Kickboxing champion says Royce Gracie will be 'dangerous' on the feet vs. Ken Shamrock

Royce Gracie

Royce Gracie is and always will be a jiu-jitsu player. However, don’t be surprised to see him commit to some strikes when he meets Ken Shamrock next month at Bellator 149.

That doesn’t mean Gracie (14-2-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will be headhunting for a knockout, but the Brazilian has teamed up with veteran kickboxing champion Joe Schilling in order to assure he’s sharp on the feet when he clashes with Shamrock (28-16-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) on Feb. 19 at Houston’s Toyota Center. The main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

“He’s dangerous on his feet; he has skills there,” Schilling told MMAjunkie of working with Gracie. “Obviously, he’s Royce Gracie and we’re not going to try to change his style of Gracie jiu-jitsu, but I think he’s learning a lot of things and has a lot of potential.

“We’ve done a lot of training, but for the most part, we’re just focusing a lot on him and his stand up. He has a great work ethic and he doesn’t have any – he comes in like a regular student and works hard and is focused and pays attention. It’s really nice.”

Although Gracie made his MMA debut at UFC 1 in 1993, he hasn’t recorded a single victory in his career stemming from strikes. That’s no surprise considering his world-renowned grappling acumen, but Schilling said he wants to, at least, give Gracie the tools to change that.

The 49-year-old last competed in June 2007 when he earned a unanimous decision win over Kazushi Sakuraba. He may be significantly older than the last time he fought, but Schilling said Gracie is hungry and eager to learn. Because of that, he said viewers should expect a version of Gracie that’s more complete than ever before.

“It’s more on balance and basic kickboxing that we’ve worked on; he’s dangerous and you just have to give him the task and explain to him,” Schilling said. “He wants to get better so it’s a lot of fun. It’s inspiring being around him and you can tell he’s excited for this fight.

“It’s definitely harder to work with somebody who is older just to get them to listen and to respect your opinion, but Royce is not like that at all. He asks me a lot of questions and we help him as much as we can.”

Schilling is confident the work with Gracie will pay off because he was already ahead of Shamrock as a competitor before sharpening his striking. Gracie submitted Shamrock in just 57 seconds at UFC 1 in 1993 but fought him to a draw after 36 minutes in the rematch at UFC 5 in 1995.

Although both athletes have experienced many trials and tribulations in the more than two decades since they last shared the cage, Schilling said Gracie has aged better and has more to give. He hopes that will show in the third meeting at Bellator 149.

“They’re 50, but that doesn’t make a big difference to me; they’re both two legend of the sport and it’s exciting,” Schilling said. “It’s going to do a huge rating and I think Royce is going to put on a hell of a show so I’m excited for it and it’s going to be great for the sport. Bellator and Scott Coker continue to get people excited about MMA in different ways.”

For more on Bellator 149, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.