Earlier this month, Hughes was interviewed on AT&T’s original series Undeniable with Joe Buck and addressed his interest to fight again. Following the interview, which will be released in its entirety this summer/early fall, Hughes approached Bellator with the idea of facing the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend for a rematch.

Speaking with MMAFighting.com, Gracie revealed he welcomes the idea.

Man, that would be great. Everybody wants to see this second fight. I’d be in the fight. The strategy was right. Everything we planned and imagined he would do, he did. But I wasn’t in the fight.

Apparently, Bellator officials have not approached Gracie to book the fight with Hughes yet, but it sounds like he 100% ready to take on the challenge again if they do.

I never stopped training, I never stopped working out. My body is in great shape, the machine is working. There’s only one way to find out (who would win): we have to do it again.

He continued,

Boy, if you want to fight me right now, I’ll meet you there [laughs]. When you’re a fighter, you have to be ready all the time. There’s no ‘I need a month’. It’s always time. When you’re a fighter, any time is time to fight. I won’t ask for more time, say ‘I need to get ready’. You’re a warrior or you’re not.

Gracie, 50, was last seen inside the cage when he defeated Ken Shamrock for the second time at Bellator 149 in February 2016. He lost to Hughes at UFC 60 via TKO and also tested positive for anabolic steroids after the match. The judges’ decision was not overturned.

Are you interested in seeing this rematch? Let us know in the comment section below.

Two MMA legends will meet inside the cage for a trilogy, but this time it will officially take place in Bellator rather than in the UFC. Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie III has been booked for February 19, 2016 at Bellator 149 in Houston, Texas. The announcement was made on Friday at Bellator 145, and MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani later confirmed the bout will be at openweight.

Regarding Shamrock vs. Gracie 3, it will take place at open weight. Texas commission has already approved it.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 7, 2015

Shamrock made his first MMA return in June against Kimbo Slice after a 5 year break from the sport. He lost by first-round knockout. As for Gracie, he hasn’t competed professionally since 2007. Both fighters met for the first time at UFC 1 in 1993 and a second time at UFC 5 in 1995 where the fight was declared a draw.

Slice and Dhafir “Dada 5000” Harris have also been booked and is set as the co-main event of Bellator 149, which takes place at the Toyota Center.

Bellator MMA has a massive event booked in September titled “Dynamite”, which will headline an epic light heavyweight title bout between Tito Ortiz and champion Liam McGeary. Former UFC fighter Josh Thomson will be making his debut in the promotion against Mike Bronzoulis and Phil Davis will be squaring off with former champion Emanuel Newton.

But history will also be made before Bellator’s most stacked card of the year. Fan Fest 2015 has been announced giving fans the opportunity to meet and shake the hands of some the most well respected fighters on the planet the night before “Dynamite.”

On September 18th at 7:00 P.M. at the Dave & Busters, located in Milpitas, California, Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Cung Le, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Frank Shamrock are all scheduled for the meet and greet and while it is open to fans, you must be a member of Bellator’s free group, “Bellator Nation”. In addition, fans can take pictures with Bellator’s beautiful ring girls!

Bellator MMA & Glory: Dynamite 1 takes place on September 19th, 2015 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

People that don’t know and hear about it, they start to think that all the people that do jiu-jitsu smokes pot, is a drug addict. Here I am fighting for something good, and the guy [Eddie Bravo] is fighting for something bad, in my point of view. I can’t agree with that, what he represents. Nothing to do with his jiu-jitsu, his school. If you want to do something like that, do it in private. Keep it to yourself. – Royce Gracie

UFC has done a great job over the past twenty years in building this sport and taking it globally and I’m glad to have been part of that, but Bellator is a growing organization I am honored to be a part of, and with the dedicated and talented people already associated with the company, we can further the growth of mixed martial arts as a sport worldwide. – Royce Gracie, new official brand ambassador for Bellator MMA

Royler Gracie vs. Eddie Bravo 2

That’s what Eddie Bravo said in a recent announcement made by Metamoris, who sounds really eager to get a jiu-jitsu rematch with Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Royler Gracie. If you don’t recall, Bravo submitted Gracie via triangle choke at ADCC back in 2003 in Abu Dhabi. According to MMA Fighting, Bravo is the first American to ever submit a member of the Gracie family in competition. That happened exactly a decade ago, and now the rematch the fans have also been waiting for is officially set in stone.

However, a time and date for the big event hasn’t been announced yet.

“I’ve wanted a rematch for 10 years,” said Bravo at the Metamoris 2 post-fight press conference at Pauley Pavilion. “I got lucky to go against a legend once. Most people, most lightweights, their dream was to go against Royler. I was lucky enough get pitted up against him. If Buster Douglas got a rematch, that is something I would want to see.”

Additionally, Gracie also commented about the rematch, and that he will be 100 percent ready this time.

“Make a little mistake and you’re done,” Gracie said. “Just one little mistake. I’ll try to do my best for the next one. Who knows what is going to happen this time, but for sure I’m going to be 100 percent.”

UFC Weight Classes & UFC Champions

The UFC has had numerous champions. And unless you’re willing to watch every UFC event or scour the Internet for various sources offering different information, and then afterward try to sort through who won what when, and at what division and weight class, then you will probably become very confused.

What we at Yell! Magazine decided to do is accomplish this task for you. We will start at the beginning and inform you who was the champion at every tournament, at every event, and at every weight class with an explanation of its history. With any luck, after reading this article, you will be the most informed UFC fan on the planet.

We have broken up the list into eras with dates given for important changes to the UFC formats. Loosely speaking, there are three eras to the UFC: The Early Years (1993-1997), The Middle Years (1997-2001), and The Modern Years (2001-present).

The Early Years (1993-1997)

The early years of the UFC was a simple time. There were very few rules, no weight classes and a tournament-style fight card. Fighters would enter the octagon and fight until there was a winner. The only rules were no eye-gouging and no biting. There was also no time limit and, therefore, no rounds. The only way to win was by tap out, knock out, or a towel throw in.

Royce Gracie - UFC 1 Champion

Here is the first list of champions before any major format changes:

First UFC Champion – Royce Gracie (Nov. 12, 1993-Sept. 9, 1994)

Royce Gracie became champion at the inaugural UFC tournament and defended his title at UFC 2.

Second UFC Champion – Steve Jennum (Sept. 9, 1994-Dec. 6, 1994)

Royce Gracie failed to defend his title due to exhaustion in his semifinal fight. Jennum beat Harold Howard in the final.

Third UFC Champion – Royce Gracie (Dec. 6, 1994-Feb. 16, 1995)

Royce Gracie returned to win UFC 4. As for Steve Jennum, he withdrew due to injury after his quarterfinal bout with Melton Bowan.

Do you know what the first major format change was in the UFC?

Royce Gracie

What has always irked me is the over hype of many of the MMA stars by writers, commentators and fans over the years. Being a personality that prefers hard facts over emotional utterances, I find now is the best time to dispel some stupidities fostered over the last couple of decades. The main reason is that the sport has reached its defining stages. Every combatant out there now has a pedigree of expertise in every major form of fighting that has been proven successful in the cage and we now see (and have seen for quite awhile) that the better athlete with the best game plan is the one that dominates the sport. In other words there are few differences between one fighter and another other than talent, hard work, and planning and therefore comparisons should start to made.

But it seems that many of the writers, announcers and fans still don’t understand the difference between what is great and what is the greatest. Even the UFC Hall of Fame, like other sports, fails to show this difference.

I write this article knowing that once it is done I will be in the minority opinion, but that has never been a deterrent in this writer’s push to say what needs to be said, and that is, there is a major difference between the great and the greatest. The two should never be confused and they should never be interchanged.

Before I decide to write what many will consider some sacrilegious utterances, it’s time to define the difference that is the gulf between what is great and what is the greatest. When speaking of these two terms, as it pertains to MMA, and sport in general, the most important thing to mention is the failed attempts to compare athletes from different eras. In the end it never works.

Photo Credit: Susumu Nagao

If you tell me that Matt Hughes is greater than Royce Gracie, and you cite the fight at UFC 60 as your proof, then you fail to comprehend the importance of the term era. All that the fight in Los Angeles did was show that cage fighting had moved on the from single discipline contests it displayed in its early days to the Mixed Martial Arts contests we see today.

The fact is, the only way to rightly distinguish between great and greatest is to look on each fighter and see what he did against the competition he faced during his career. The great fighters were successful but the greatest fighters were dominating, and that is the clear difference. To interchange the two, as if they are both the same animal, which it seems most do on a consistent basis, is both stupid and insults the legacy of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport.

More on BJ Penn and Randy Couture on the next jump…

UFC 3 The American Dream: Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock

Royce Gracie was back to defend his title at UFC 3. The number of fighters for this tournament went back to eight as it was at UFC 1 (UFC 2 doubled the number to sixteen). The tournament also moved locations. The first two were held in Denver. This time the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina would be the venue. The date was September 9, 1994 and it would be an historic date in the world of MMA and the young Ultimate Fighting Championships.

