The beginning of the UFC saw a small stature man twisting his opponents into knots and putting them in moves most of the world had never seen before.
Royce Gracie (14-3-3) was that man. He introduced us to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or rather Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Fast forward to modern day and we had to sit in pain and watch him get beat senseless by Fighters.com eighth-ranked welterweight Matt Hughes (41-7) at UFC 60. Then at UFC 109 Rolles Gracie Jr. (3-1) put on what was a miserable and embarrassing performance in his defeat.

Enter Renzo Gracie who will face Matt Hughes, the man that beat his cousin, at UFC 112. Not only did Hughes beat his cousin but he also beat one of Renzo’s prized pupils in “The Terror” Matt Serra (10-6) after a long war of words leading up the fight.

Renzo told MMA Junkie Radio that his wife feels he is going through a mid-life crisis but rather than buy a sports car he is getting back inside a cage. Renzo said “I was able to set up all the goals I had before – to set-up my schools and tune-up my business so I could push my art to future generations of my family. I was able to do that, so now my business is running by itself, and I can just concentrate on myself for the first time in my life and just train to fight. I believe I’m going to surprise a lot of people.”

I am not sure he will actually surprise people as most of us still expect a lot out a Gracie, especially a well-respected and veteran fighter such as Renzo. What we can expect is for him to tep up and defend the family name.

When talking about the Matt Hughes that beat his cousin he states “I hope to fight that guy. That’s the guy I want to see in April – in that kind of shape. I want to test myself against the best that [Hughes] has ever been. I hope he’s in good shape. I believe where Royce came up short, I’m coming up to get the flag. We are a large family, and anywhere a Gracie comes up short, someone should be there to push that thing forward.”

This is what we have come to expect from the long line of the Gracie family. When one goes down another rises up to accept the challenge for the family. Excepting this challenge means Renzo will have to step inside the Octagon prepared to do more than work submissions.

Matt Hughes was an accomplished wrestler that used his wrestling to beat fighter after fighter, win the UFC welterweight title and become one of the most successful fighters in the history of the sport, cementing himself as a future Hall of Famer.

Renzo will need to utilize striking in order to get inside on Hughes. Trying to ignore the striking game and just go for broke with a take down would be a futile attempt against a Division I NCAA wrestler. “You cant take a wrestler down,” Gracie said. “If you’ve got a Division I wrestler, I’m not taking him down. I will need the striking to take him down. If I get him out of balance by striking, I’m able to shoot, and even a Division I wrestler will end up on his butt. But if you just go in, and he’s not afraid of getting hit by you, you’re going to be on your back every single time. How are you going to take a guy like Matt Hughes down if you’re not going to strike? That’s the reality.” said Renzo.

It seems like Renzo is in a good place in his life where he will be able to focus solely on him and his fight with Hughes. With a six-fight contract signed this is his first step in defending the Gracie name and taking the family back to the top of mixed martial arts.

According to MMA Weekly, Gracie would face a different opponent if Al-Turk is unable to obtain a visa.

Al-Turk would be returning to the Octagon after a TKO to “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2) at UFC 99 in Cologne last June.

Gracie tapped Peter Graham (0-3) in an arm triangle at Art of War 14 last September.

The first fight that sticks out is “The Filipino Assassin” Phillipe Nover (4-2) versus “The Saint” Rob Emerson (9-8). This is a fight that has big consequences for both fighters. Both fighters are coming off of back to back losses staring at the three strike rule. When you have a fight in which one fighter must win to stay in the UFC, it tends to bring out the best in them. This is special because both men are trying to avoid getting the dreaded pink slip from Dana White and Joe Silva.

Emerson is a very aggressive fighter that loves to stand and trade shots with his opponent. Nover is no stranger to striking as he has trained in one martial art or another since he was ten years old. He has been focusing on his jiu jitsu for a while now and may want to try and end this fight early with a take down and submission. Now matter where the fight goes you can be sure that these two will leave it all in the Octagon in hopes of keeping their job with the most recognized MMA organization in the world. Fireworks should go off inside the Octagon during this one and sadly we may not see it.

The next intriguing match up you may not see is between Mostapha al Turk (4-4) and Rolles Gracie Jr. (3-0). Mostapha is a man who has not been able to have any success since his arrival in the UFC. He has been TKOed in both fights which I don’t think he will have to worry about in this match with UFC newcomer Rolles Gracie. Rolles is undefeated with all wins coming via submission which is not surprising being that he is a Gracie. I am always intrigued by the chance to see a Gracie step inside the Octagon. After all, it was another Gracie that many of us watched eyes glued to the television, as he submitted much larger men with moves most of us had never seen before. Now we have yet another Gracie entering into the UFC. Rolles has been splitting his time training between Greg Jackson’s MMA and Team Renzo Gracie (13-6-1). It will be interesting to see how far along his stand up game has evolved as most of the Gracie’s have lacked solid striking. However going against an admitted submission wrestler in al Turk, we could see the fight hit the mat very fast and witness the newest generation of Gracie pull off a submission reminding us all of Royce Gracie (14-3-3) and the start of the UFC.

The last fight that I wish was on the main card features “All American” Brian Stann (8-2) welcoming “Mr Wonderful” Phil Davis (4-0) to the UFC. I know Brian Stann has not come in with guns blazing since he came over from the WEC but the fact that he has transferred to Jackson’s Academy should intrigue anyone. Jackson has a knack for making average fighters become top ten fighters. Brian is very athletic and Greg Jackson is sure to have given him some new tools for his tool belt. Brian is also a fan favorite due to his hero status as a recipient of the Silver Star while serving in the Marine Corps.

Phil is one of the world’s top prospects in the sport being a four time All-American wrestler at Penn State University, a national champion and finishing his college career with a record 0f 116-20. These are major accomplishments that have the MMA world watching and waiting to see how he will fare in the sport. Training out of Alliance Training Center in San Diego he has managed to keep his record perfect even if it was only four fights.

All Star wrestler and world class prospect debuting against the Marine Corp Captain who many call an American hero. Intrigued yet? I don’t know about you but I get very excited to see fighters making their UFC debuts, especially when the guy happens to be such a major prospect. If he beats Stan his status of prospect becomes set in stone and he will sky rocket in popularity. That is if anyone other than those attending the event actually were to see the fight.

Those are three most intriguing fights we may not see at UFC 109. Is there a fight I did not mention that you feel belongs here? Maybe a fight I mentioned that you laughed out loud while reading about here? As always you can join me on MMA Gospel Radio every Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST by logging into www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel. We have the “Cageside Chat” open where you can talk with our other listeners as well as myself and co-host. Hope to see you there.

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.