Following Footsteps
When Rickson Gracie (Pictures) stepped into the ring against Nobuhiko Takada (Pictures) on Oct. 11, 1997, in front of 65,000 enthusiastic fans at the sold-out Tokyo Dome, it was a historic moment that changed the landscape of MMA forever.
The battle between the legendary Brazilian fighter and the reigning Japanese pro wrestling champion kicked off the PRIDE Fighting Championships, which went on to create some of the most memorable fights in MMA history.
With the downfall and subsequent sale of PRIDE to rival promoters Zuffa in March of last year, a very successful chapter in MMA history was closed forever. The loss of a flagship promotion also tore a huge gap into the Japanese MMA landscape and signaled a power shift in the sport from the land of the rising sun to the United States.
In short, Japan is not the Mecca of martial arts anymore.
However, a new promotion is now trying to stop the total collapse of the Japanese MMA scene. World Victory Road is the project of Naoya Kinoshita -- a successful real estate agent who has offices in Tokyo, New York and Liaoning, China -- and Takao Yasuda of Don Quijote, Japan's largest discount store chain.
The promotion makes use of the same formula for success that PRIDE used over the years. Kinoshita and Yasuda are placing the search for the world's strongest fighter at the center of their organization, and they are catering to Japanese fans by passing on the story of legendary rivalries.
Roger Gracie (Pictures), the world's strongest heavyweight grappler of the past three years, has confirmed with Sherdog.com that he will take on Japanese Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures) on March 5.
"It's a one-fight deal that has been arranged," the 25-year-old ground-fighting phenom said.
Gracie runs his own Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy in London, England. He not only shares the same family name with the legendary Rickson, he also has credentials that are a match for the living legend.
The lanky black belt has won an unprecedented nine world championships in BJJ. He picked up his first gold medal at 14, when he won the men's blue belt division of the Brazilian championships as a welterweight. In the years that followed, he naturally progressed through the weight classes from middleweight to light heavyweight until eventually he reached the heavyweight division in 2006.
As definite proof of how good he already was at a young age, Roger was promoted to black belt by his father, Maurição Motta Gomes, when he was 21. B.J. Penn (Pictures) also received this honor at the same age, though UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva had to wait until he was 30. It takes the average person eight to 10 years of training to achieve real black belt status.
Over the past five years, Gracie has defeated a who's who of the BJJ world in gi competition. Fellow standouts Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Rodrigo Medeiros and Alexandre Ribeiro were no match for Gracie on multiple occasions. Most recently he submitted ADCC absolute class champion Robert Drysdale and breakout star Romulo Barral in the finals of the heavyweight and open-weight divisions at last year's Mundials.
The third generation fighter's prowess without the BJJ battle dress was what really caught the interest of MMA promoters. In 2003, in front of his countrymen in São Paulo, Gracie finished third in the 99-kilogram (218-pound) division of the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championships.
Two years later he put on the most dominating performance of all time at an ADCC event. Gracie submitted all eight of his opponents, including former 99-kilogram champion "Xande" Ribeiro, Alexandre Ferreira, Shinya Aoki (Pictures), Fabricio Werdum (Pictures) and longtime archrival "Jacare" to win gold medals in both the 99-kilogram division and the absolute class.
Gracie's fantastic submission escapes, outstanding control, exceptional composure and tremendous agility for a big man are what set him apart from the competition.
After he had shied away from MMA for years, it was Bodog Fight that persuaded the then 24-year-old grappler to make his MMA debut in December 2006. In less than four minutes, he submitted former WEC heavyweight champion Ron Waterman (Pictures), a veteran of 19 fights who had competed at the highest level in PRIDE and the UFC.
This March, 15 months later, Gracie will pick up the thread of legendary confrontations between Japanese fighters and the Gracie family when he faces Yoshida.
A 38-year-old PRIDE star, Yoshida has a bone to pick with the Gracies. In August 2002, the Japanese fighter co-headlined the first K-1 Premium Dynamite event at the Tokyo National Stadium, which drew a record crowd of more than 70,000 spectators. A fight against UFC legend Royce Gracie (Pictures), held under limited striking rules, ended controversially. Yoshida was applying a scissor sleeve choke when referee Yuji Shimada stopped the bout even though Gracie had not tapped.
When the duo clashed again at PRIDE's first New Year's Eve show, a rejuvenated Gracie outworked Yoshida. However, judges were not used for the fight, which was automatically ruled a draw. Even though there was no winner on paper, most spectators felt that Royce had done enough to earn the victory.
Roger understands the magnitude of headlining World Victory Road's debut show, "Sengoku." More importantly, though, he understands the challenge that Yoshida poses.
"Yoshida is a good opponent and an extremely well-accomplished fighter in his field," Gracie said. "I have a lot of respect for what he has achieved in MMA and on the Olympic stage."
Unlike the first PRIDE show, which was thought to be a one-time event beforehand, it is already certain that World Victory Road will host at least four shows after its March debut.
At this point, the question is whether history will repeat itself. Can World Victory Road become the new PRIDE? Can Roger Gracie (Pictures) follow the footsteps of his legendary, ever-present uncle?
MMA fans will find out this year.
