Kron Gracie made his return to the Octagon after a layoff of almost 4 years. Rickson Gracie’s son last fought against Cub Swanson in 2019. While he lost the contest, it was an immensely entertaining fight. Without the presence of Nate Diaz in his corner, Gracie took on Charles Jourdain in the opening fight of the UFC 288 main card. So how did it go? Let’s find out.
Gracie, who is an elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, did not hesitate to engage in the clinch. Although he has a decent striking game, it was evident that Jourdain was clearly the better striker who landed some big punches and combinations throughout round 1. Although Kron managed to bait Charles into his guard, Jourdain managed to escape with relative ease.
STRONG showing from @JourdainAir!
— UFC (@ufc) May 7, 2023
Decision up next at #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/LRN9rZ1NZi
Gracie was understandably sloppy on his feet due to his nearly 4-year hiatus from the sport. However, Gracie’s plan was always to use his grappling and perhaps secure a submission. But Jourdain, who has 4 submission wins in his career as well, seemed more than comfortable in Kron’s guard in the early parts of round 2. With about 2 minutes to go in the round, Jourdain stood up and dished out some more punishment to Gracie.
No doubt about it 💪@JourdainAir takes the unanimous decision to open the #UFC288 main card! pic.twitter.com/5KaeFUYjIc
— UFC (@ufc) May 7, 2023
Although Gracie managed to pull guard a few times throughout the bout, he never looked close to securing a finish and seemed exhausted before the start of the final round. The trend of Jourdain dishing out punishment continued in round 3 as well. Jourdain’s punches went through time and time again. Gracie pulled guard once more with about 3 minutes left in round 3.
At that point, the crowd became increasingly frustrated and started to boo Gracie’s tactics. Jourdain received a massive cheer when he finally managed to get up. Jourdain finished the fight with a flurry of strikes, which Kron had no answers to. He won the bout via unanimous decision as all three judges scored the bout 30-27 for Charles.
Fans trash Kron Gracie after Charles Jourdain dominates him at UFC 288
Kron Gracie definitely seemed out of his depth against an all-round fighter like Charles Jourdain. Although he is unmatched in pure BJJ competitions, his takedown skills need some major work. On top of that, it seems like his striking has also regressed quite a bit. It led to fans slamming Kron’s seeming lack of preparedness. So how did the fans react?
Here are some fan reactions on the matter
Kron Gracie SUCKS lmao my goodness wtf was that?
— Oasis MMAov (@OasisMma) May 7, 2023
Crazy how Kron Gracie spent 4 years learning absolutely nothing
— Lil Turinabol Metabolite (@DanielBHervey) May 7, 2023
Congrats Kron Gracie on the worst performance I’ve ever seen 🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/DzTpSXxG4O
— DFS By The Numbers (@dfs_numbers) May 7, 2023
Why TF wasn’t he boxing ?
— Villas (@FelipeVillas7) May 7, 2023
He was worse than before the pause https://t.co/63e6ct14Vq
when he got him in his guard his guard sucks so bad https://t.co/fRHAjtUFkR
— Eddie (@eddiegbjj) May 7, 2023
Absolutely hate when fighters fight like this. PUSSIES https://t.co/WWNaU9NOwQ
— CON (@ConnorStark3) May 7, 2023
As per UFC stats, Gracie only had ground control for 43 seconds and landed only 32 significant strikes. In contrast, Charles had 80 significant strikes and 6:48 minutes of ground control. Hence there is no doubt that Jourdain deserved to win the bout. So what did you think of the contest at UFC 288? Let us know in the comments down below.