'Unrivaled: Royce Gracie' debuts Monday on Spike ahead of Friday's Bellator 149

Ahead of this week’s Bellator 149 event in Texas, the promotion and broadcast partner Spike will air on special on the return of the legendary Royce Gracie.

“Unrivaled: Royce Gracie” debuts Monday at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Spike. The half-hour special previews Gracie (14-2-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), a 49-year-old Brazilian, ahead of his Bellator 149 main event against Ken Shamrock (28-16-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA).

The two meet for a third time at Friday’s event at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

They first fought at UFC 1 in 1993, where Gracie tapped Shamrock with a rear-naked choke in less than a minute on his way to a win in the first UFC tournament. At UFC 5 in 1995, they fought to a draw after 36 minutes in a fight that featured no judges and was the longest in UFC history.

Now, 21 years later, they meet again under the Bellator banner. Gracie has not fought since a June 2007 decision win over Kazushi Sakuraba. He tested positive for steroids after the fight, though his win was not overturned. Shamrock, who turned 51 this past Thursday, has fought once in five years – a knockout loss to Kimbo Slice in his promotional debut at Bellator 138 this past June.

Shamrock fought Slice at a 232-pound catchweight in June. Gracie’s most recent fight, the win over Sakuraba, he reportedly was 188 pounds. For a fight against Matt Hughes in 2006, he fought at a 175-pound catchweight at UFC 60. The trilogy fight with Shamrock will take place at open weight and has been approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversees MMA in the state.

The Spike special, according to a release from the cable network, will present “a compelling look at the fascinating backstory of one of the most influential fighters in modern mixed martial arts.

“Royce gives a first person account of his fantastic journey to become the ‘Godfather of MMA’ as we travel with him to teaching sessions, black belt testing, and his personal training for the upcoming fight with rival Ken Shamrock. The special will also provide an exclusive look into Royce’s family life and his true motivation for continuing to compete.”

The full Bellator 149 card includes:

MAIN CARD (Spike TV, 9 p.m. ET)

• Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock
• Kimbo Slice vs. Dhafir Harris
• Emanuel Newton vs. Linton Vassell
• Derek Campos vs. Melvin Guillard
• Daniel Pineda vs. Emmanuel Sanchez

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMAjunkie, 7 p.m. ET)

• Juan Torres vs. Justin Wren
• Jeremy Mahon vs. Davis Sylvester
• James Christopherson vs. Charlie Ontiveros
• Ruben Esparsa vs. C.J. Hancock
• Daniel Santos vs. Adrian Yanez
• Richard Knepp vs. Isaac Villanueva
• Mike Trinh vs. Angel Zamora
• Anthony Ivy vs. Jason Langellier
• Manny Lozoya vs. Jacob Norsworthy

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