In a conversation on The Ariel Helwani Show, Kron Gracie opened up about how his legendary family name has transformed from an advantage into what he now considers a disadvantage. The fourth-generation Gracie grappler is preparing for his December 12th VFL bout against Tom Picciano in New York City.
“The Gracies had a big advantage because they were training since they were babies,”
Gracie explained.
“And when they started competing, there was no one else training that much. But now you look around, there’s people been training since they were kids in so many different ways. So the Gracies don’t have that kind of advantage anymore.”
The reality, according to Kron, is even more challenging than simply losing a competitive edge.
“If anything, it’s a disadvantage because my family is the one teaching all these people I’m competing against,”
he said.
“So all the people that I matched up with have people who are in my family coaching somebody who coached somebody who coached them to compete against me.”
Despite Kron Gracie’s view that his famous family name can be a disadvantage, UFC featherweight Cub Swanson’s experience shows the Gracie legacy can still influence his opponents’ preparation. In 2019, Swanson revealed that numerous Brazilian jiu-jitsu gyms refused to let him train once they learned he was facing Kron, citing that the Gracies “would take it personal.” Forced to return to his hometown coach and longtime training partner, Swanson had to navigate significant obstacles to get ready for the bout. He managed to secure a win over Kron but the experience was quite unpleasant overall.
“They said that they just didn’t want the beef,” Swanson explained. “They were like, ‘No disrespect, we like you, but it just wouldn’t look good and they would take it personal.’ So I had to go back to my hometown, to my original instructor, and a kid that I had gotten into jiu-jitsu with when I started training.”
Kron’s claims are a complete reversal from the early days of the UFC and Vale Tudo, when the Gracie family’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu knowledge gave them an overwhelming advantage over opponents unfamiliar with ground grappling.
“It’s like an inflation with competing for me because I’m getting paid less, I’m competing against tougher guys and the time is shorter and all these things that I wasn’t trained for,”
he said.
“I was trained for long time, being able to use jiu-jitsu, let the guy get tired, gas, training forever, no weight, no rules. Those were kind of the what I was hearing when I was growing up.”
Whether the Gracie name proves to be a burden or a blessing in this next chapter remains to be seen.
