up. You have to go out and make something happen. MMA really is different than just fighting. Even in sport bjj, you are seeing a lot of submission only events popping up.

[Ludo]

Re: Australia Impact promotion

But on the flip side look where that got Royce against Sakuraba the first time. that shit was almost two hours long and ended with Royce getting his leg broken by kicks. Now granted there was referee interference but Pride was first and foremost a spectacle for entertainment and there is nothing entertaining about seeing someone ducking through the ropes while someone is standing behind him and not doing anything to try and change the position other than throwing the odd weak arm punch.

[SPX]

Re: Australia Impact promotion

Speaking of Gene LeBell, why doesn't he get the same sort of respect in the grappling world that the BJJ guys seem to get? He's been at the shit for ages and is no doubt a legend in his own right.

[MMA_scientist]

Re: Australia Impact promotion

But on the flip side look where that got Royce against Sakuraba the first time. that shit was almost two hours long and ended with Royce getting his leg broken by kicks. Now granted there was referee interference but Pride was first and foremost a spectacle for entertainment and there is nothing entertaining about seeing someone ducking through the ropes while someone is standing behind him and not doing anything to try and change the position other than throwing the odd weak arm punch.

I am not saying it is a flawless strategy. But the gracies don't care about the spectacle or entertainment. Their whole stance has been, "you can't beat me" (or really you can't beat gjj). In Saulo's book he talks about when Helio came up to him and said, "I don't think you can beat me." Helio was like 85 at the time and Saulo was like 30 (and a world champ to boot). BUt he just says that was the philosophy of Helio. You can't tap me, I will just survive and endure, and eventually you will get frustrated or tired and make mistake.

Its not perfect. Because you see bjj guys get tired too from defending so much. But that is the philosophy of the old school guys. I personally don't like to watch it anymore than you do... but the flip side of your argument is that Sak should have taken a risk to get out of an inferior spot. But he was using the same philosophy. He was not in danger, so he just hung out until something happened.

[MMA_scientist]

Re: Australia Impact promotion

Speaking of Gene LeBell, why doesn't he get the same sort of respect in the grappling world that the BJJ guys seem to get? He's been at the shit for ages and is no doubt a legend in his own right.

I think he gets plenty of respect. He is not as well known as the Gracie name, because he trained in an already established style. Even though he and Gokor really modernized freestyle submission grappling, they did not slap thier own brand on it the way Helio did. I think that was the key. Gokor has not done it with his "Hayastan" style, but its too late.