“We’re supposed to sit down and talk in Toronto (about UFC Rio),” said Gracie, regarding the UFC brass and he on a recent episode of Inside MMA. That said, Gracie still noted some uncertainty about whether or not he would be on the card. If Gracie were to fight in Rio, he indicated that he had a potential opponent in mind.  Though he didn’t come out and specifically state it during the telecast, it was hard to miss that he was talking about Hughes. In fact, the whole thing became so obvious that Kenny Rice, one of the hosts of the show, said, “We look forward to that fight with Matt Hughes,” to some laughter.

After a more than 11 year absence from the Octagon, Gracie returned to face Hughes at UFC 60. Unfortunately for him, he was thoroughly dominated by the then Miletich fighter on the ground, eventually succumbing by way of TKO in the round one. We’re talking about being mounted, flattened out on the canvas, and having his arm stretched beyond normal limits. Afterwards, Gracie blamed overtraining for his loss and indicated the desire for a rematch.

But what if the fight Gracie seems to want doesn’t happen? Well, there’s a couple of names from the past that want in. One of them is Art Jimmerson, a man that finished his boxing career with an overall record of 33-18. Old “One Glove” is known as such because at UFC 1 he attempted to fight Gracie with only one boxing glove on. In what amounted to Gracie’s first UFC win, he took Jimmerson down, mounted him, and scared him enough there to compel him to tap. Well, Jimmerson has since done some training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and wants to right the wrongs of the past.

“I want to stay as close as we can to the Original Rules! I AM IN GREAT SHAPE,” Jimmerson told FullMount.co.uk. “I will DEFINITELY BE MORE AGGRESSIVE! I WILL THROW MORE PUNCHES AND FIGHT MY FIGHT! Royce will not dictate this one! I will not allow him to take me to the GROUND!…. Yes, I WILL WEAR THE OTHER GLOVE!”

Adding fuel to the fire here, no matter how improbable this match up may seem, is that in addition to Jimmerson training at the UFC gym, he’s also been added to their roster of fighters on UFC.com.

Hmmmm.

Finally, there’s Dan Severn. Severn is 52 years old and is still quite active in the sport. With a 99-16-7 overall MMA record, he’s already fought three times in 2011, albeit against less than stellar competition. Still, he wants to erase the memory of his first tournament experience at UFC 4 where he dominated Gracie on the ground until such time as he found himself caught in a triangle choke.

“Since the hint of a UFC event in Brazil hit the online rumor mill, Dan Severn has been passionate about his intentions to take part in this event as his finale match to his fans and the MMA community,” a statement from Severn’s camp read. “Dan has said on numerous occasions that if he had the opportunity to have such a match in Brazil, he would want it to be with Royce Gracie.

“In light of Royce publicly announcing his intent to take part in a UFC event in Brazil, Dan Severn is, officially, throwing out the challenge to Royce Gracie. Wanting to take it to the cage, one last time, in an all-out ground war – two legends of the octagon can thrill and amaze the UFC audience of yesterday and today, one last time.”

So who will it be? Will Gracie get his we-can-only-assume wish and fight Matt Hughes at UFC: Rio? Will a strange set of circumstances somehow pit him against someone from his past? Or will he fight someone not yet named, or be left off the card altogether?

Can’t wait to find out.

Shamrock will look to take on Johnathan Ivey on October 16 under the banner of the USA MMA promotion. The event is set to take place in Lafayette, Louisiana. It’s been a long, tough road for the UFC pioneer. Not only was his first win in eight fights mired by his positive steroids test, Shamrock was also handed a hefty legal fee after his court battle with Zuffa over a contract dispute ended with the judge standing on the side of Dana White and the Fertitta brothers. Most recently, Shamrock fell to the leg kicks of Pedro Rizzo at Impact FC, which marked the eighth (T)KO loss on Shamrock’s record, and had he not had his Armbar victory over the departed Clifton, the loss to Rizzo would have been his sixth (T)KO loss in a row.

