June 5, 2006 Observer Newsletter: UFC 60, Apache Bull Ramos
“In fighting, a lot of things work, but nothing works forever.”
Frank Shamrock, after the September 20, 1996, match where relatively inexperienced Lion’s Den fighter Jerry Bohlander scored a unanimous decision (yes, they had judging in UFC back in 1996) over BJJ world champion Fabio Gurgel at a time when many people thought fighting and world championships in BJJ were synonymous.
On November 12, 1993, Royce Gracie showed much of the world that everything they thought they knew about fighting was a myth. On May 27, 2006, Royce Gracie and those who clung to the belief pure Jiu Jitsu was the supreme fighting system found out that evolution had made everything he thought he knew about fighting also became a myth.
In what will likely go down as among the most historic moments in UFC history, Gracie, the original conqueror of the UFC and dominant fighter of its first year, returned after an 11-year absence and proved the saying that, “You can’t go home again.” Not when the neighborhood, that he and his brother built, had been completely refurbished.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.