Renzo Gracie apparently has high hopes for the future of amateur MMA, as he believes that it may one day be in the Olympics. It’s a bold prediction of course, but it’s also far from the first time that a popular figure in the MMA world has shared a similar sentiment. Renzo has a deep background in the sport as well, starting all the way back in the very earliest days of professional MMA in the 1990s. He competed for PRIDE, the UFC, and ONE Championship over the years and faced some of the most legendary champions in the history of the sport like BJ Penn, Dan Henderson, and Matt Hughes.
Renzo was in attendance for the final day of the IMMAF Youth World Championship and he spoke to The National about the potential for the sport being included in the Olympics:
“The sport definitely does have the potential to be in the Olympics from what I saw in Serbia (at the IMMAF European Championship) and now having been here today with over 800 competitors from across 47 countries.”
Even though the event was reserved for young competitors, Renzo was still impressed by the level of skill on display:
”It’s showing the interest and the potential that these kids are bringing. I was very surprised with the technique and the level of knowledge that these kids have. We are looking at the future generations of the MMA sport in the world. For sure, from here, we’re going to have a lot of world champions coming out.”
Renzo Gracie also spoke highly of IMMAF themselves, and he sees them as key to the development of amateur MMA along the way to potential being included in the Olympics:
“I really believe the IMMAF platform will help the sport grow. Right now, it’s just in a few countries but soon every nation will embrace it. I’m right now working to help them to move to the US and start having a platform there to expand.”
There are obviously plenty of hurdles to overcome before amateur MMA joins the Olympics, but Renzo Gracie sees a way to achieve that goal regardless:
“We must go to countries that will support this sport financially and countries with a lot of density of people. So, I believe India, China, Brazil and the US, they will be a very important part of that growth. I see this sport taking off and I know before I die I will watch this in the Olympics.”
