Q & A: UFC legend Royce Gracie

BY JOE FERNANDEZ | Newsday Staff Writer

May 25, 2006

He preached skill and technique over size and strength. He is undefeated in the UFC and a three-time UFC tournament champion. He is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame and a black belt in the art of Gracie jiu-jitsu.

He is a legend. He is Royce Gracie.

Gracie will end an 11-year hiatus from the Octagon of the UFC when he fights welterweight champion Matt Hughes in a three-round non-title bout this Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Hughes-Gracie match will headline UFC 60, scheduled to start at 10 p.m. EST on pay-per view.

Newsday's Joe Fernandez spoke with Gracie in the days leading up to the fight.

Joe Fernandez: How did you get signed for this match?
Royce Gracie: It's an agreement between UFC and K-1 because I'm under contract with K-1. K-1 called me up and asked me if I wanted to fight and I said 'sure'.

JF:Take me through a day of training for this fight.
RG: I'm used to fighting in Japan. So I always have to change my time zone. But this one, it being in L.A. makes it much easier for me... I train with weights in the morning, cardio in the middle of the day. I'll eat lunch and then in the nighttime I'll do grappling/standup or both.

JF: How have you prepared for Hughes? Is it like any other fight for you?
RG: It's more of a strategy. The weight is the same, the cardio is the same, but the grappling and the standup I will work specifically for him. It's a strategy, it's a game; it's going to come down to who makes the first mistake.

JF: Do you feel the fighters of today are more versatile? Do you feel that it will be more difficult to submit a fighter like Hughes?
RG: Yes definitely. In the beginning it was a style against a style. Fighters were representing their style. Today it's not the style, it's the athlete. It's who's more prepared. But in my opinion, it's better for the person to know or have one background. Like Matt Hughes; Matt Hughes is a wrestler and worked other things on the side. I'm a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu guy, I learned kick-boxing, some takedowns on the side. But some guys who are starting up, mix everything and they are good at nothing.

JF: Do you think the long layoff from UFC has hurt you?
RG: I don't think it will hurt me, I'm still active in Japan. Just because I haven't fought in the cage, I've been in the ring, I'm still fighting in front of crowds of 95,000 people. Just because I've been away from the UFC doesn't mean I've been away from fighting. I fought a guy a couple of years ago who was 6-8, 490 pounds.

JF: Four hundred and ninety pounds, Royce?
RG: Four hundred and ninety pounds and I tapped him faster than anybody has ever beat him. I got him with a shoulder lock. The Oma Plata.

JF: In a recent interview with the UFC, Hughes said he's going to try to keep it standing. He said he doesn't think that you're dangerous on your feet. What do you feel about that?
RG: He is definitely the one that's going to set the pace and push the pace of the fight. If he wants to stand up, I am ready to stand up. What I think is that it's going to eventually come back to his background, that's wrestling. He's going to try and take me down and ground-and-pound me. If he wants to stand up -- sure. But I'm not a stand-up fighter, I'm a grappler. In the end, I always come back to my background.

JF: Hughes is known for his slams and wrestling skills, how will you defend that?
RG: I'm not thinking about staying up. If we get in a clinch, I'm either going to take him down or he's going to take me down. But I'm not giving him a chance to lock his hands and pick me up. I'm either going to pull guard or I'm going to do a takedown on him.

JF: Do you feel the world of Mixed Martial Arts will ever catch up to the Gracie family?
RG: Of course, it's already catching up. There are many good fighters all over the world. Not just in America; it's Japan and Brazil too. We teach, my brothers, my family, we teach. We share the technique. That's the idea, to spread the word out there. It's not like we're trying to keep it inside the family.

JF: How are your eating habits before a match?
RG: I follow the Gracie diet. We can eat everything, the only thing we don't eat is pork. We don't drink, we don't smoke.

JF: Are there any odd traditions or routines you have pre-fight?
RG: A couple of days before the fight, my team, we all go to a secluded location and we hang out for the day. This time we're going to go by the beach and just relax. We have a house on the beach. There's a jacuzzi, pool, sauna, ping-pong, pool table. They're going to have a sushi chef for us. Another one is, before the fight I'll put a couple of my tear drops on the mat of the ring.

JF: Why tear drops?
RG: I don't know. It's just something I do. It's a tradition. I do it 2-3 hours before the match. It means I'm here to stay.