Royler: “BJJ is already bigger than MMA”

Photo Eduardo Ferreira

One of the biggest names in Jiu-Jitsu and MMA history, Royler Gracie is in TATAME Magazine’s September issue. In an exclusive and historical chat, the Gracie remembered remarkable moments in his life and spoke about the growth of the Jiu-Jitsu around the world.

“Jiu-Jitsu is already bigger than MMA around the world, and will be even more, because in MMA you can only fight from 18 to 35 years… In Jiu-Jitsu, you train a three years old child and a guy with 80”, guarantees the four times BJJ World Champion, who also thinks on fighting again, in MMA or at the ADCC.

Living in the US, Royler commented the challenges in the past, that happened in Rio de Janeiro, the historical fights against De La Riva and Peixotinho, who he considers his biggest opponent ever, and the war times between Jiu-Jitsu and Luta Livre in Brazil, like the one at Academia Gracie.

“It was bad there, some guys had guns, others with acid in the hands… I remember my father saying to Hugo and Denilson that, if it had some bad stuff, they would suffer the consequences. They both guaranteed I’d be honest, then my father opened and they fought, tells, remembering how his fight against Eugênio started and much more.