The mythical submission specialist has claimed to possess a fighting record somewhere in the range of 400-0. 

Rickson caught quite a bit of backlash following comments made to Tokyo Sports in which he stated that heavyweight king Fedor Emelianenko had “so-so” technical ability.

The native of Brazil recently revealed to The Rio de Janeiro Times that he feels confident that he would come out on top of a match-up between himself and Brock Lesnar or Fedor, regardless of his age or nine year layoff.

However, Rickson does admit that it would likely take him a little bit longer to submit “The Last Emperor”.

“[Brock Lesnar] is impressive as an athlete, but he has holes in his game like anybody else,” said Gracie. “Technically, he is not as good as Fedor.

“It would take me longer to submit Fedor than it would him

“I am not worried about his abilities. Whether he punches at me on the ground or standing, it is only a matter of time. In some ways, it is easier if he tries to punch at me standing. All the simpler to take him down. It ends in an armbar or a strangle regardless”

Gracie, 50, has not competed since a 2000 bout in Japan where he submitted Masakatsu Funaki with a rear naked choke at 12:49 of round 1. The older brother of UFC 1 winner Royce Gracie, Rickson claims to be unbeaten in over 400 fights contested under grappling, Vale Tudo, Sambo, MMA, and various other rules. In MMA, Gracie was 11-0 with all victories coming by way of submission.

Despite the calls of many hardcore fans to return for one more fight, Gracie has been non-committal to the idea, yet has been very critical of today’s generation of fighters. So critical in fact that it prompted writer David Samuels to ask Fertitta in a one-on-one interview for The Atlantic to share his thoughts on Gracie’s claims.

Fertitta responded by inviting Gracie to put his thoeries about today’s fighters to the test while competing under the UFC banner.

“Let’s do it!,” Fertitta told Samuels. “I mean, that’s the ultimate test, that’s what I said, right? Let’s find out! If that’s the truth, then let’s find out! I mean, don’t just say it. Let’s do it!”

In addition to extending the invite for Rickson to compete, Fertitta was very complimentary towards the Gracie family’s legacy in the sport of MMA.

“It’s almost impossible to define it,” Fertitta began to tell Samuels when asked to define the family’s impact on MMA and the UFC. “They’ve had the most significant role that there is, ever. I mean, they created the whole way, the whole thing. They were the myth-breakers. They showed everybody that this is the most effective form of fighting.”

But I just wanted to say that last night’s WEC show was perhaps the best MMA show I have ever seen on basic cable. If you did not enjoy last night’s show, I have to question whether you are a true MMA fan.

There weren’t any fight of the year candidates, however, all the matches provided great action. Even the Rob McCullough vs. Jamie Varner match, which started out slow, had its moments, especially the end, which I thought was insane. How many times did Varner have to nearly finish McCullough before he was declared the winner?

Manny Tapia vs. Antonio Banuelos was a great opener with back and forth action. Miguel Torres vs. Chase Beebe was short, but the ending sequence was thrilling and the announce team did a good job of selling the title change. Carlos Condit vs. Carlo Prater was a little disappointing in that I expected Prater to provide a stiffer test. But Condit’s win came off well on live television and made him look more of a star than he ever has before.

What I love about the WEC fights are that they are true MMA fights. They can go anywhere (standing or on the ground) at just about any time and the momentum changes are frequent. Just because a guy dominates the first two minutes doesn’t mean he’s going to be dominating the final seconds of the bout.

From a production standpoint, the show was nearly flawless. The pacing was not too fast, nor too slow. To me, Todd Harris has his best showing yet as a play-by-play announcer. He seemed to be more of a factor during the telecast and sounded more confident in his delivery. While I am a big fan of Frank Mir’s broadcast work, a more equitable split between the two as far as mic time is concerned as definitely an upgrade.

In regards to Mir, even his work was better than usual. One of my only complaints is that sometimes he can be a bit scattered when it comes to composing his thoughts. He really seemed to be focused and on point.

Overall, the way the show was presented is how every basic cable MMA show should be presented. We didn’t get killed with commercials and the broadcast came off as high-end, as there were no cheesy segments with interviewers having to interview half-interested movie stars about some soon-to-be box office bomb. The only in-show product placement we saw was from the WEC promoting its champions. Urijah Faber was used on the announce team and Doug Marshall got some mic time between fights to pump up his March fight vs. Brian Stann for the WEC light heavyweight title.

I also liked the pre-taped segment they did highlighting the fact that the WEC show was emanating from New Mexico, which has emerged as a hot bed for MMA. I would love to see more of those type of features.

The element of a larger crowd also added a lot of energy to the show. There’s nothing wrong with having a few “B” shows at the Palms or Hard Rock, but I’ll take the atmosphere of a big arena show as opposed to the “intimate” feel of a smaller show any day of the week. The WEC fighters came across as bigger stars last night.

The idea that both the UFC and WEC are produced by the same company is crazy to me because the WEC shows are so much better from a production standpoint. Some of the music the UFC uses is cheesy and their graphics are nothing special. The lighting, the sound, and the production effects are so much more crisp for the WEC. And I’m convinced the UFC is holding out on HD customers when it comes to their pay-per-views. I can’t think of a logical explanation, but last night’s WEC HD broadcast on Versus was way better than what I witnessed during UFC 81 several weeks back.

For me, if ESPN or HBO ever did an MMA show, the vision I have of it pretty much is what I saw on Versus last night. I don’t think I can give higher praise than that.

• Carlos Condit def. Carlo Prater via Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1.
• Jamie Varner def. Rob McCullough via Knockout R3
• Miguel Torres def. Chase Beebe via Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1.
• Manny Tapia def. Antonio Banuelos via Split Decision.
• Leonard Garcia def. Hiroyuki Takaya via Knockout R1.
• Josh Grispi def. Mark Hominick via Submission (RNC) R1.
• Coty Wheeler def. Del Hawkins via Submission (Armbar) R2.
• Yoshiro Maeda vs. Charlie Valencia via TKO R1.
• Micah Miller def. Chance Farrar via TKO R1.
• Damacio Page def. Scott Jorgensen via Unanimous Decision

Check out more WEC content on FiveOuncesofPain.com

CARLO PRATER +320
CARLOS CONDIT -400

JAMIE VARNER +115
ROB MCCULLOUGH -145

MIGUEL TORRES +110
CHASE BEEBE -140

ANTONIO BANUELOS +255
MANNY TAPIA -315

LEONARD GARCIA -125
HIROYUKI TAKAYA -105

JOSH GRISPI +240
MARK HOMINICK -300

CHARLIE VALENCIA -150
YOSHIRO MAEDA +120

CHANCE FARRAR +155
MICAH MILER -185

Read more about WEC 32 on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

• Carlo Prater vs. Carlos Condit (for WEC Welterweight Title)
• Jamie Varner vs. Rob McCullough (for WEC Lightweight Title)
• Miguel Torres vs. Chase Beebe (for WEC Bantamweight Title)
• Manny Tapia vs. Antonio Banuelos
• Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Leonard Garcia
• Josh Grispi vs. Mark Hominick
• Del Hawkins vs. Ox Wheeler
• Charlie Valencia vs. Yoshiro Maeda
• Micah Miller vs. Chance Farrar
• Scott Jorgensen vs. Jesse Moreng

Read more WEC Content at Five Ounces of Pain.com!