Few can match Roger Gracie in the grappling department. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
9. Roger Gracie
Gracie was supposed to be the symbol of the legendary family’s return to relevance in the sport it helped create. One of the most decorated submission grapplers in history, with enough Mundials and Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medals in his collection to inspire the lustful attentions of a conquistador or mining company executive, Gracie had all of the accolades and seemingly the talent to make a successful transfer to mixed martial arts. More importantly, he seemed to have a style that would work well in modern MMA, with its focus on fundamentals -- takedown, pass, submission -- rather than the complicated, gi-specific guard and sweep games that have become common at the highest levels of grappling.
The hype built to the point where Gracie opened as a slight favorite over former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion and international-caliber freestyle wrestler Muhammad Lawal. Four and a half ineffectual minutes into the first round, however, Gracie crashed back down to earth when a Lawal overhand right clipped him on the temple and sent him tumbling to the canvas.
Even after his poor performance against Lawal, a bit of the hype stuck around. “King Mo” was a big light heavyweight and a much more polished fighter than Gracie; a loss was not unexpected. Gracie dropped to middleweight and took a dominant decision from Keith Jardine before submitting journeyman Anthony Smith at Strikeforce’s last show. His first UFC test was to be Tim Kennedy, and although he was a slight underdog, the American’s willingness to grapple should have played right into Gracie’s hands.
It did not, and three humiliating rounds later, Gracie was released from the UFC. He signed with One Fighting Championship in August, and while the book is not yet closed on his career, the hype is certainly gone.
Number 8 » His greatest “accomplishment,” however, was his involvement in the Securitas depot robbery, one of the two or three largest cash heists in human history. He and at least five other accomplices made off with more than £53 million.