Who did Royce Gracie defeat to win the UFC 1 tournament? Everything you need to know about the 30th anniversary

This weekend will mark the 30th anniversary of Royce Gracie showcasing his family's Jiu-Jitsu to win the one-night no-holds-barred tournament at UFC 1.

The Hall of Famer reunited with all the living competitors from the inaugural event, where they reflected on how they found out about the tournament, how they got booked to compete, and their respective bouts. It was a unique event as the fighters themselves noted that even they were unaware of what to expect.

Royce Gracie went through quite the gauntlet of opponents as he defeated boxer Art Jimmerson, shoot-fighter and the then King of Pancrase Ken Shamrock, and karate and Savate world champion Gerard Gordeau. What made his performances so impressive was that he managed to submit all of them despite being the smaller fighter.

During the roundtable uploaded to the UFC's YouTube channel, Royce Gracie talked about his thought process heading into each of his bouts and what he noticed about his opponents. He mentioned that he noticed similarities between Jimmerson and Shamrock, but noted that he saw a mirror image of himself in the way Gerard Gordeau approached their fight.

He said:

"When I faced Art [Jimmerson], I can see he was pumped up...When I look at Ken [Shamrock], Ken was the same way like, 'I'm here to beat you.' And I just kept a straight face. When I look at Gerard [Gordeau], I kinda saw a mirror of myself cause he kept that straight face, no emotion at all." [32:33 - 32:57]

Royce Gracie's stoic approach was beneficial as it ensured that he wasn't fighting emotionally, which allowed him to stick to his game plan for each bout. He won the event and went on to win two more UFC tournaments (UFC 2 and UFC 4) to set the promotion's record for most tournament wins.

Due to his influence and impact on the sport following his tournament win at UFC 1, the Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, along with rival Ken Shamrock, were the first inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2003.

Check out the full video below: