Dana White: UFC Not Negotiating with Royce Gracie for UFC Rio

Dana White has indicated that Royce Gracie’s return to the Octagon won’t be happening at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro. MMA Fighting reported that “that the [UFC] has no interest in offering a fight” to Gracie despite reports indicated talks were ongoing.

We had written a month ago that the possibility of Gracie returning for a farewell fight was a legitimate possibility, but now it looks like that won’t be happening. Gracie’s manager was the one who had said they were nailing down a deal to fight on the card.

Gracie is the original UFC winner, having been victorious at UFC 1, UFC 2, and UFC 4. He has not fought in the UFC since losing to Matt Hughes in 2006, and his last fight was a win over Kazushi Sakuraba in a 2007 EliteXC fight. Gracie tested positive for steroids after beating Sakuraba and hasn’t fought since then.