Kron Gracie addresses criticizm of UFC 288 performance: ‘I was trying to please the Jiu-Jitsu community’

UFC featherweight grappler, Kron Gracie has addressed criticizm and flak thrown his way following his recent one-sided unanimous decision loss to Charles Jourdain at UFC 288 earlier this month – claiming “bad advice” led to his lacklustre outing. 

Snapping a lenghty three year hiatus from professional mixed martial arts competition earlier this month at UFC 288 in Newark, New Jersey – Gracie suffered his second consecutive Octagon defeat at the hands of Canadian striker, Charles Jourdain, in a one-sided unanimous decision loss.

In a much analysed and critiqued performance, Gracie was blasted by UFC president Dana White, who claimed his viewing his performance as like going back in time to mixed martial arts viewing in 1995. 

Kron Gracie had entered the UFC boasting an undefeated 4-0 professional record

Embarking on a five-fight undefeated run prior to his two back-to-back losses, including an Octagon debut win over Alex Caceres where he turned in a first round rear-naked choke submission win, Gracie had landed successive submission wins over Asen Yamamoto, Hideo Tokoro, and Tatsuya Kawajiri under the banner of Rizin FF prior to his UFC move. 

However, claiming “bad advice” led to his disappointing performance against Jourdain in his pay-per-view event return, Gracie also claimed that he was just trying to “please the Jiu-Jitsu community” with his grappling-heavy approach at UFC 288.

“In a lifetime of fighting, it’s always been a fight to the death,” Kron Gracie posted on his Instagram Stories. “Understand the situation and willing to limit myself, even that being said I threw no punches because of bad advice and tried to please the Jiu-Jitsu community two days before my fight.”

“First fight in my life I didn’t throw a punch, going back to my old ways,” Kron Gracie explained. 

A decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler, Gracie landed gold at the 2013 ADCC World Championship in Beijing, China.