Joe Rogan emotionally recounts Eddie Bravo’s win over Royler Gracie: “One of the greatest experiences of my life.”
Joe Rogan was brought to tears when he recently spoke on his podcast about when his dear friend Eddie Bravo pulled off one of the biggest Jiu-Jitsu upsets of all time against Royler Gracie.
In the early 2000s, there were few names that were more notable in combat sports than the Gracie family. On Joe Rogan’s world-famous podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, he turned back the clock and got very emotional when recounting Bravo’s stunning victory.
The legendary Jiu-Jitsu match took place at the Abu Dhabi World Championships in 2003 in Gracie’s home country of Brazil, where Rogan was there to support his friend and at the time, rising Jiu-Jitsu player Eddie Bravo. Discussing the magnitude and context of this match, Rogan stated:
“He had this big match with Royler and they shut off all the other matches and put all the cameras on this one thing. (Eddie) was such an underdog… He wasn’t even a black belt yet; Eddie was a brown belt. Royler, who was Royce’s brother, was more successful even than Royce in Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. He’s like one of the greatest Gracie’s of all time in terms of his accomplishments in winning world Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. He was the man.”
Joe Rogan On the Insane Submission
Eddie Bravo went on to submit Royler Gracie with a Triangle, and Rogan gives his detailed account of this spectacular moment:
“He (Royler) was in Eddie’s guard, and he just slapped that triangle on him, then started pulling the head and then Royler tapped. It was insane, I was crying. I’ll cry right now… It’s one of the greatest experiences of my life.”
It is clear by the effect that it had on him that Rogan was living vicariously through Eddie Bravo. Just speaking about his friend’s triumph, even 19 years later, brought Rogan to tears and stirred up a powerful emotional response.
Today, Eddie Bravo continues his dedication to his craft at his well-known school, 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu, which boasts a non-traditional system of teaching the sport. Even all these years later, Bravo’s victory over Royler Gracie goes down as legendary and was the catalyst for Eddie to start 10th Planet.
Watch the clip from JRE Daily on Youtube to see Rogan’s full emotional description of that memorable day 19 years ago:
