Did Rorion Gracie come up with the idea of the UFC?
Not according to veteran mixed martial arts referee Big John McCarthy.
Big John was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience today, and was asked if Rorion came up with the idea of the UFC.
“Negative,” McCarthy replied. “[UFC creator] Art Davie went to Rorion because he needed validity. He needed somebody to give actual value and some credence to what he was trying to do.”
What kind of credence could Rorion had offered? Well, he is the oldest son of BJJ founder Helio Gracie, and his family was doing exactly what the original UFC was all about: putting people with various martial arts backgrounds together and having them duke it out to show which fighting style was the best. Davie no doubt needed a man like Gracie to help market his product.
We haven’t looked into Big John’s claims, but he certainly is a credible source. After all, he’s been around the UFC since the beginning.
You can watch Big John and Joe Rogan talk about the beginnings of the UFC in the video above.
