After notable wins under the Strikeforce umbrella over Kevin Randleman, Trevor Prangley and Keith Jardine it came as a surprise to many that Roger Grace was unceremoniously handed his walking papers after dropping his sole loss in the UFC’s Octagon.
Following his defeat via unanimous decision at the hands of Tim Kennedy Gracie found himself at a crossroad. One can only imagine that given his notable mastery of the BJJ circuit the loss would have him considering whether he should abandon his career in the cage. Not so, given the enthusiasm in which he responds during our conversation it would seem this was only a passing consideration.
“Yes it was a bit harsh being dropped after just one loss in the UFC, it was hard to come to terms with, but hey what can you do.” Gracie offers this in a rather matter of fact manner. He is seemingly at peace with where he is now and has taken his experience as a lesson learned as he continues jovially, “The biggest lesson Iearned from the Tim Kennedy loss is that I shouldn’t cut to 185lbs and definitely that I should get fit before fighting.”
With Gracie now poised to move on with his career in the cage and with One FC acquiring ex UFC and Bellator free agents I’m curious to see whether this organisation appeals to him and whether an offer of a contract has been forthcoming from them. “I’ve not signed a contract with anyone yet, I’ve been speaking to my manager almost daily. I wasn’t sure at first whether I would fight again, but now that I have decided to come back full on I believe I’ll have made a decision where I’ll fight in the next few days.”
Given the amount of time Roger Gracie devotes to his various BJJ Academies around the UK between fights he more than anyone would have a view on the recent debate focussing on Rener and Ryrons online Gracie University. In particular Rener’s assertion that ‘Learning Jiu-Jitsu online is even more effective than in the Academy’ Roger’s viewpoint on this is unwavering “In my opinion you can learn new things online. Sometimes you can watch a video of a guy doing a move a couple of times then try the move yourself. You can learn a few tricks but the only way to learn is to practice it inside the school. It’s impossible to be better learning online.”
