Kron Gracie addresses UFC 288 loss to Charles Jourdain
At UFC 288 in May 2023, Kron Gracie was back in action with a strategy that was lifted straight from the old school days. In his match against Charles Jourdain, Rickson Gracie Jr’s son took us back to when Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was just being started. Many pull guards, clinch attempts, and closed guards were used during the fight which, at the top levels of mixed martial arts competition, don’t really help much anymore.
In the end, all three judges scored the bout against Gracie 30-27. It was pointed out that he appeared to be fighting more poorly than in his previous two bouts. Kron has just issued a brief and somewhat muddled comment about the defeat at UFC 288.
He took to Instagram stories to write:
“In a lifetime of fighting, it’s always been a fight to the death,” Gracie wrote in an Instagram Story. “Understand the situation and willing to limit myself. even that being said I threw no punches because of bad advice and tried to please the jiujitsu community two day before my fight. First fight in my life I didn’t throw a punch. Going back to my old ways.”
What holds in the future for Kron Gracie: time will only tell. But his performance at UFC 288 was further evidence of the fact that being a specialist in today’s day and age is outdated and it’s important to be well-rounded in all facets of the game.
UFC analyst says watching Kron Gracie at UFC 288 looked like watching Royce Gracie at UFC 2
Alan Jouban, a former UFC fighter-turned-analyst, in an interview on MMA Fighting’s The Fighter vs. The Writer podcast, started by praising Gracie’s exceptional jiu-jitsu abilities. Jouban also emphasized that in modern sports, an athlete can only go so far if he or she excels at only one aspect of the game.
According to Jouban, Kron’s performance at UFC 288 resembled Royce Gracie’s in the 1990s more than a contemporary MMA match.
“He’s a jiu-jitsu guy. He’s one of the best jiu-jitsu guys in the world and he’s warranted a lot of respect from that and that kind of inserted him into the UFC and these opportunities that he’s had. But when you come out like that and you look like you’re watching Royce Gracie at UFC 2 right here with the stance and the flat-footedness and pulling guard, it’s not a good look.”
“When you see butt-scooting in the UFC, it’s not a good look,” Jouban said. “It doesn’t look like he’s evolved. You’ve got to at least be able to roll and grab a single leg. You’ve got to be able to do something or throw some better hands.”
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