When Rickson Gracie (Pictures) stepped into the ring against Nobuhiko Takada (Pictures) on Oct. 11, 1997, in front of 65,000 enthusiastic fans at the sold-out Tokyo Dome, it was a historic moment that changed the landscape of MMA forever.
The battle between the legendary Brazilian fighter and the reigning Japanese pro wrestling champion kicked off the PRIDE Fighting Championships, which went on to create some of the most memorable fights in MMA history.
With the downfall and subsequent sale of PRIDE to rival promoters Zuffa in March of last year, a very successful chapter in MMA history was closed forever. The loss of a flagship promotion also tore a huge gap into the Japanese MMA landscape and signaled a power shift in the sport from the land of the rising sun to the United States.
In short, Japan is not the Mecca of martial arts anymore.
However, a new promotion is now trying to stop the total collapse of the Japanese MMA scene. World Victory Road is the project of Naoya Kinoshita -- a successful real estate agent who has offices in Tokyo, New York and Liaoning, China -- and Takao Yasuda of Don Quijote, Japan's largest discount store chain.
The promotion makes use of the same formula for success that PRIDE used over the years. Kinoshita and Yasuda are placing the search for the world's strongest fighter at the center of their organization, and they are catering to Japanese fans by passing on the story of legendary rivalries.
Roger Gracie (Pictures), the world's strongest heavyweight grappler of the past three years, has confirmed with Sherdog.com that he will take on Japanese Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures) on March 5.
"It's a one-fight deal that has been arranged," the 25-year-old ground-fighting phenom said.
Gracie runs his own Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy in London, England. He not only shares the same family name with the legendary Rickson, he also has credentials that are a match for the living legend.
The lanky black belt has won an unprecedented nine world championships in BJJ. He picked up his first gold medal at 14, when he won the men's blue belt division of the Brazilian championships as a welterweight. In the years that followed, he naturally progressed through the weight classes from middleweight to light heavyweight until eventually he reached the heavyweight division in 2006.
As definite proof of how good he already was at a young age, Roger was promoted to black belt by his father, Maurição Motta Gomes, when he was 21. B.J. Penn (Pictures) also received this honor at the same age, though UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva had to wait until he was 30. It takes the average person eight to 10 years of training to achieve real black belt status.
Over the past five years, Gracie has defeated a who's who of the BJJ world in gi competition. Fellow standouts Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Rodrigo Medeiros and Alexandre Ribeiro were no match for Gracie on multiple occasions. Most recently he submitted ADCC absolute class champion Robert Drysdale and breakout star Romulo Barral in the finals of the heavyweight and open-weight divisions at last year's Mundials.
The third generation fighter's prowess without the BJJ battle dress was what really caught the interest of MMA promoters. In 2003, in front of his countrymen in São Paulo, Gracie finished third in the 99-kilogram (218-pound) division of the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championships.
Two years later he put on the most dominating performance of all time at an ADCC event. Gracie submitted all eight of his opponents, including former 99-kilogram champion "Xande" Ribeiro, Alexandre Ferreira, Shinya Aoki (Pictures), Fabricio Werdum (Pictures) and longtime archrival "Jacare" to win gold medals in both the 99-kilogram division and the absolute class.
Gracie's fantastic submission escapes, outstanding control, exceptional composure and tremendous agility for a big man are what set him apart from the competition.
After he had shied away from MMA for years, it was Bodog Fight that persuaded the then 24-year-old grappler to make his MMA debut in December 2006. In less than four minutes, he submitted former WEC heavyweight champion Ron Waterman (Pictures), a veteran of 19 fights who had competed at the highest level in PRIDE and the UFC.
This March, 15 months later, Gracie will pick up the thread of legendary confrontations between Japanese fighters and the Gracie family when he faces Yoshida.
A 38-year-old PRIDE star, Yoshida has a bone to pick with the Gracies. In August 2002, the Japanese fighter co-headlined the first K-1 Premium Dynamite event at the Tokyo National Stadium, which drew a record crowd of more than 70,000 spectators. A fight against UFC legend Royce Gracie (Pictures), held under limited striking rules, ended controversially. Yoshida was applying a scissor sleeve choke when referee Yuji Shimada stopped the bout even though Gracie had not tapped.
When the duo clashed again at PRIDE's first New Year's Eve show, a rejuvenated Gracie outworked Yoshida. However, judges were not used for the fight, which was automatically ruled a draw. Even though there was no winner on paper, most spectators felt that Royce had done enough to earn the victory.
Roger understands the magnitude of headlining World Victory Road's debut show, "Sengoku." More importantly, though, he understands the challenge that Yoshida poses.
"Yoshida is a good opponent and an extremely well-accomplished fighter in his field," Gracie said. "I have a lot of respect for what he has achieved in MMA and on the Olympic stage."
Unlike the first PRIDE show, which was thought to be a one-time event beforehand, it is already certain that World Victory Road will host at least four shows after its March debut.
At this point, the question is whether history will repeat itself. Can World Victory Road become the new PRIDE? Can Roger Gracie (Pictures) follow the footsteps of his legendary, ever-present uncle?
MMA fans will find out this year.
