Controversy
Rickson has raised the ire of some in the MMA community by criticizing the abilities of current top fighters. Though he had not fought in a sanctioned MMA contest in eight years, Rickson claimed in 2008 that he could still beat them easily. In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Rickson argued that Fedor Emelianenko was a great athlete, but possessed "so-so" technical ability, and that he (Rickson) was "100% sure" that he would defeat him.
In 2010, Rickson stated that he disagreed with those who view Emelianenko as "somehow special" and that he believed Emelianenko deserved to lose the decision in his fight with Ricardo Arona; described Brock Lesnar as having "zero defense from the bottom" in the fight against Carwin; and criticized Shane Carwin for what he perceived were deficiencies in Carwin's jiu-jitsu game, characterizing him as "strong as a bull but flimsy like a paper tiger." Previous critical comments that Rickson made about Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (claiming that Nogueira has no "guard") prompted Wanderlei Silva to say that Rickson is "living in a fantasy world."
Hélio Gracie disputed Rickson's claim to have had over 400 fights. According to Hélio, Rickson has only competed in fights that are commonly known and reported: the two against Rei Zulu and those that took place in Japan. Hélio alleged that Rickson uses practice and amateur bouts to obtain a number over 400, and that if he counted his fights like Rickson does, he would have in excess of one million.
Read more about this topic: Rickson Gracie
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