At the time, everyone was anticipating a duel between Gracie and shootfighter Ken Shamrock. Shamrock lost to Gracie in the semis at UFC 1 and missed UFC 2 due to injury. Fans were seriously disappointed when it was announced at UFC 2 that Shamrock wasn’t on the card as they knew Shamrock was probably the only fighter of the day that stacked up well against the Brazilian and might even be able to beat the jujitsu master.

Again, as with the first two tournaments, you had a stable of mixed disciplined fighters. Jujitsu, shootfighting, sumo, karate, kickboxing, judo, taekwondo would all be represented. But anyone with a brain knew by this time that if you didn’t have skill and technique on the ground, you would be sorely out-classed unless you got lucky.

The tournament rules were the same as the two previous tournaments. Anything goes except for eye-gouging and biting. There were no rounds. Fighters fought until they were knocked out, tapped out, their corner threw in the towel, or the referee determined the fighter could no longer defend himself.

Keith Hackney vs. Emmanuel Yarborough

Keith Hackney had a black belt in taekwondo and kenpo karate. This would be his first UFC tournament and one of two in his career (he would return for UFC 4).

As for Emmanuel Yarborough, the sumo wrestler was one of the main attractions of the tournament. People wondered if he would fare better than Teila Tuli did at UFC 1. Tuli got his teeth knocked out by finalist Dutch savateur Gerald Gordeau after he fell to the ground and couldn’t stand back up. Yarborough was a much larger man than Tuli at 6’8″ and a whopping 616 lbs. and played college football as well, so everyone figured he would be a better competitor than the Hawaiian.

Hackney would have to use his quickness and striking abilities to beat the sumo wrestler and that’s exactly what he did. Hackney knew that body strikes would be quite ineffective against a man of Yarborough’s girth so he concentrated on the New Jersey native’s head.

Within a few seconds of the fight Hackney tagged the giant with an open-handed strike to the head which floored the sumo practitioner. Keith then moved in and hit Yarborough again. But Emannuel got a hold of Hackney and from Keith’s back let loose with a flurry of strikes. Hackney weathered the storm and escaped back to his feet. Hackney turned and began punching Yarborough which gave the sumo wrestler time to grab Keith by his shirt. Yarborough stood up and used his weight to shove Hackney against fence. The force of the push broke open the gate.

Referee John McCarthy restarted the men in their designate corners. Hackney then hit Yarborough with another head strike but it didn’t faze the sumo expert. Hackney then changed tactics with kicks to Yarborough’s legs. But this was also ineffective. On one strike Emmanuel seized Hackney’s left leg which opened his head to further strikes from the karate master. It was the opening Hackney needed. Yarborough went down from the head blows and Hackney swarmed the sumo master. With repeated hammer strikes to Yarborough’s head, Hackney forced Emmanuel to tap out. The fight lasted 1:59.

Ken Shamrock vs. Christophe Leininger

Christophe Leininger was a judo black belt. At the time he was ranked number two in the country at his weight class. This would be his first appearance in the octagon and we wouldn’t see him again until UFC 13 where he lost to Guy Mezger. The two fights would be the sum total of his UFC career.

Christophe Leininger would be Ken Shamrock’s first hurdle hindering his desire to face Royce Gracie. The legendary fight at UFC 1 where Shamrock lost to Gracie was embarrassing for the Pancrase champion. He had been anticipating a re-match ever since. Shamrock thought it would be at UFC 2 but when Ken broke his hand sparring with a team mate, he had to withdraw from the tournament. UFC 3 was his chance for redemption.

The two fighters circled each other for the first seconds until Leininger shot forward at the future UFC Hall of Famer. The two went to the ground with Shamrock getting the better position. Leininger put Shamrock in his guard and began pummeling the Pancrase champion on the top on the head with his fists. The two exchanged head butts, then Leininger attempted a triangle on Shamrock when Ken raised himself to deliver a strike. Shamrock used his strength to break the submission attempt and gained the judo black belt’s back.

While on Leininger’s back, Shamrock got a leg hook but was unable to do much more before the judo fighter twisted back into a half guard position. Ken used the opportunity to lift up and strike Leininger repeatedly to the face. Shamrock forced Leininger into the fence and used his left hand to move the judo expert’s hands away from the protection of his face and used the right to hammer the trapped Leininger. This vulnerability was enough of an incentive for Leininger to tap out before he was seriously hurt. The fight lasted 4:49.

