How can you have a UFC event in Brazil and not include a Gracie? That’s a question that many fans have continued to ask as the date draws closer and closer to “UFC: Rio”, the UFC’s return to Brazil after a hiatus of approximately a decade. Now we have words from an actual Gracie on the situation. Here’s what Renzo Gracie, who last fought in the UFC against Matt Hughes, had to say. ...

For many reasons, the ufc’s upcoming return to Brazil is quickly becoming one of the can’t-miss events of the year. The card will feature such talent as Anderson Silva, Mauricio Rua, and many more, and will be the first UFC event in Brazil in over a decade. One of the most popular rumors surrounding this card was that “UFC: Rio” would see the return of the legendary Royce Gracie. But according to a new interview, UFC President Dana White has no interest in bringing back the UFC Hall of Famer. Here’s all the details. ...

Since the ufc announced their intentions for a Brazilian event in August, the talk surrounding Royce Gracie's possible inclusion on the card has been growing stronger. And the man that pretty much got the MMA truck rolling with UFC 1, UFC 2, and UFC 4 tournament wins has done nothing to squash those rumors since. Along the way, some unusual names have surfaced as willing opponents for Royce beyond the obvious Matt Hughes rumors. Yep, we're talking about fighters like Dan Severn and Art Jimmerson. ...

Many years ago, Helio Gracie took the art of judo that Mitsuyo Maeda taught his older brother Carlos and revamped it.  You see, Helio found judo's moves to put him at a disadvantage, as many of them favored the bigger and stronger fighter.  So being way ahead of his time, he modified the art to favor leverage over strength.  And in 1993, a 170 pound fighter by the name of Royce Gracie used those same techniques that his father Helio had taught him to win the first UFC tournament championship.  In one fell swoop, the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was shown to the American masses, and contemporary MMA was born. Royce went on to win three of the first four UFC tournament championships.  When you add in the fact that his eldest brother Rorion was one of the founders of the UFC, it's hard not to see the importance of the Gracie family as MMA pioneers.  They started the whole thing.  So it's good to know that Royce, the first UFC superstar, feels that the UFC organization gives his family the respect they deserve.  Confirming this, when Sherdog.com's Marcelo Alonso recently asked him if he felt that the world today gave his family and father the recognition they deserved for the role they played in MMA history, here's what he had to say. ...

Welcome back to “All I Want for Christmas”, fans and friends, my special four-part Christmas Day mini-series that celebrates a day of well-wishing and familial bonding. I’ve got high hopes for MMA in 2011, and hopefully these various Top 5 lists have filled you with a sense of wonder as well. Take it as my little effort to spread some holiday cheer, to get some spirits up and inject a little positivity into a medium that so often only focuses on the negative. With that said, let’s head right into the final entry of today’s list, the Top 5 things I’m looking forward to for the UFC in 2011. ...

The father of mixed martial arts, as described by UFC president Dana White, Royce Gracie may be returning to the octagon by August of next year. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master was last seen inside the cage when he was soundly defeated by then welterweight champion Matt Hughes by TKO inside of the first-round in their non-title bout in May of 2006. Gracie rebounded with a decision victory over rival Kazushi Sakuraba under the K-1 banner in 2007, but has since been absent from the mixed martial arts scene. ...

UFC Hall of Famer, and one of the most recognized fighter's in the sport today, Matt Hughes will step into the octagon for the 52nd time, against welterweight contender, Ricardo Almeida. A Renzo Gracie student, Almeida has made a successful transition to the 170 pound division after a well established career as a middleweight, which has seen him garner wins over the likes of Kendall Grove, Kazuo Misako, and perennial contender Nate Marquardt. Matt Hughes, has had a long and storied career in the UFC. After making his debut nearly 10 years ago, a 20 second submission loss to nemesis Dennis Hallman, Hughes would then go on to capture the welterweight title with a knockout slam over then champion Carlos Newton, and would then go on to set the precedent for 5 consecutive defenses--the most ever cemented in the welterweight division. ...

Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes (42-7) became the eighth person inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on Friday. ...

Saturday the UFC will be live in Abu Dhabi for UFC 112 and we will witness Fighters.com eighth-ranked and former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes (41-7) taking another another Gracie. This time it is Renzo Gracie (13-6-1) who is tasked with the challenge of defeating the dominant wrestler. Sure, this is a fight of two past their prime fighters but there is more to this fight than just that. ...

There was once a time when the Gracie name struck fear in the hearts of their opponents. That time has passed and now Renzo Gracie (13-6-1) is headed to Abu Dahbi for UFC 112 to defend the family name and put them back on top. ...

As I surf the internet bouncing from one mixed martial arts(MMA) site to the next a reoccurring theme occurs. The discussion of Pride Fighting Championships, the fighters, the rules and now a select number of fights being show on Spike TV. This brought back fond memories for me and made me think about the current state of MMA and what made Pride stand out from the crowd. ...

UFC 109 takes place February 6 in Las Vegas and is headlined by two legends in the sport on mixed martial arts (MMA). Fighters.com tenth-ranked heavyweight "The Natural" Randy Couture (17-10) faces off against "The Hammer" Mark Coleman (16-9) in the light heavyweight division. There are a couple of fights on this card that I find very intriguing and are likely to not find their way onto the pay per view. ...

The breakdown in negotiations between boxing champions Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. over Pacquiao's apparent resistance to submit to an Olympic-style blood test has presented MMA with a golden opportunity to further differentiate itself from the often frustrating sport of boxing. ...

In a Q'n'A with British Newspaper The Sun, Fighters.com's ninth-ranked light heavyweight "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz claimed, "My hardest fight was with Randy Couture.  He beat me in a five-round decision and he took my championship belt from me and it really, really sucks.  I had so much training and it was a terrible loss." Ortiz and "The Natural" Randy Couture (16-8) cranked out five rounds in September 2003 while Ortiz was at the top of his game, having dispatched six consecutive challengers with names such as tenth-ranked light heavyweight "The Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva (31-8-1), Yuki Kondo (48-21-6), IFL Light Heavyweight Champion "The Janitor" Vladimir Matyushenko (21-3), and MMA pioneer "The World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock (26-13-2). Ortiz also paid respects to Shamrock and Royce Gracie (14-3-3). "The first thing I really looked at was Royce and Ken Shamrock - they were the two big names in the UFC, great athletes. "Royce was the guy who was submitting all the wrestling guys with them being on top. "I really look up to him - if it wasn’t for him our sport wouldn’t be where it is now. Royce, myself, Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell are the names that built the sport that is today." ...

