Did you know that the Ultimate Fighting Championship could have closely resembled the gladiator fights that were hosted in the Roman Colosseum? Yes, you heard that right! Being one of the very first athletes to compete in the UFC, Royce Gracie shared some stories that simply left Joe Rogan having laughing fits. One of them was the idea of the UFC cage.

Recently, the famed UFC commentator and the BJJ legend sat together for a chat in the ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ studio. Without a doubt, the duo conversed about a lot of things. However, the topic that extracted quite some laughter from the two was linked to the early days of the UFC. But what did Gracie say?

Royce Gracie reveals the crazy ideas for the UFC cage that left Joe Rogan in splits

In episode #156 of the JRE, Royce Gracie made a revelation about the ideas that were proposed for the UFC cage. He said, “First UFC, it was John Meyers, the producer for Conan The Destroyer, the father of Dirty Harry, the, the Clint Eastwood, he’s in charge of creating the cage. But before the cage, they come up with some ideas they present to me…”

One of the ideas was creating a pit around the ring with sharks in it. Needless to say, Gracie was dumbfounded when he first heard the producers’ proposal. But when he dismissed the idea, Eastwood proposed to replace the sharks with piranhas, since Gracie hailed from Brazil.  The team also had an idea for a bowl-like ring, that made it pretty difficult for the fighters to retreat during the fight, due to slippery angles at the edges. This idea was dismissed because there wasn’t a proper angle for the cameras. 

But when the idea for an Octagon was confirmed, the idea for the fence became even more ridiculous and dangerous. Gracie revealed that the officials wanted to have barbed wires and an electrical fence to replace the normal fence. He revealed, “They try the Octagon, but with barbed wires. I was like. ‘Dude! Imagine if I got somebody big and just push me against and hang me on top.’ ‘Oh yeah. That’s right. Let’s make it electrical fence.’ I was like, ‘Really?’ The ideas they had, man. I was like, ‘If I fight somebody, everybody I’m gonna fight is bigger than me. The guy push me against the fence, fry me against the fence. Come on, really?’ I keep writing the ideas, man. They had all kind of crazy ideas.” 

Gracie’s revelation put Rogan on a laughing spree as he uttered, “Oh God! Imagine if they went through with those. That’s so ridiculous.”

Royce Gracie’s win at UFC 1

Gracie was the one who introduced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the world of combat sports as he fought in the first-ever UFC numbered event. The BJJ legend fought three fights in UFC 1 and won all three via submission. 

Gracie first proceeded to fight Art Jimmerson in the quarterfinal. Despite being a formidable opponent, ‘One Glove’ lost the fight against Gracie and became the first fighter to ever tap out in the history of UFC. Then in the semifinals, Gracie took on Ken Shamrock and defeated him with a rear naked choke. Finally, he defeated Gerard Gordeau with another impressive rear naked choke and emerged victorious in the tournament. He was indeed a legend on the rise. Being the first UFC champion, Gracie has witnessed the rise of the MMA promotion very closely.

What do you think of the Octagon replacements? Let us know in the comments down below.