MMA’s Gracie takes Cotto’s side

By Edri K. Aznar

ULTIMATE Fighting Championship (UFC) hall of famer and Brazilian jujitsu legend Royce Gracie is rooting for World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in his upcoming fight against Manny Pacquiao.

“I hope Cotto wins. I like him and his style,” said Gracie.

Although Gracie picks the the Puerto Rican superstar over Pacquiao, he believes the fight will be a tough one.

Boxing has been booming all over the world especially in the Philippines because of the rise to stardom of pound-for-pound king Pacquiao, but Gracie believes MMA is still more popular than boxing nowadays.

“It’s already more popular than boxing in America. If there’s a championship boxing match and a good MMA card, then the MMA card will win. People are more interested in the no-holds-barred fights,” said Gracie.

Discipline

Like Pacquiao, Gracie has defeated fighters bigger than him as he dominated the early days of the mixed-martial arts (MMA) scene.

He believes winning fights is all about discipline and training.

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“You need to have discipline. It’s not just about toughness and talent. You’ve got to practice over and over again,” said Gracie

In the early days of UFC, when there were no weight categories yet, Gracie had to face fighters bigger than him, even those who are twice his size. He defied all odds and showed that size doesn’t matter when he won three UFC tournaments.

“Anything is possible; you just got to have discipline,”said Gracie, who has been in the Philippines thrice and in Cebu City for the first time.

He once fought multiple fights in a night. Playing three fights in UFC 1 and UFC 4 and four fights in UFC 2—all of them he dominated.

Critics

Meanwhile, Gracie also hits critics who say MMA is a violent sport since fighters can use fists, elbows, knees and feet as weapon.

“Athletes in other sports acquire worse injuries than MMA fighters. It’s just a matter of educating the crowd. Take soccer for instance. A lot of kids break their arms and
legs playing. Does that make it a brutal sport?” he said.

Gracie is in the Philippines for his Royce Gracie Southeast Asia Tour 2009. He had a one-day Brazilian jujitsu clinic at the the CJRS MMA Gym, wherein he taught around 30 Brazilian jujitsu practitioners drills and techniques