Harold Howard vs. Roland Payne

Harold Howard would be the first of many Canadians in the history of the UFC to enter the octagon. He was a black belt in both jujitsu and karate and those skills he would use to make it to the finals of this tournament (along with Royce Gracie’s eventual departure due to exhaustion of course). This would be Howard’s first appearance in the UFC and we wouldn’t see him again until UFC 7 where he would lose to American Mark Hall. The Mark Hall fight was his last in the UFC.

American Roland Paine’s only appearance in the UFC was this one. He was a muay thai kick boxer holding a third degree black belt in the discipline. He was also a crowd favorite being from the area himself.

This fight was an all-out brawl that lasted 46 seconds. Neither fighter had any wish to use any defensive skills. It opened with Howard landing a straight left to the shorter American’s head then it went full-tilt from there. Howard followed with a straight right which backed up Paine toward the fence. The American then shot forward with double hooks on the legs of the Canadian bringing Howard to the floor. Howard used his backward momentum to flip Payne off and then quickly regain his feet.

Howard saw that Payne was still on the ground so he rushed in and as Payne was trying to stand, Howard nailed the American to the head with a knee. Payne grabbed Howard’s legs and brought the Canadian back to the ground. Payne then gained side control but Howard under-hooked the Americans right limb and turned him over. Howard landed a right fist as he stood. Payne held Howard’s left leg as he raised up with the Canadian taking an elbow to his exposed back.

Withstanding the elbow, Payne again hooked the Canadian’s legs meaning to bring Howard back to the ground but Howard hugged the American, fell backward and again reversed the take down. Both fighters gained their feet and like a charging bull, Payne rushed Howard attacking with low kicks. The Canadian backed up to lessen the impact and while on the fence let loose with some devastating upper cuts and straight rights to the American’s head. The strikes downed the American and Howard followed up with an hammer fist before referee John McCarthy stopped the fight.

Read about the semi-finals and the fight between Harold Hoawrd on the next page…

Royce Gracie: UFC 2

The infancy of the tournament-style UFC was dominated by Royce Gracie. Gracie won UFC 1 easily with only Ken Shamrock giving any indication that there was anyone in the martial arts world who could defend against the Gracie style of jujitsu. The UFC doubled its fighter roster for its second presentation from the eight in UFC 1 to sixteen in UFC 2.

Unfortunately, unless you were at Mammoth Gardens in Denver, Colorado, you wouldn’t have seen the first seven fights on the card as they were not shown on pay-per-view or the original home video release. In the preliminary round (the first eight fights) only the Royce Gracie/Minoki Ichihara fight made it to video.

The results of the first seven fights are as follows:

Preliminary Round:

Scott Morris defeats Sean Daugherty by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:20
Patrick Smith defeats.Ray Wizard by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:58
Johnny Rhodes defeats.David Levicki by Submission (Punches) at 12:13
Frank Hamaker defeats Thaddeus Luster by TKO (Corner Stoppage) at 4:52
Orlando Weit defeats Robert Lucarelli by TKO (Corner Stoppage) at 2:50
Remco Pardoel defeats Alberto Cerro Leon by Submission (Armlock) at 9:51
Jason DeLucia defeats Scott Baker by Submission (Strikes) at 6:41

Royce Gracie vs. Minoki Ichihara

Ichihara had only one fight in the history of the UFC, this one, as he competed mostly in his native Japan during his career as a fighter. According to the video he had won over 60 fights at the time of this competition but it mattered little in the octagon.

Ichihara’s discipline was karate and for those who know MMA competition (even at this early stage of its development), any fighter who doesn’t have a ground game is usually over-matched by those who do.

It took Gracie just over five minutes to submit Ichihara (5:08 to be exact). Within the first 30 seconds of the bout Gracie took Ichihara to the ground and achieved a full mount almost immediately afterward.

For the next four and a half minutes Ichihara defended against Gracie’s fists and head (Gracie would rib punch and head butt Ichihara to get him to release his hold around Gracie’s head). After tiring out, Ichihara did indeed release the hold allowing Gracie to sit up and begin pummeling Ichihara’s face with strikes. It made Ichihara turn and expose his back.

Gracie rolled along with the Japanese fighter and grabbed Ichihara’s upper gi in the process. Gracie then flipped unto his back and used his leverage to wrap the lapel of Ichihara’s gi around Ichihara’s neck choking him out. Commentators Brian Kilmead and Ben Perry (Jim Brown, the third commentator, was silent at the time) mistakenly thought it was an arm bar.

Royce Gracie vs. Minoki Ichihara Video