MMA Junkie reports that Royce Gracie has made Beckett Media’s list of “50 Greatest Athletes of All Time.” The UFC Hall of Famer is considered one of the more influential figures in MMA.
Former NBA star Michael Jordan topped the list with Muhammad Ali coming in second and Jackie Robinson, Wayne Gretzky and Jim Thorpe rounding out the top 5. Bruce Lee made the list at 15.
Payout Perspective:
The recognition reflects the influence of Gracie on the sport of mixed martial arts. The write-up credits Gracie as introducing the sport of MMA to the mainstream citing UFC 1 where he defeated three opponents in a one night tournament. Notably, he comes before track and field star Jesse Owens, tennis star Serena Williams and Miami Heat star LeBron James on the list.
Where is Ronda Wousey?
Screw him. My respect for Royce Gracie couldn’t have been any lower a few years ago. His campaign to step into the Octagon against Matt Hughes in Rio was an absolutely, indisputably pathetic joke and an unjustifiable insult to Hughes and fans everywhere. It made me lose a ton of respect for him and I’ve had an agenda against him ever since.
What was it, just four years prior that Hughes smashed and humiliated Royce at Staples? Hughes could’ve trained for one week and he woulda destroyed Royce. Listen, Royce should be respected for what he’s done for the UFC, no doubt about it, but this has to be said: He was simply in the right place at the right time. Today, in his prime, Royce would be a mid-tier, second-class fighter nowhere near the top, let alone a LEGEND. And no, Royce did NOT “make” the UFC. Not even close.
What an insult to the rest of the pioneers and fighters in the dark ages. That Royce is always singled out for some reason is wrong. He must secretly be a billionaire with a billionaire PR machine behind him.
What was the basis of the award? Just contribution to a particular sport?
Cheap rushed product. http://www.mmamania.com/2014/1/12/5299996/happy-georges-st-pierre-no-regrets-retire-return-ufc-upcoming-projects-mma
Wrong link
Cheap rushed product
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/1/13/5295434/ufc-fight-pass-security-issues-credit-cards-hackers-fraud
Gracie was a pioneer in the sport, and perhaps he should be on a “most influential athletes” list, but one of the greatest athletes??? Athleticism was never his strong suit, and the opposition he faced was relatively clueless in terms of countering his techniques.
Yes Machiel, as I said “right place, right time.” No more, no less. I take back my “mid-tier” comment though. As you said, athleticism was never his strong suit — he’d be a nobody, fringe UFC fighter.
http://www.mmafighting.com/2014/1/14/5309016/georges-st-pierre-on-ufcs-lack-of-drug-testing-support-it-bothered-me
Good move by gsp….
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/1/14/5309736/retired-champ-georges-st-pierre-calls-ufc-a-monopoly
Hahahaha…good for fighters….they should all speak out
Didn’t he test positive for steroids? http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=2939575 So they award a cheater?? Just saying
Hahahaaa, thanks salda, never heard that story before. “The amount of drugs in his body measured more than 25 times what could be considered normal in an adult male.” TWENTY-FIVE times!?!
Hmmm. The guy who revolutionized fighting gets 44th and an actor who studied martial arts but never competed on a serious professional level is 15th? Goes to show you how influential Hollywood is. People should ask Gene LeBell what he thinks about the alleged aura of Bruce Lee’s fighting ability. He has pointed out how ridiculous it was many times and he trained with him. The true pioneers of the sport were Helio Gracie, Kimura, Gene LeBell, etc. not an actor.
This list is certainly subjective in many ways, but they did pick some good athletes, albeit Babe Ruth must have only been selected due to his baseball skills. And as for Bruce Lee, he stated many times that he considered himself first a martial artist and second, an actor. Gene Lebell has said complimentary things about him, but why is his opinion the only one that matters ? Why not ask others who knew him as well like Dan Inosanto, Jackie Chan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Hayward Nishioka, Jhoon Rhee, etc,..They will tell you how extraordinary he was as an athlete and martial artist. If still not convinced, I suggest all the jealous mongers to then read the large body of record from martial artists who are no longer here, and take into account the overwhelming acknowledgement that this man was unique in every sense of the word. Not enough convincing, then I ask why do MMA stars like Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Georges St Pierre, Ronda Rousey, Loyota Machida, admire him ? Are they all idiots ? And what about Mike Tyson and Sugar Ray Leonard or Ray Mancini, who give Bruce Lee much credit and admiration as well. Bruce Lee trained for the street, for life and death, and not for the ring(though he respected those who did). In my opinion he should be in the top 3 and not 15th !