In a classic interview, BJJ legend Royce Gracie shared his thoughts on the current state of BJJ in mixed martial arts and why he believes all BJJ practitioners should experience MMA competition regardless if they want a career in it.
Gracie expressed concern that some mixed martial artists aren’t fully utilizing their BJJ skills in the octagon. He noted that stars often secure dominant positions but fail to pursue submissions, instead opting for ground strikes. “A lot of the times it’s the influence of the coaches,” Gracie explained. “The coaches start to favor beating opponents up. So when a fighter gets a good position to finish the fight, he tries to beat the opponent up. He wants to make the guy bleed, he wants to show domination by beating him up instead of showing technique.”
The BJJ pioneer emphasized that the martial art his family developed was intended for real-world self-defense, not just point-scoring in tournaments. “The jiu-jitsu the Gracies use, it wasn’t for the tournament to score a point. It was for (–) defense,” he stated. “On the end of the day, it’s a fight.”
“A lot of people sometimes train all their lives and never have a chance to do it. They never have a chance, they don’t get attacked, they don’t get into a fight in the st reets. So by entering MMA, yes you have a chance to use it. The Jiu-Jitsu my father created, it wasn’t for a points system for a tournament.”
Gracie argued that MMA competition provides the closest simulation to a real self-defense situation for BJJ practitioners. “By entering MMA, yes, you have a chance to use [your skills],” he said. “My father created it wasn’t for a point system for a tournament, it’s for fight.”
