Getty Charles Jourdain and Kron Gracie
Earlier this month, BJJ ace Kron Gracie turned out a performance that was roasted by the MMA community. And he’s finally broken his silence about the UFC 288 featherweight tilt.
Gracie drew the ire of fighters, fans and analysts alike after his abysmal showing against Charles Jourdain at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 6. According to UFC Stats, Gracie only landed 32 of 57 significant strikes thrown compared to Jourdain’s 80 of 168 spread. He spent the entirety of the three rounds trying to take the fight to the mat, with little output and success. Jourdain took home a unanimous decision victory for his effort while Gracie became the MMA community’s public enemy No. 1.
The fight was likened to an old-school matchup between striker and grappler, with the grappler unwilling to engage on the feet in any meaningful capacity. When speaking with the media at the UFC 288 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White said “it was like coming out of a time capsule in 1995,” and that Gracie’s work in the Octagon that night was “very limited.”
Twitter wasn’t as kind as White, however. “Kron Gracie has no business being on the UFC roster,” MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin tweeted. “It’s harsh but he’s just so unbelievably one-dimensional.”
UFC 155-pound combatant John Makdessi tweeted: “This is horrible to watch.”
“That fight actually made me sad,” No. 12-ranked UFC featherweight Sodiq Yusuff wrote. “Maybe dude just needed money.”
Gracie Said He Tried to Please the BJJ World Inside the Cage
Around a week later, Gracie shared on social media that he had received “bad” advice ahead of the match, which led him to try and “please the Jiu-Jitsu community.”
And he vowed that he would approach mixed martial arts differently his next time out.
“In a lifetime of fighting, it’s always been a fight to the death,” Gracie wrote via Instagram Story on May 15. “Understand the [situation] and willing to limit myself, even that being said I threw no punches because of bad [advice] and [tried] to please the [jiu-jitsu] community two [days] before my fight, first fight in my life I didn’t throw a punch — going back to my old ways.”
All in all, the renowned Brazilian jiu-jitsu name holds a professional MMA record of 5-2, which includes wins over Alex Caceres and Tatsuya Kawajiri. May 6 marked his first competition since October 2019, and he had hoped to bounce back from his unanimous decision defeat to division staple Cub Swanson. However, he was handed his second straight defeat. Each of Gracie’s five victories has come via submission.
Jourdain Halted His Two-Fight Skid By Besting Gracie
Jourdain was also in search of a much-needed win as well. He entered the main card battle riding a two-fight losing streak, which included his most recent defeat: a unanimous decision to Nathaniel Wood in September.
Although it wasn’t an exciting affair, “Air” did what he had to do to notch a win over a legendary BJJ name like Kron Gracie. With the win, he improved his mixed martial arts record to 14-6-1.