Shamrock’s opponent may be in even worse shape than he is as a Mixed Martial Artist, as tough as that is to imagine. Johnathan Ivey will carry a record of 29-42 into his fight with Shamrock in October. Ironically, Ivey has also won two out of his last ten fights. Ivey weighs in at two hundred and fifty pounds normally, and almost none of that is muscle.

It’s tough to see athletes compete in a sport they were once good at far past the point where they stopped being good at it. It’s really sad and disheartening to realize that their sport of choice is all they know and that they aren’t prepared for, or refuse to live in, a life without it. They keep trudging along, piling up the losses, fading further and further into obscurity, adding ever-growing black marks to a once prestigious (or at least worthwhile) record. But I have to be honest: there’s a point where an athlete loses my sympathy. Ken Shamrock has passed that point. He passed that point years ago.

I honestly don’t think Ken Shamrock is sane. One of the most oft-repeated definitions of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. Ken Shamrock fits that definition perfectly. He’s done nothing to evolve as a Mixed Martial Artist, he’s still the same fighter he was at the very first UFC 1 event, except with a lot more bumps, bruises, and humiliating losses. The man is no Randy Couture, the wear and tear on his body both from his time as a Mixed Martial Artist and even in his time spent as a professional wrestler should have sent him into retirement countless times. But he keeps coming back. Against all logic, Ken Shamrock won’t hang up the gloves and go quietly into the night. For that reason, amongst many others, Ken Shamrock will no longer receive any of my sympathy.

So, by all means, let him keep fighting. Let him become an even bigger joke. The only person he’s hurting at this point is himself. If he’s that much of a masochist that he just can’t go a couple of months without getting punched and kicked, then more power to him I say. This fight with Johnathan Ivey is a joke. Ken Shamrock is a joke. And I’m no longer laughing.

But what about you, fans and friends? How do you feel about Shamrock’s refusal to retire?

The ceremony took place during the UFC Fan Expo on the main stage at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. UFC President Dana White made a presentation of Matt’s achievements and then presented Matt with the award. Matt Hughes thanked the fans for the award.

“To be honest, it’s you guys that pay that admission that write my check, so I’ve got to take my hat off to you guys,” Hughes said.

Dana stated that Matt could have taken other offers to move to other promotions but he chose to stay in the UFC all these years.

“He’s acting very humble here; he’s been a great partner and been one of the people who have helped build this sport and the UFC to what it is today,” White added.

Hughes’ first fight inside the Octagon came at UFC 22 before Zuffa purchased the company. He defeated Valeri Ignatov (0-2) via unanimous decision. Since that time he has fought 22 more times in the UFC going 17-5.

His most recent fight came at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi where he beat Renzo Gracie (13-7-1) in the third round via TKO. This is his second win in a row after defeating former Renzo student and rival “The Terror” Matt Serra (10-6).

Matt’s next fight will be against another Gracie pupil as he steps inside the Octagon to take on “Cacharrao” Ricardo Almeida (12-3) at UFC 117 in Oakland, California.

Matt holds the record for the longest welterweight title run in UFC history with five consecutive defenses from UFC 34 to UFC 45. He lost the belt to “The Prodigy” B.J. Penn (15-6-1) before regaining the title with a submission win over current UFC welterweight champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (20-2) at UFC 50 and defended it another two times before Georges avenged the loss at UFC 65.

Matt Hughes joins Fellow UFC Hall of Famers Royce Gracie (14-3-3), “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Ken Shamrock (27-14-2), “The Beast” Dan Severn (93-16-7), “The Natural” Randy Couture (18-10), “The Hammer” Mark Coleman (16-10), “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell (21-7) and Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr.

How do you feel about current fighters being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame and who do you feel should have been inducted?

