Roger Gracie hasn’t competed since the 2015 UFC Fan Expo when he tapped Rodrigo "Comprido" with an armbar, but for a moment there he became an option to headline an upcoming Metamoris event.
One of the best grapplers in the history, a 10-time jiu-jitsu world champion as a black belt, Gracie says he was offered a match with currently UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum at Metamoris, but it didn’t come to fruition.
"I still have plans to do superfights in jiu-jitsu," Gracie told MMA Fighting. "I spoke with [Metamoris founder] Ralek [Gracie] a few times and he was seeing the possibility of doing a match with Werdum, but said the UFC wouldn’t let him do it, so I don’t know. He also wanted [Marcus Almeida] ‘Buchecha’ but he’s still injured, so I don’t know."
With only one loss in jiu-jitsu in the last decade, Gracie grappled against Werdum on three separate occasions. According to Gracie, he lost the first match at the absolute division of the World Championship when they were purple belts. He got his revenge at the absolute division of the Pan American Championship as brown belts, and scored another win with a rear-naked choke finish at ADCC 2005.
"[Fabricio]’s a great athlete," said Gracie. "It would be an interesting match."
Roger Gracie says Metamoris is targeting April for their seventh edition, but that date might not work for him.
"If there’s a MMA fight around that date, it won’t be possible to do both," he said.
Gracie hasn’t competed in mixed martial arts since December 2014, when he knocked out James McSweeney in his ONE Championship debut, but expects to be back in action in the first half of 2016. Now fully recovered from a broken toe, an injury suffered in training last October, Gracie wants to fight at least twice in 2016.
"I spoke with my manager and he’s talking with the promotion to get my next fight done," he said. "I don’t have a date yet, but it’s probably April or May. We will probably get something done in the upcoming days."
After campaigning for a shot at the inaugural ONE light heavyweight title following his win over McSweeney, the Brazilian doesn’t expect a five-round fight when he returns.
"I spoke with them last year about that," Gracie said. "They said I had to fight one more time before fighting for the belt, so I don’t think my next fight will be for the title."