Kyra Gracie: I can’t say I’ll never fight MMA

Kyra Gracie wouldn’t rule out making her mixed martial arts debut after finding out she was pregnant, and the door is still open one year after the birth of her daughter Ayra.

One of the best grapplers of all times, Gracie is a three-time ADCC gold medalist and five-time jiu-jitsu world champion. She debuted this week her new show on UFC Fight Pass, "The Third Degree with Kyra Gracie," but fighting MMA is still in the back of her mind.

"It’s always hard for me, especially because I’ve been competing my whole life in jiu-jitsu, and I’m a big fan of MMA. But it’s hard for me to say ‘oh, I’m never doing MMA’," Gracie told Ariel Helwani on Tuesday’s edition of The MMA Hour. "It’s always something I wanna try. But my life is kind of busy now, I have the show, my baby, a lot of things going on. I can’t say I’ll never fight."

Gracie never received a real offer from a MMA promotion, but had "some conversations." The jiu-jitsu ace competed at the 141-pound division in grappling and has been training MMA for years now, and admires UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

"The way she fights, she goes there to finish the fight," said Gracie. "She has a very good ground game and I admire her a lot. All of her victories before MMA, in judo and everything, and I think she opened the door for the new generation of girls that wanna join MMA and the girls that are enjoying the sport."

The Brazilian doesn’t think Holly Holm will upset Rousey at UFC 193, and doubts a superfight between "Rowdy" and Cris Cyborg will ever happen.

"I think it’s really hard for Cris to drop the weight," she said. "She has already a hard time dropping to her division, so… I don’t think this fight is going to happen. I think it’s going to be like the Anderson Silva-Georges St-Pierre fight. We always wanted to see, but we never saw it."

Kyra Gracie hasn’t competed since a win over UFC bantamweight Alexis Davis at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo in 2012, but was offered matches at Metamoris. She couldn’t return due to pregnancy, but would gladly accept an opportunity to grapple with Rousey.

"I’m always training, so a grappling match, I’m ready," said Gracie. "I think (I would need) six weeks (to prepare), something like that."

While she reflects on her future as a competitor, Gracie focuses on her UFC Fight Pass show.

"I’m very happy about the show," she said of "The Third Degree with Kyra Gracie". "It’s a dream for me to travel all over the world to search for the essence of each martial art. We already did Brazilian jiu-jitsu here in Rio de Janeiro, we did boxing in Mexico, and we’re going to search deep inside the essence of all martial arts that make MMA. It’s been a pleasure, and I’m learning a lot."