Having trained in jiu jitsu myself I am well aware of the hard work and dedication it takes to make your way up to the different belts. Reaching the status of black belt is one that, in the past, had been reserved for those that truly dedicated themselves to the style and that embodied all that jiu jitsu stood for as a fighting style. The belt system in jiu jitsu, for those that are not familiar with the style, starts at white belt. The lineage is as follows: white, blue, purple, brown and black. Most people who study jiu jitsu work at least 8 years to get to the level of black belt. Rashad started training in MMA in 2004 with Dan Severn before he made it to The Ultimate Fighter 2 on Spike TV in 2005. During his time on the show Rashad showed off his wrestling and not much else. His lack of a top game and lack of stand up was eveident on the show. We can infer from this that he had not trained in much jiu jitsu, if any at all at this point. Now he receives his black belt in just over 4 years which would lead some to believe that his jiu jitsu is on par with Fighters.com and UFC Lightweight Champion “Prodigy” BJ Penn (15-5-1) who received his black belt in three years.

Rashad has shown none of the attributes of a true black belt in jiu jitsu. The sheer amount of technical knowledge a brown belt has to have in order to become a black belt is vast. I have never seen Evans, or some of the other fighters that are supposed black belts, actually show us a glimpse of this technical ability. The ability to pass guard and set up submissions is something we have never seen from Rashad. He has two submissions on his record and those are his first two pro fights, one of which was a submission due to strikes and then other is only listed as a submission. After that he has never even come close to pulling off a submission, or even looking for one from what I can remember.

This brings up the topic of training in a gi. A gi is the required uniform in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). The only way to get a BJJ black belt it to train in the gi. I know there are videos circulating on the internet with Rashad training in a gi. Does this make him a black belt? I do not think it does. BJJ black belts also need to compete. It is part of the process of learning and demonstrating the knowledge you are supposed to have obtained. This does not mean competing in MMA but rather in gi and no gi tournaments. I know Rashad rolls with many high level BJJ guys but this alone does not make him a black belt. If Rolles was a Lute Livre instructor than I could understand the promotion he just received. Is there another reason for belt promotions we are seeing today?

I will not go into the list of fighters that are supposed to be BJJ black belts but have shown everything but high level jiu jitsu. Instead let’s look why we could possibly see a Gracie or someone of equal value give a black belt to someone who does not compete in tournaments and has shown little in the way of true BJJ skill. Rolles Gracie has recently been training in MMA under Renzo Gracie in Holmdel, NJ and Greg Jackson in Albuquerque, NM. Notice I said Greg Jackson. The same place that Rashad trains. There is now a tie between the two fighters. This is something we have seen numerous times. Fighters get into a camp where there is a true black belt and we see them issued these belts. Could it be that Rashad has helped Rolles out with his wrestling or striking and in order to pay him back Rolles felt it would be nice to award him with a black belt? It is something to consider as many camps have issued black belts under similar circumstances while guys like Nate Diaz (10-5) just recently was awarded his black belt despite showing far superior ground skills than someone like Rashad.

How about the days of Pride when fighters from Chute Boxe were being rewarded with black belts despite avoiding the ground and once there looking very average? I believe we are seeing the true BJJ black belt become watered down. I feel the style of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu should remain pure as should the lineage of black belts. In all fairness, maybe someone should start issuing black belts in MMA so we would see fewer guys feeling the need to bestow a once proud and labor intensive achievement on men who simply do not have the skill required.

Many will say I am not a black belt so how can I sit here and question the word of a black belt, specifically a Gracie. I say it is my job and duty as a fan and practitioner of the sport to hold it to the highest standards and if that means questioning a Gracie than so be it. I refuse to sit back and say nothing while the country becomes littered with McDojos and McBlackbelts. Helio Gracie would have wanted someone to speak up for his fighting style.

As always if you feel the need to yell at me or pat me on the back you can do so live on MMA Gospel Radio which airs Wednesdays from 8-10 PM EST at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel You can join us in the Cageside Chatroom or call into the show by dialing 347-857-1337. Hope to see you there.

“The Beast” rides a seven-fight win streak dating to a February 2007 rear naked choke submission of Clifford Coon at Caged Combat Championship Fights in Oklahoma.

All but one of his seven victims had less than four professional fights.  Asham was making his professional debut.

Severn raises his score to 83-15-7 with over 50 submission victories, most notably the keylock submission of Dave Beneteau at UFC 5 that gave Severn the championship and first belt awarded in the original MMA promotion.