Do You Think Royce Gracie Is The Best UFC Champion Ever?  

I strongly doubt it. UFC is MMA and by MMA we mean it encompasses all fighting forms from up standing with strikes down to the ground. Royce Gracie had the distinction as the first champion in the UFC and was able to defend his title once and won it again in UFC 4. It was kinda tough during his days because fights were in succession. The drawback between the UFC before and UFC now is that before, fighters are so one sided. They are well versed in a particular discipline but aren't in another. Today, fighters are good in almost all aspects of the game.

The very advantage that Gracie had was that the world was so unfamiliar with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Gracie brought it to the UFC, showed the world it's true worth in the world of mixed martial arts, and later became a household name in MMA. But back to the topic, is he the best or greatest UFC champion ever? I doubt it. Gracie's Jiu Jitsu is great and could be among the very few best in the UFC but he's a one-sided fighter. Compare Gracie to the likes of Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva, his striking and technical knowledge on other fighting styles, especially in standing up is average at best.

One more thing to consider is that Gracie won at UFC 1, defended his title at UFC 2, and won it back again in UFC 4 which brings him 1 title defense and won the title back once which brings a total of three. A lot of fighters have already defended their titles more than 3 times which surpasses Gracie. And lastly, the level of competition and the quality of fighters now are way better than before which makes it hard to win the title and a lot harder to defend it.

Gracie would definitely go down as a UFC legend and the UFC is not the same should he not introduce Brazilian Jiu Jitsu but credit goes to those who's due. Georges St. Pierre by far is the best UFC champion and Lyoto Machida could be a second.

Royce Gracie was good but he is not the best UFC champion in history... So far if it came down to it I would say the greatest champions are GSP and Anderson Silva. No one else has dominated their division the way these two champions have.