Were there really fighters not allowed into the early UFC events. I’ve heard about this years ago but is it true. Did Rorion really stack the UFC in Royce favor? Was Oleg denied a spot?
Don “The Dragon” Wilson claimed they wouldn’t let him fight in it.
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The UFC was stacked in the Gracies favor. There were fighters out there that would have done well.
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Of course, they stacked it to highlight Royce. The entire thing was meant to promote BJJ as the ultimate base for fighting.
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It was literally a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu infomercial cooked up by Rorian. Pretty incredible when you think about it in that context.
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We’d need an insider from back in the day to spill.
Fighters known to be banned from the UFC as of now:
Dillon Danis: Banned for life following an explosive, cageside brawl involving opposing teams at Madison Square Garden.
Paul Daley: Banned for life from the promotion after a highly publicized incident at UFC 113where he threw a sucker punch at opponent Josh Koscheck after the bell.
Rousimar Palhares: Stripped of his roster spot and banned due to a recurring, dangerous history of holding onto submissions (such as heel hooks) for far too long after opponents had tapped out.
Jason High: Handed a lifetime ban for aggressively shoving a referee in the octagon after a controversial stoppage.
Igor Severino: Permanently cut and banned during his promotional debut after being disqualified for biting his opponent.
Renato “Babalu” Sobral: Released and banned after refusing to release an illegal choke on his opponent, David Heath, after the fight was officially stopped.
- I really liked watching Renato fight…shame but he was kind of at the end of his career if I remember right.
Thiago Silva: Fired and permanently banned following a severe off-ring domestic violence and police standoff incident.
- Another one of my favorites.
Ruslan Magomedov: Received an outright lifetime ban for multiple severe violations of the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy.
Matt Riddle: For his pot smoking?
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It was an informercial to a degree but Royce wasn’t exactly protected. Shamrock and Gordeau in UFC 1 were legitimate threats. But the early promotions were more about style vs style. What happens if a Kung Fu guy goes against a boxer? What about a sumo wrestler against a kick boxer? It really wouldn’t have served its purpose at the time if it was all BJJ guys fighting against each other.
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I remember Eric Paulson saying he was intending to fight in one of the early UFC’s but he would’ve been banned from all Gracie gyms if he chose to do so.
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According to Art Davies
Horian only wanted one fighter from Brazil in the UFC, thus eliminating people who were experienced in Vale Tudo, and who were aware of the Gracie style
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They absolutely wanted it to showcase BJJ and there were definitely people out there that werent contacted due to knowing how to fight too well. I cant prove it but everything I know about the Gracies and everything I know about the first UFC tells me Im right.
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Art Davie invited Tyson, Holyfield, Karelin and top judo guys but they didn’t accept .. the Gracie’s were perfectly willing to test bjj out against all other styles
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they did have a sambo guy in early
iirc thadeus luster
his fight sucked, layed on top the whole time
i am certain theyd keep out good sambists
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Haku aka Meng. He once bit someones nose off and ripped someones eye out and chewed on it like bubble gum, and he hurt his leg he ripped some guys off at the bar to use
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It was an exhibition like Hawk/ Hosoi the the first espn skateboard thing
They invited Alexander Karelin thpugh - he’s a bigger threat than any sambo or judo guy .. he was a monster wrestler with a little boxing training
Meng would be lucky to win 1 fight at the early ufcs.. very tough and vicious guy(when needed) but skill wise he was mostly lacking
i think judo bro remco pardoel was chosen cuz they scouted him and saw his favorite takedown gave up his back… perfect for royce
Big John McCartney applied to fight in UFC 2 and they offered him the ref job.
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i could be wrong but i think bjm was training bjj under rorion before ufc 1
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