Rickson Gracie vs Rei Zulu : The Battle for Supremacy
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Birdofthad Platinum Belt
Favorite Fighter(s) : Ken shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Guy Mezger, Pete Williams, you get it Lions Den Posts : 17542 Join date : 2009-07-19 Age : 37 Location : D Town
20101208
Rickson Gracie vs Rei Zulu : The Battle for Supremacy
Everyone on this site should be familiar with the Gracie legend by now. They were a family of amazing jiu jiutsu practitioner's. Helio Gracie and brother Carlos Gracie taught the family clan Gracie Jiu Jitsu and they won. The family never lost a fight in over hundreds if not thousands of matches. They became the best grapplers and fighters in Brazil and later gained universal fame when Royce Gracie won 3 of the the first 4 UFC events.
However, the Gracie's were not the only skilled fighter's in Brazil. In 1963 a fighter by the name of Rei Zulu was 18 when he had his first match. Of course there is no way of knowing the truth but legend has it that Rei would win for 17 years, never losing a match. It is said that by 1980 Rei was 150-0. True or not, we do know for a fact that Rei would issue a challenge to the Gracie's in 1980.
Another thing that is clear is that the Gracie's took Zulu seriously, they decided Rickson Gracie would face Rei Zulu. Rickson Gracie is considered by many to be the best Gracie to ever fight. His rumored Brazilian fight record was 400-0. Seriously, thats the number that gets thrown around, he fought in sanctioned MMA and is undefeated.
The fight was televised on Brazilian television, it was a huge event and was sure to send shockwaves through the Brazilian Vale Tudo / Jiu Jitsu world. Simply put, the fight did. Rei Zulu was a legitimately feared striker and it was obvious Rickson was wary of standing from the beginning. Early in the fight Rickson seems to get overwhelmed in a clinch and pulls guard but Zulu slams him pretty good. Rickson uses the Gracie guard and heel strikes and tries to stand but surprisingly Zulu keeps him on the ground. It was a big mistake, Zulu tired and was picked apart by Rickson, Rickson works a great transition, gets Zulu's back and gets a rear naked choke.
It may have not been the best fight ever and yes, I am sure records have been and were inflated, but this was a historic bout that not many people have heard about. This bout is the main reason why Zuluzino (Zulu's son) faced Fedor. This fight also preserved the Gracie legend and showed that their style could beat another top challenger in the sport. Rickson and Rei would fight in a rematch a couple years later and Rickson would win via RNC again. However, it failed to live up to the first battle. Hopefully you will check out the fight and enjoy.
Last edited by Birdofthad on Thu Dec 09, 2010 7:27 pm; edited 5 times in total
Good stuff man. I really wish Rickson would of fought a few more fight in Pride before he retired. Fights against some more talented opponents. He was born about 10 years to soon.
Bird, all you have to do is copy and paste this post(including the video embed code) into the blog section since your part of the blogmaster group. Just open up the blog board and post a new topic like you would in any other section.
Nice work by the way. Rickson would have fared much better than Royce against Sakuraba since he was actually capable of striking without kneeing someone in the balls. I still think Sakuraba of ten years ago would have won in the end though he simply had the Gracie jiu jitsu style figured out and was all wrong for it.
Thanks Ludo, well if yall dont mind I will put this in the blog thread, Glad you enjoyed it and I agree wtih what your saying Ludo, Rickson's stand up was the best of the Gracie's more than likely, this gives him a much better chance than the other Gracie's.
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