Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) at FightWorks

Mixed Martial Arts or MMA is it is called now was brought to the United States in the early nineties by Rorion Gracie (Relson’s older brother) the oldest son of Helio Gracie. Vale Tudo, Portuguese for “anything goes”, had been a tradition in Brazil for many decades. Thus the first Ultimate Fighting Championships was the precursor to modern Mixed Martial Arts for the United States and the rest of the world. It was created and launched to demonstrate the effectiveness of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. The creation of this event would also jump start the career of the now legendary, Royce Gracie . However prior to UFC 1, Royce was just Rorion and Relson’s little brother. Relson along with his brothers were tasked with training and making sure that Royce was prepared for one of the most momentous events in martial arts. Relson’s style was and is still ideally suited to this type of combat. Royce displayed their father’s Jiu-Jitsu to perfection as he took on three masters of different martial arts styles to win the first official mixed martial arts event in the United States. Royce went on to win three of the first four events and is now a martial arts legend. What had already been developed and tested in real life competition and fighting since the 1920’s in Brazil has now changed main stream martial arts in the U.S. and the rest of the world forever.