A trilogy for the aged: Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock tonight at Bellator 149

(This story originally appeared in today’s edition of USA TODAY.)

If you want to know how much has changed in the sport of MMA since the last time Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock fought each other, you might as well start with the terminology.

Back in 1993, when Gracie (14-2-3) earned a submission victory over Shamrock (28-16-2) at the very first UFC event, the sport didn’t even have a name. In fact, it was hardly a sport at all. Promoters billed it as a no-holds-barred battle for martial arts supremacy. There were no rounds, no weight classes, in most cases no gloves, and very few rules.

It was, in other words, the primordial ooze from which the modern sport of MMA would eventually crawl. Tonight at Bellator 149 in Houston (Spike, 9 p.m. ET), two relics from that era meet again for the first time in two decades. Maybe they’ll also tell us whether old fighters can learn new tricks.

At 52, Shamrock is at least trying. After fashioning himself as a grappling specialist in his younger years, he told reporters this week that he’s committed himself to improving his striking skills. That, he said, was a necessity “to at least be able to compete in MMA today.”

Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock

Gracie, 49, seems less eager to wander too far from his roots. He hasn’t fought in nearly nine years. In his time away he’s been traveling and teaching jiu-jitsu, he said, following the path laid out by his father, Helio Gracie, the family patriarch.

“My father built instructors, not fighters,” Gracie said. “We fight to prove that our style is good, is a good self-defense style, the best self-defense style out there.”

Certainly, that was one of the primary goals of those early UFC events. The Gracie family saw that first single-night tournament as a marketing tool to promote the effectiveness of their martial arts, which was one of the reasons that the skinny, physically unimposing Royce was chosen to represent the family, to serve as a visual contrast to musclebound athletes like Shamrock.

But the sport has seen several important evolutions in the 20 years since Gracie and Shamrock fought to a draw in their second meeting at UFC 5. In modern MMA, fighters are expected to be proficient in multiple martial arts, on the floor and on the feet. Mastery of one style is rarely enough, and if Gracie thinks he can still rely on his jiu-jitsu alone, Shamrock said, he’ll be in for an unpleasant surprise.

“I think Royce is going to have to come out there and show me some kind of control over the stand-up,” Shamrock said. “Times have changed. He’s going to have to show some type of improvements to back me up or at least keep me at bay.”

Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock

Of course, the ravages of age may also have a say in the outcome of this fight. Shamrock has been more active in recent years, but he’s also taken more damage. Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson knocked him out in June, and Shamrock’s admitted he’s sometimes struggled to admit to a body that’s not as quick or as resilient as it once was.

“We get old,” Shamrock said. “That’s just what happens.”

As for Gracie, he insisted that he’s stronger now, with more endurance and better technique than what he brought to the table the last time he fought Shamrock. And what should fans should expect to see when two fighters at a combined age of 101 meet in the cage tonight?

“A lesson in Gracie jiu-jitsu,” Gracie said.

For better or worse, his answer to that question hasn’t changed in more than 20 years.

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