ricksons weakness/Royces heart....

[david a]

I was flipping through my old Gracie In Action tapes
the other day,and something shocked me. Just to affirm
my curiousity, I pulled out my Rickson choke video.
I couldn't believe it!!! For a world class fighter
with such high reputation, RICKSON CAN'T TAKE ANYONE DOWN!!
With the exception of the little japanese fighter he
fought in the final of the Choke video(which I suspect as
a "fixed tournament"), Rickson could not take down anyone
that had any size advantage over him without getting thrown,
choked, slammed, or put in some kind of harmful position.
Now don't get me wrong; Rickson was able to counter
such attacks, but only because of his apponents lack of
skill to capitalize on them. Take the example of the sparring match in G I action where he hits the mat with
Tom Hazzle(sp?), the wrestling coach. After Tom easily
took Rickson down, he had him in a prezzle like hold
where he could have capitalized on the position and maybe loaded some serious knees to Ricksons head. Instead,
his wrestling mentality took over, and he let go.

Also... Maybe Royce's downfall is lack of heart and
not so much lack of skill? Any thoughts?

[Hawk]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
Hazel let go because Rickson was about to rip his arm off
and Royce has more heart then you could ever imagine.
Hawk

[Hookah Smokin Caterpillar]

Royce has heart and lots of Jiu Jitsu skill, his weakness is:

He refuses to advance and belives that his Jiu Jitsu is enough to beat anyone up. That leads to him not being a complete fighter so the reason I think he's not close to being the best is that he's just not complete. Also he's not very strong and should really hit the weights.

[Tony10]

Hey Hookah,

I've always kinda thought that about Rickson as well. However, I do notice that in Choke most of the time the guys are holding on to the ropes. Maybe that has something to do with it.

tony

Rickson better bone up on takedowns before facing Sak, or we're gonna see another kick-a-thon.

[Jaguar Wong]

Didn't Royce train in some stand up (I think it was Hapkido) before the Sak fight? I also feel that he has a lot of heart, for a guy with his physical attributes.

I do agree that he (Royce) should hit the weights, and train seriously in some good stand up (or at least how to counter the stand up game better). He's in a sport where physical attributes are now a major key. Strength, endurance, speed, flexibility are all factors now, and I think gone are the days of his "David vs Goliath" victories over guys like Kimo and Severn.

Also, does the Gi really give him much of an advantage, or does it just hide his "average" build?

[pigpen]

Royce has no heart? How can you say that when he went an hour and a half with the no. 1 middleweight in the world. Even though he got his butt beat through most of the fight, he kept coming. Kept trying to shoot in vain on Sak with a messed up ankle. That's heart.

[Stuart S. Igarta]

Maybe Royce's downfall is lack of heart and
not so much lack of skill?

After all the fighters this man has fought how can you even think he lacks heart, the man is all heart and skill.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Not many guys can take me down...when I wrap the rope around my armpit!

[Bau13]

hehe..kinda like holding the fence in UFC...

How can anyone say Royce has no heart??

[royceg420]

A person with no heart would never last 90 minutes with anyone(let alone Sakuraba), or last 30 minutes with Shamrock on top of them, or finish a fight with Kimo with abroken hand.....

[Hookah Smokin Caterpillar]

A person with no heart wouldn't fight NHB

[Martial Artist]

Royce has no heart?So I guess it's gonna take somebody
else to win 4 matches in 1 night to Have heart eh.....Rickson cant take down anybody his weight or above?HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

[david a]

Hawk,
Look at the tape.. Rickson was scrambling hard just
to get gaurd, not get an arm bar. I'm in no way saying that
he couldn't get an arm, but he did make him tap with a choke
(shin across the neck) not an arm bar. The real point I was
trying to make was that it was Hazel in a strong take down
position and not Rickson.

H.S.Caterpiller,
Maybe I phrased my statement the wrong way. I'm not
saying that Royce has no heart all together, but maybe
his long absence from the NHB sceen, his loss to Wallid,
and his robbery of finishing Glamrock, put some dents
in his heart and confidence (not in jui jitsu)in himself
in which he never really recovered?. Royce definitely
had some heart in his first 4 ufcs;that is one of my main
reasons for faithfully cheering him on, and taking such
an interest in his fighting style.

To all,
I don't think strength and variety is the answer for
Royce. Does that not contradict what there fighting philosophy is all about; To rely on leverage and technique
over size and strengh. To always percieve that your opponent
is bigger,stronger and faster than you.
I think the match with SAK is a wake up call to the
present state of NHB. In a real fight there are no time
limits. Now I know some things do come in to play, like
enviroment,refs,"rules" etc., but the fact remains...
Royce lasted an hour and a half with that man, longer
than most men, I'm sure, and it was all credited to his
technique.period. No "power",no boxing, no kickboxing. Just
jui jitsu. Rickson also seems to rely mostly on jui jitsu.
Remember, SAK had to quit after 10 min. or so of his next
bout, so who knows, maybe he would have eventually fallen prey to Royce, but we will never know....

[vortrex]

ummmmmm....rickson tapped hazel with an arm bar.