Renzo Gracie talks about what motivates him in MMA and UFC
Published by Staff on March 12th, 2010 in Current Events

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Four years ago, Matt Hughes faced Royce Gracie in a mega-profile fight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The UFC 60 PPV drew over 600,000 PPV buys and made Hughes into a mega-star. It was the old guard versus the new guard and the new guard won. Ironically, Hughes would soon become the old-guard when he got whipped by Georges St. Pierre.

In April, Hughes will be taking a trip back in the time machine when he faces another Gracie, this time the “flamboyant” and gregarious Renzo Gracie. Hughes is still ranked in the Top 15 of most MMA rankings lists in the Welterweight division. Renzo is more or less an ambassador of the sport all around the world and is paid handsomely for it. If Hughes plays it safe in terms of winning the fight, we could have a boring fight. If Hughes adopts the same attitude as Renzo has, we will see two legends go balls-to-the-wall for three rounds and provide fireworks in Abu Dhabi.

On paper, the fight is intriguing for several reasons. First, Hughes has been out of action for a while and needs to rebound in a strong way. Since losing to Thiago Alves in London (who was overweight at the time of the fight), Hughes has become somewhat of an afterthought in media circles. The media’s behavior became so abhorrent that certain writers suggested that Hughes should retire after losing to Alves.

Whatever.

For hardcore MMA fans, watching Renzo vs. Hughes will be entertaining to watch. I always have enjoyed Renzo as both a fighter and an ambassador to the sport. In life, there are certain types of people you can hang around with. There are the types that are constantly depressed and agitated losers. Hanging around those people only makes you miserable and makes you a loser as well. On the other hand, there are the kind of people who not only enjoy life but truly enjoy what they are doing in life and manage to cultivate their passion into an infectious momentum that not only breeds success but also breeds success for those who are around them. Renzo Gracie falls in the latter category.

During a recent interview with HDNet, Renzo talked a bit about why he is back in active competition and what currently is motivating him to be the best.

“When I fight Matt Hughes, I’ll actually be 43 and I can’t wait.

“That’s my middle-age crisis, I go back to fighting. My wife say that, ‘Buy a motorcycle, buy a sports car. Why you going to fight?’ My middle-age crisis, I’m in the ring, you know.”

The big storyline heading into the Renzo/Hughes fight in April is that it will take place in Abu Dhabi. UFC recently sold 10% of their company to Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an avid MMA fan and entertainment mogul in the Middle East. Who is the Shiekh friends with? Renzo Gracie. It may be easy to claim that UFC is giving Renzo a fight in Abu Dhabi as a thanks to the Shiekh, but I also think that viewpoint is selling Renzo short. He has a chance of winning his fight against Matt Hughes.

More importantly, Abu Dhabi will be Renzo’s home turf. Renzo has split time between Abu Dhabi and New York City. In a sense, Renzo will be cheered as a hometown favorite when he fights Hughes. Hughes relishes being a natural heel, so the dynamic is perfect for the fight. Renzo explained in the HDNet interview how the fight was booked.

“I was actually we were sitting at the table right next to our friend the Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and they extended an invitation, ‘What about you? Are you thinking about going back?’ I said, ‘Yeah, we can sign up right now with a handshake,’ and that’s how it’s done, you know. and I shook hands with Lorenzo, Frank, and Dana, and I was back in action and I said, ‘Look, if I’m diving, I’m diving head first. So put up six-fight deal with the right that you can fire me at any time.’

“The last time that I fought I did three fights in six months. You know, like once I get in shape I go in a row, I don’t want to stop. And let’s see how my body reacts, let me see how I do against Hughes and let me see how the fans like it. All of this will depend on how fast the second fight will come about, you know.

“The Sheikh one time came to visit me here 14 years ago when I moved to America. And he came to my school, my school used to be at 27th street, a small place, and he came over and he didn’t tell me who he was and he trained at the academy. He invited me over to dinner and at the dinner he told me he was the sheikh from Abu Dhabi and he would like to invite me over to see his country. So, I’ve been coming to his country for 14 years.

“I have a home field advantage anywhere I fight. When I went to fight Pat Miletich in Iowa, on his home town, I remember when I walk in I heard everybody screaming like this, USA! USA! USA! As I’m walking I look up and look at the guy who writes the Gracie Magazine, and they go to him, ‘How do they find out?’ He goes, ‘Find out what?’ ‘That I became a citizen last week!’ Like actually a week before I became an American citizen. So in my head they were chanting for me!”

How much of a role did Renzo play in setting up the Sheikh with Zuffa management to make the minority ownership sale of UFC happen?

“To be honest, I think it was much more than anybody could realize. I think I was one of the guys who actually kept the passion alive for the rulers of the country. All the dreams that I had to do it in Brazil, it ended up happening in Abu Dhabi.

“I know Dana for a long time, a long long time, I think when he was a personal trainer. So, and he was always a great fan of the sport. I do believe people perceive him very wrongly. He’s a great guy.”

Win or lose in April, Renzo has a few more fights that he would like to make happen before his career is over.

“I would love to fight Frank Shamrock. We didn’t finish our (first) fight, so I would love to fight him again. Sakuraba, I would love to lay my hands on Sakuraba, it would be a great match. Maybe the UFC comes to Japan and maybe we can dance once again together, you know.”