Gregor Gracie Carries the Weight of His Family Legacy into World Series of Fighting Debut

After winning six of his first seven fights, former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Gregor Gracie suffered a setback in his first fight of 2012 when he lost to Adam Kayoon fighting for One FC in Asia.

“My first fight of the year wasn’t a very good performance for me,” Gracie told MMAWeekly.com. “I think I lacked a little bit of experience on my part.

“I burnt myself out in the first round because I thought the fight was going to finish, and I didn’t finish him, so when I came back I was very tired. I don’t think it was too much of a tactical mistake, I was just lacking experience.”

Gracie managed to right himself in his next fight against Nicholas Mann and arguably have the most complete performance of his young career.

“I came back strong in my second fight, and I think I dominated a very strong opponent,” said Gracie. “I think it was the best fight I’ve ever had.

“I was very good in every position that we were in. (Mann) is a very strong guy and he was much heavier than me, but I was able to dominate him, so I believe it was my best fight ever.”

Gracie will see if he can pick up his second straight victory when he fights Tyson Steele on the debut World Series of Fighting show in Las Vegas, which airs live on Nov. 3 on NBC Sports Network.

“We are both ground fighters, so I think it will end up on the ground, but it’s not a grappling tournament, so I think whoever manages to stay on top is going to have the better of the fight,” said Gracie. “Whoever lands on top on the ground is going to have the advantage and we’re going to go to there.”

Gracie knows that a lot people will have their eyes on him on Saturday night because of his family’s famous lineage. To him, it’s not additional pressure, but rather a motivating factor to continue to spread the Gracie name in MMA.

“I know I’m not just fighting for myself, but for a whole legacy and guys are going to come after me often (because of it),” said Gracie. “I want my kids to look up to me one day as I did to my brothers and my uncles.

“For sure it gives me a lot of motivation and I do not want to disappoint, and show the world that all the years into this sport we are still here and still strong.”

Personally speaking, Gracie’s goal for the immediate future is just continue to gain experience and develop himself into a complete MMA fighter.

“I’m very excited to be fighting at the WSOF and I’m sure it’s going to be a great show and they’re going to be big,” he said. “After that I just want to keep fighting and get better with every fight.

“Of course, I want to be a champion, but I don’t want to be just any champion, I want to be the very best I can be.”

(Photo courtesy of Dominance MMA)

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