"He's challenging himself" - UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie praises 'misunderstood' Gordan Ryan

Royce Gracie recently weighed in on the current generation of grapplers and shared his thoughts on Gordon Ryan and noted that he believes the decorated Jiu Jitsu specialist is misunderstood.

The Hall of Famer famously showcased the power of Jiu Jitsu at UFC 1, where he submitted three opponents including Art Jimmerson, Ken Shamrock, and Gerard Gourdeau to win the inaugural tournament. During his appearance on Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's Jaxxon Podcast, Gracie heaped praise for 'The King' and mentioned that he is constantly challenging himself to prove his greatness. He said:

"Gordon's [Ryan] awesome, man...People misunderstand him...He's pushing himself. So you kk say you're good, he call you out...And he'll call you out, embarrass you if you don't accept. So, he's challenging himself. He's not doing it to embarrass you. If you don't say a word, he don't mention you...If you say, 'No, I'm the best upcoming fighter', he's gonna [be] knocking on your door...So it reminds me of my family."

Gracie is clearly fond of Ryan and has a great deal of respect for him, so it will be interesting to see whether 'The King' responds as the UFC Hall of Famer's comments are definitely a significant endorsement of his abilities.

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Royce Gracie opens up about UFC 1 submission win over Ken Shamrock

Royce Gracie recently opened up about his submission win over Ken Shamrock at UFC 1, which was a semi-final bout that would determine who would advance to the finals of the inaugural tournament.

Gracie and Shamrock had quite the rivalry throughout their legendary careers and were both the first-ever inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2003 as a result of their accomplishments and contributions to both the promotion and MMA as a whole. During the aforementioned appearance, the 3-time UFC tournament winner revealed what transpired when 'The World's Most Dangerous Man' protested the submission loss. He said:

"I got him [Ken Shamrock] in a choke. As soon as I let go, he grabbed my leg, tried to continue. That's when I whisper in his ear...'Hey, I know you tapped.' Called him a couple names, 'You know you tapped. I know you tapped. Everybody knows you tapped.'...He realized that I was the boss, I'm gonna choke him out, put him unconscious."