Kron Gracie’s recent departure from the UFC marked the end of a disappointing chapter for one of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s most decorated names. After six years with the promotion, the 37-year-old found himself quietly removed from the roster following a devastating TKO loss to Bryce Mitchell at UFC 310 in December 2024. Now, as he prepares for his next bout at VFL3 on December 12th against Tom Picciano, Gracie is promising a completely different approach.
“I think this match is more about just showing that I don’t need to pull guard and I could beat somebody’s a*s,” Gracie declared in a recent interview. “That’s the plan.”
The statement represents a dramatic shift for someone whose surname is synonymous with submission grappling.
Gordon Ryan didn’t mince words when analyzing Gracie’s recent performances. “Traditional old school jiu-jitsu just isn’t enough to translate into mixed martial arts,” Ryan stated bluntly. He argued that while traditional jiu-jitsu has merit, it lacks the adaptability necessary to succeed against today’s varied styles.
Ryan contrasted Gracie’s approach with MMA stars like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Khamzat Chimaev, and Islam Makhachev—grapplers who have integrated wrestling and positional control into their submission games.
“If you look at Khabib, he used pretty much only jiu-jitsu, but he just kind of transcended wrestling and transcended jiu-jitsu where it was like more of a submission wrestling game,” Ryan explained. This hybrid style, closer to ADCC competition than traditional gi-based training, has proven dominant at the highest levels.
“You need guys like Khamzat, you need guys like Khabib, you need guys like Islam,” Ryan continued. “Khabib did it the same way as Kron’s doing it, but Khabib did a much better job of transcending jiu-jitsu and transcending wrestling and kind of merging them together to become successful.”
Gracie himself has acknowledged that listening to others may have derailed his career.
“I was very confident and I was doing well, and I had a lot of confidence in my guard and pulling guard, and I just made a mistake and I paid for it,” Gracie explained . “So I feel like that’s just kind of the name of the game. Sometimes you zig and you should have zagged, and then you get cracked and so that’s what happened.”
The defeat cost him his UFC contract.
“I had a couple of different managers kind of speaking for me and everything, so I don’t really know what was said,” Gracie said regarding his release.
Now competing outside the UFC’s spotlight, Gracie appears determined to reinvent himself.
The son of Rickson and grandson of Hélio Gracie carries a surname that helped create modern mixed martial arts. That legacy, however, may have become more burden than blessing. As Gracie attempts to rebuild his career at 37, the question remains whether he can evolve beyond the traditional techniques that defined his family’s legacy.
