It has been a few years since we last heard the name “Gracie” inside the UFC’s Octagon.
That changes this Saturday night with the return of Kron Gracie.
Gracie takes on Charles Jourdain in the pay-per-view main card opener from Newark, New Jersey and the Prudential Center. The card features a bantamweight title match between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo.
The last time Gracie fought for the UFC was in 2019 when his five-fight MMA win streak was snapped by Cub Swanson. The bout earned him a “Fight of the Night” honor.
While the bonus was nice, the way it came about caused much confusion. Instead of relying on his incredible grappling and submission skills, Gracie opted to stand and trade with Swanson.
As a former gold medalist at the ADCC World Championship along with a winner at the European Championship and silver medalist at both the World Championship and Pan American Championship, Gracie was criticized.
Gracie had scored a win in his promotional debut earlier this year over Alex Caceres to go along with four other submission wins outside the UFC and in Japan.
Jourdain will be an interesting challenge, as he is a black belt in BJJ and has won 13 of his 20 professional fights. Eight of those have been by knockout with four more by submission.
