I love to travel and I love to teach, so I combined the two.
— Royce Gracie
I did a seminar once in Pennsylvania when there was big snow, road construction, a big flood and just one person showed up. I said, 'No problem, I'll do it.' If there's one or 100 on the mat, the juice is still there.
I wouldn't change the past for nothing.
You tell me what's impossible and I'll prove you wrong.
In a street fight situation, there's no weight division, there's no time limits.
People always want to see who's the best fighter in the world.
My father had nine kids, seven boys and two girls, and my uncle had 21 kids, 11 boys and 10 girls. They had the opportunity to teach the art of Gracie Jiu Jitsu and that's how we got involved from a young age. It's in the blood.
Like when I fought Akebono - six foot eight, 490 pounds. Before the fight, everyone's like 'Man, you're crazy. You're out of your mind. How are you going to fight a guy that big, there's no way you can take him down. You cannot punch him out. You're out of your mind.' After the fight, everybody was like 'Oh come on, he's big and fat.' Really?
When you like something, it's not work, it's a pleasure.
The jiu-jitsu my father created was for the smaller guy to beat the bigger guy.
I live a very healthy lifestyle.
Don't care about catch-wrestling. I only care about Jiu-Jitsu.
I never drank, never party, Carnival, none of that.
McGregor is taking Muhammad Ali's model. He can say whatever he wants but he's got to prove it. If he doesn't prove it, his career is going to be short.
I never put a 'last one' tag on my fights because you never know.
Kids wake up in the morning and say, 'I want to be a UFC fighter one day,' just like they do in baseball.
I'm a fighter. We come from the beginning, no gloves, no rules, no time limits.
My grandfather was doing business with a Japanese man. In exchange of good relationship the man taught my uncles the art of jiu jitsu. My father couldn't do it because he was very weak, he couldn't do one press-up, so he just sat back and watched, and memorised. What he did was add leverage into the moves.
My brother, who created the UFC, had a vision. He knew that people wanted to see who was the best fighter. People have curiosity, what style was the best? Boxing, wrestling, Gracie jiujitsu? It was a quest to find out.
Gracie is not a family, it's a factory of fighters.
I'm a prize fighter. Put me in any card and I'll sell it out. I can do it, man.
I travel seven months a year, so it's a lot of hotels and airplanes. I teach about three hours a day. I always go for a run. I try to lift some weights if I have the time and the strength. But running and teaching, that's my life.
I am a product of my father's work.
I'm happy and satisfied with my accomplishments. I sleep well at night.
I never picked an opponent.
I have fought all my life, that is easy for me.
When Scott Coker first mentioned to me that Ken Shamrock wanted to fight I said, 'Thank you.' I played a little hard to get, but for sure I knew we had to do the third fight with Ken; there was no doubt. He still insisted on fighting me. I guess the guy cannot sleep for 22 years.
Jiu-Jitsu is the bond or styles all between all the other styles. Take Jiu-Jitsu out, a boxer is just a boxer, a kickboxer is just a kickboxer. Take Jiu-Jitsu out of the wrestling - what is he going to do, take the person down and? There's no finishing holds, there's no striking.
Martial arts in general were not made for a tournament, for points system. Martial arts were made to defend yourself in the street fight situation, not to score points.
I follow a very strict diet.
Wouldn't you love to see Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield go one more time? It's not like just one of them has aged. They've both aged. They're both icons.
I made peace with retirement, but when you're a fighter, you're always a fighter.
There's so much talent in Brazil, so many guys that will probably never get discovered.
If Teila Tuli won the first UFC, everybody would have been learning sumo.
I'm used to teaching classes in the dark.
Gracie jiu-jitsu proved to be the best.
If I had doubts, I would've never walked into the ring.
Sometimes you watch a tournament with a point system, and it's not the best fighter that wins. It's the guy who scores more points and then he runs away and hides.
If I'm home, just hanging around with the kids.
Gracie Jiu Jitsu is the most complete art of self defense there is out there. You don't have to be strong. You don't have to be fast.
I travel all over the world and teach people.
Everyone wants to fight me. It's a long list.
In a street fight there is no time-limit, no weight division, you don't choose your opponent.
I enjoy traveling, teaching and fighting. It's in my blood.
The armlock is an armlock, a choke is a choke. How you set it up - is different. Everybody have their personal style.
I like guys who know how to implement a strategy. The ones who make a fight look easy. But there's no easy fight, even if you win in 30 seconds, that only means you were able to execute your strategy correctly and induced your opponent to make a mistake. Those are the champions. That's why they are the champions.
I like my girls delicate.
There is no age as long as the body feels good.
Mike Tyson is a good boxer, but he is not the best fighter. I am the best fighter.
You have to know when to stop in this sport. It's very hard.
