5 Potential Matchups for the Return of Royce Gracie at UFC Rio

Royce Gracie’s 2006 UFC comeback didn’t go as planned as he lost 4:39 into the first round via TKO to Hall of Famer Matt Hughes. Since then, Gracie as only fought once and won a unanimous decision over rival Kazushi Sakuraba on June 2, 2007.

It’s been nearly four years since the legend has had a professional fight. That time might be coming to an end. By now, I’m sure most of you have heard the rumor about the possibility of UFC legend Royce Gracie returning to the Octagon at UFC Rio.

Now, none of these rumors have been confirmed or denied by the UFC or anyone in the Gracie camp, but for the time being we’re going to play along like it is true. But if Gracie was to return to the UFC in Rio De Janeiro, who in the world would he fight?

Maybe a better question is could he compete with the top guys in the UFC? Dana White wouldn’t bring him back to take on a no-name prospect.

So I came up with five matchups that I believe the fans would like to see. A few of the fights may be a reach and a few might not seem like they would be exciting, but you have to remember, it’s the UFC, it’s Gracie’s homeland of Brazil.

I believe we’re going to see the Royce Gracie of old; the Royce Gracie that made the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the UFC famous.

5. Charles Oliveira

If you're not a big MMA fan, you might look at this and say, "Who?" But, make no mistake about it, one day this kid is going to be a major contender in the UFC.

The reason I look at Oliveira is a blog I read which referred to Oliveira as "Super Royce Gracie." I disagree with that statement as the BJJ of Oliveira isn't even on the same planet as Gracie, but with Oliveira's nice muay thai skills, he does have a nice mixture of talent.

The matchup would be fun to watch as the young, up tempo style of Oliveira goes against the most relaxed fighter in mixed martial arts history in Royce Gracie.

Could Gracie defend himself on the feet with Oliveira? Could Oliveira defend the Gracie takedowns and well as himself on the ground?

These questions could make this fight one that every fan would love to see. One problem, though: Gracie weights around 180 and would most likely fight at the 170 mark. Oliveira, is a 155 fighter. Possibly a catchweight bout between the two would be the answer to creating a fight between new school and old school.

4. Matt Hughes

The rematch of the first return by Royce Gracie to the Octagon. At UFC 60 in Los Angeles, Calif., fans saw the long awaited return of Royce Gracie spoiled by Matt Hughes as he used his wrestling to over-power Gracie and execute his ground-and-pound until the fight was stopped at 4:39 in the opening round.

Therefore, why would we want to see this fight again, right?

Well, for one, in 2006, Matt Hughes was the UFC Welterweight Champion and, well, quite frankly the most dominate fighter in the game and was coming off wins over Frank Trigg, Joe Riggs and current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre.

Royce Gracie, on the other hand, hadn't fought in the UFC in nearly 10 years. You can imagine how hard it would be to go from fighting Akebono Taro and Hideo Tokoro to fighting the most dominate fighter in the UFC.

Today, though, Hughes is in the twilight of his career coming off a :21 knockout loss to B.J. Penn. I still see Hughes using his superior wrestling to takedown Gracie, but I don't see Hughes being as strong as he was in '06 which leaves the door open for Gracie to possibly work better off his back and possibly lock in a submission.

I personally would love to see this fight today as I imagine Gracie and Hughes would be much more evenly matched than they were in 2006.

3. Kazushi Sakuraba

One of the best MMA fights of all-time pre-Zuffa has to be Gracie-Sakuraba I at the Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals. The battle lasted 90 minutes and saw both men nearly submitted by the other and ended after a series of leg kicks by Sakuraba enabled Gracie the ability to stand and Gracie's brother threw in the towel.

This was Royce Gracie's first professional MMA loss. Sakuraba would go on to earn the nickname "The Gracie Hunter" due to his wins over other notable Gracie family members.

In 2007, Gracie would get a rematch with Sakuraba in Los Angeles, but the fight did not live up to the hype as it was very uneventful and ended with a unanimous decision win for Gracie, although many still believe that Sakuraba won the fight.

The fight was soon after over-shadowed by the fact that following the fight, Gracie tested positive for high levels of Nandrolone. Gracie was both fined and suspended by the California State Athletic Commission, but the fight result was not changed.

Since then, Sakuraba has fought 10 times with a mark of 5-5 and is currently riding a 3-fight losing streak. Gracie hasn't fought since. The score is 1-1. Should the rivals have a chance to settle the score in Rio? They've battled in Japan and the United States, therefore it only makes sense to end the trilogy in Brazil.

The question is would Dana White bring in Sakuraba on a one fight deal so the fight can happen? It's never been Dana's style, but for a fight the people of Rio would love to see and knowing Dana's unpredictable ways, you never know.

2. Shinya Aoki

One of the greatest submission specialist in the World today is Shinya Aoki. He is the current DREAM Lightweight Champion, a former Rickson Gracie Invitational winner, and out of his 26 career victories, 16 have come by way of submission.

Aoki has never been much for the standup, but when he gets the fight to the ground, it's usually game over for his opponent. Aoki has never lost a fight via submission, and there are very few fighters in the World who can present a challenge to Aoki on the ground; Gracie is one of them.

This fight is a BJJ fan's dream, but with the recent purchase of Strikeforce by Zuffa, the fight becomes a little more realistic. By August, Zuffa might merge Strikeforce and the UFC together such as they have done with Pride and WEC before. If so, the possibility of a Gracie-Aoki matchup increases, and a fight many fans would love to see becomes closer to a reality. 

1. Demian Maia

Demian Maia has been labeled as the modern day Royce Gracie by many. His list of submission victims include Ryan Jenson, Ed Herman, Jason MacDonald, Nate Quarry and Chael Sonnen.

Oh, and those five submission victories? Them were Maia's first five fights inside the Octagon. Looking for a streak better than that? How about 11-straight submission wins to open up your UFC career. That's what Royce Gracie accomplished.

Arguably two of the best BJJ fighters in mixed martial arts history.

Maia's standup has come along as he's gotten older and taken on better and better strikers in his career as was on display against Kendall Grove in December of 2010. Gracie would still have the advantage on the ground as he would against anyone else in the world.

It would be interesting to see if Maia would try to make Gracie stand with him or if he would take the fight to the ground and challenge himself to find out if he has the BJJ skills to grapple with Gracie.

This is a fight I would love to see. Two of the nicest guys in mixed martial arts and two guys with a great amount of respect for one another facing off in their home country.

All of these potential matchups we can only dream about until we know for sure if Royce Gracie will fight at UFC Rio. And even then, who knows who Dana White and Joe Silva will have him fight. But none the less, Royce Gracie will always be one of the most influential fighters in mixed martial arts, and as the chant goes in professional wrestling, "one more match."

Soon, one of the best of all time might be granting us just that.