At 44-years old, UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock (26-12-2) is still trying "to see the world" by fighting he confided from an airport terminal awaiting his flight to London. Shamrock is no longer "The World's Most Dangerous Man", as he's billed in his CageRage debut versus "Buzz" Robert Berry (12-7) Saturday. But, there was a time he damn well may have been. "[In 1993] a student of mine brought me a flier [calling for fighters for UFC 1]," Shamrock remembers. At the time, Shamrock was wrestling in Japan's Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi, mentored by wrestling legends Masakatsu Funaki, Karl Gotch, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Wrestling in Japan had avoided most of the kitsch of American pro wrestling.  His mentors taught Shamrock shoot wrestling, very real and effective submission techniques. In 1993, Funaki founded a hybrid wrestling promotion called Pancrase. "It wasn't MMA," Shamrock emphasizes.  "We used open-hand strikes and shin guards when kicking." In Pancrase's first event in September 1993, Shamrock submitted Funaki in six minutes.  It was a testament to how far the former Tough Man competitor had come. "What we did at UFC 1 was what you see today," Shamrock traces MMA's lineage.  "That was the beginning. "Every time I had seen a no holds barred tournament, it was just for entertainment, you know?  In wrestling, it meant you could bring chairs in the ring.  It was ridiculous.  So, I was skeptical," Shamrock explains.  "But, reality fighting, that's what attracted me to the tournament." "We didn't know until three days before that it was definitely happening." In the first round of UFC 1, the wrestler easily submitted kickboxer Patrick Smith (14-13) in a heel hook at 1:49. After the fight, Shamrock was asked to compare UFC 1 to what he had been doing every month in Pancrase. "This is easier," he proclaimed brashly.  "This guy doesn't know submissions." His confidence may have been his downfall in his second fight of the tournament. "I didn't know who Royce Gracie was," Shamrock admits.  "When I saw him in his gi, I thought he was some karate guy." The eventual tournament winner, Gracie (14-3-3), submitted Shamrock in a rear naked choke in 57 seconds. "It was setup for him to win," Shamrock complains.  "I wasn't allowed to wear my wrestling shoes, but he was allowed to wear his gi. "You can watch it and see that I slip going for a leg lock and [Royce Gracie] wraps his gi around my neck for the choke." Shamrock went on after UFC 1 to bag wins versus a pantheon of fighters including Matt Hume (5-5), "El Guapo" Bas Rutten (28-4-1), and "Mo" Maurice Smith (12-10). At UFC 5 in 1995, he'd get his revenge versus Gracie in a "Superfight", this time knowing fully what to expect from the BJJ and MMA legend.  After 36:06, the fight was declared a draw. The world's most dangerous man?  Gracie had no answer for the wrestler after twice as long as any other MMA fight Gracie had previously participated in. If Shamrock wasn't the most dangerous man in the world, at that point he was at least as dangerous as Gracie, considered then to be the top reality fighter in the world. Saturday, Shamrock makes his British debut.  A victory over Berry leads Shamrock to another accomplishment: MMA's first American network television main event on CBS versus Kimbo Slice. ...

UFC President Dana White announced via letter to Croatian sports website Javno Thursday that he has terminated heavyweight Mirko Filipovic's contract pursuant to a clause that allows renegotiation after Cro Cop lost two consecutive fights. At the same time in Tokyo, Cro Cop shocked a press conference announcing the creation of a new Japanese mixed martial arts promotion called Dream. "I'm very excited to be here again," Cro Cop said.  "I'm so excited to be part of this." Cro Cop scored a single victory in the cage while disappointing twice, in a vicious knockout to Gabriel Gonzaga and a grueling tussle with Cheick Kongo. Cro Cop indicated he preferred fighting in a ring, but hoped to return to the Octagon one day. White welcomes him whenever he's ready. The 33-year old explained, "I left because I couldn't wait any longer.  I asked for a fight earlier, as early as March 1; but, I was offered May, or even later.  I asked for a rematch with Gonzaga in Zagreb; but, he lost to [Fabricio] Werdum, so that fell through.  And I'm in shape, I gained muscle mass, I'm 105 kilograms and I want to fight." Cro Cop's departure from PRIDE to the UFC in December 2006 was exciting, most predicting a virtual coronation as UFC Heavyweight Champion. Cro Cop, however, was unprepared for the Brazilian Gonzaga and uninspired versus the Frenchman Kongo, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of White, Cro Cop, and MMA fans. Cro Cop admitted, "The last two years I've been in some kind of mental blockade.  I was empty before fights, depressed, I hated myself.  I'm sorry to have disappointed my English fans who welcomed me like a king." Dream will be a homecoming of sorts, returning Cro Cop to his comfort zone. The promotion is a collaboration between ex-K-1 and PRIDE executives.  Norifumi Yamamoto, Shinya Aoki, Hayato Sakurai, Gesias Calvancante, and Royce Gracie have all joined Filipovic at Dream. The Saitama Super Arena will host the first fight card March 15 when Calvancante and Aoki will finally showdown and Cro Cop will return versus an unnamed opponent. ...