Gracie at 50: A look back at the legend's most memorable moments

Mixed martial arts pioneer Royce Gracie turned 50 on Monday, and it feels like just yesterday that he was a skinny-looking kid from Brazil thrown into a cage with a dangerous cast of characters drawn from every corner of the combat sports world.

The Gracie family laid down the foundation for what would become the modern sport of MMA, and as Royce hits the mid-century mark, we take a look back at how he led the way.

The beginning of everything

Though it's a narrative that's been repeated countless times, there is simply no way to measure how enormous Gracie's performance was at the first UFC event in November 1993. What could have been a one-time curiosity became an industry because of his efforts.

It took Gracie just five recorded minutes to win his three matches against Art Jimmerson, Ken Shamrock, and Gerard Gordeau utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu techniques that looked alien to the majority of viewers.

As the legend goes, Royce was chosen to represent the illustrious Gracie fighting family due to his unassuming stature as much as his capabilities. Big brother Rickson could have done the job, but he was a hulking beast of a man whose sheer physicality may have overshadowed the jiu-jitsu skills that the Gracies wanted to push to the forefront.

Gracie made short work of Jimmerson, and the next bout with Shamrock painted an even more dramatic picture. Though the muscular American looked like he would tear Gracie in two, it was Gracie who charged in to tie Shamrock up. After a brief tussle, Gracie slithered onto Shamrock's back and locked on a choke that had Shamrock tapping 57 seconds into their match.

The main event was more of a coronation than a contest as Gracie submitted Gordeau to win the inaugural UFC tournament. Nobody who witnessed it will ever forget the sight of Gracie being lifted into the air, with his arms raised and his gi hanging loosely from his victorious frame.

The undisputed king of the UFC

Gracie was the man to beat at the ensuing UFC sequels. In the next three tournaments, he would go 8-0 with all of his wins coming by way of submission (he won UFC 2 and UFC 4, but fatigue forced him to withdraw from UFC 3 after an opening-round victory).

The then-27-year-old grappler continued to take on foes who looked far more intimidating than himself, and each one fell before him. In his last official UFC win, he went nearly 16 grueling minutes with submission expert Dan Severn before catching Severn with a triangle choke.

Gracie's submission of Severn was his 11th in the Octagon, a company record that stands to this day.

The legend continues in Japan

Gracie left the UFC in 1995 and wouldn't fight again for five years. When he returned to competition, it would be thousands of miles away in The Land of the Rising Sun.

Though his stint in Japan couldn't match the dominance he displayed stateside, the five-fight run was not without its moments. He won a decision over Japanese pro wrestler Nobuhiko Takada and continued his giant-killing ways with an omoplata submission of sumo star Akebono. The latter outweighed Gracie by over 300 pounds.

Still, Gracie's finest moment may have actually come in the first official loss of his career. On May 1, 2000, Gracie battled Kazushi Sakuraba in an epic 90-minute duel before succumbing to a leg injury. Sakuraba punished Gracie with leg kicks throughout the bout and Gracie's corner threw in the towel at the end of the sixth round.

Even though Gracie lost, the fight is still fondly remembered for the heart, skill, and sheer toughness shown by both men.

A first at 49

In his 23-year professional fighting career, Gracie had done it all except for one thing: win a fight by knockout.

That changed in 2016 when Gracie came out of retirement for a grudge match with Shamrock at Bellator 149. Though the two men were now a combined 100 years old, there was still the sense that anything could happen in the third meeting between them.

That said, the resulting TKO-win for Gracie was one of the more unpredictable outcomes:

Afterward, Shamrock protested that one of Gracie's knees landed below the belt, but the result stood. Gracie had his first finish by strikes and was once again a winner in MMA 10 months out from his 50th birthday.