Rickson Gracie recently made an appearance on the Trocação Franca podcast where he was asked about his son Kron Gracie’s most recent MMA performance, a loss against Cub Swanson in 2019. That wasn’t the only topic of conversation of course, Rickson also spent some time revealing long-kept secrets about the true lineage of the Gracie family. When Rickson talked about what led Kron Gracie to lose his fight against Cub Swanson, he ended up honing in on his decision to keep the fight standing rather than try to grapple with Swanson instead:
“You don’t have to be emotional when you fight, and I think Kron was emotional. He wanted to prove himself and to his friends that he could take a punch, that he’s not afraid of getting punched, that he wasn’t worried about using only one skill and delicate technique to win fast without getting hurt, keeping his face clean. He said, ‘I can prove that I’m a man, that I’m in this environment and I can brawl.’
“He proved to himself that he has heart, that he’s brave and has cardio, that he can take the pressure, but I already knew that in my head. I know he’s an animal, he’s a warrior. What he showed me was lack of ability to work strategically on someone else’s weakness. I never liked clashing heads — I always liked catching someone when they were distracted, to surprise them. I don’t like taking the toughest path, I like taking the door that’s open, the easier way to win. The quickest, the more efficient way, and causing less pain and trauma, the better. If I can beat the guy in 10 seconds in a way he doesn’t even feel pain, that to me is the best possible [outcome].”
“That being said,” he continued, “I see Kron trying to show himself as a man, as a warrior, and a bit away from the structure of what jiu-jitsu is meant to be, which is to make life easier. I believe he should train boxing the way he trains and be experienced enough to know he can [box], but use that boxing to get inside the range and immediately make the transition from boxing to jiu-jitsu instead of trying to beat the guy with boxing, to trade hands with the guy to show he’s capable of working in any area. He’s proven that, but it was a little short of the victory, and I think that’s not ideal.”
Rickson isn’t the only member of the Gracie family to have this opinion in fact as his brother Relson also commented on how Kron chose to fight Swanson, showing that he felt similarly about his reliance on striking. Relson went quite a bit further however, as he believes that Jiu-Jitsu is all anyone needs to win in MMA and that Kron should return back to the roots that made the Gracie family famous in the first place. Rickson is far more practical in his assessment though because he understands that even though Kron is following the Gracie family path, modern MMA is a lot different to the types of matches that they used to fight in:
“It fills me up with pride because I see he’s following a tradition, a legacy, but the nature of the sport today is more physical than technical, more than one style only,” he said. “Everybody knows jiu-jitsu, everybody knows boxing, everybody cuts weight to fight, so it became more like a race, more physical and explosive and aggressive to the body. The training you do is very aggressive, the weight cut and diet are aggressive, and the fight has a lot of strength in a short period of time, so people aren’t afraid of getting tired because the bell rings before you get tired. It’s way more predictable, it gives the fighter a sense of control.”
“Even thought the outcome of the fight isn’t that predictable because they both work on the same elements, they will both stumble on the mud and keep pushing until they run out of fuel. It’s very intense, really. It’s not the same way I fought, my strategy. When I see Kron competing today, I don’t go there as a coach and say what he should do. I kind of follow and respect what he’s doing with his training partners, his methodology of training and fighting, which sometimes doesn’t please me.
“Seeing Kron trade punches with someone, I don’t feel comfortable with that exchange. I’d never do that. But seeing him do that, I see he’s confident, he’s trained, and he wants to test himself. Many times he [stops following] the perfect strategy to follow the ego and strength, training, competition, and that’s different from my views. I still don’t argue with him. I respect what he thinks and how he fights because the mindset and strategy are different today.”
It’s actually pretty refreshing to see the older generation of martial artists respecting that modern MMA is different, and the tactics and styles used to compete must be different as well. Rickson finished by explaining that he doesn’t really have much input in the training that Kron does these days, as the younger Gracie has moved to Montana to open up his own gym now:
“Right now we’re giving each other some space, you know? We had some small arguments and now he’s moved to Montana, he’s with his new gym there, he’s training. I don’t know exactly what his plans are for MMA, but I root for him. I know he has great potential, not only as a fighter, but also a great teacher, a great man. I’m rooting for him, and I’m also curious, like everybody else, to know what he’ll do next.”
