Publisher Avatar Renzo Gracie posted

A CHALLENGE BETWEEN MASTERS


Renzo's victory against master Pat Miletich had absolutely specific contours. Miletich, an American of Croatian descent, was a two-time UFC champion (for his accomplishments, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2014), as well as building renown as the master and coach of several world champions at his famous training center (Miletich Fighting Systems), one of the most successful of the 2000s. 
 
Miletich proposed the challenge to Renzo: being both fighters and masters, they represented not only themselves, but their schools. The Renzo Gracie method versus the Pat Miletich method, two different ways of approaching the martial arts, embodied by their maximum representatives. 
 
The confrontation took place in Illinois in September 2006 at the IFL: GRACIE VS MILETICH event, and catalyzed the attention not only of the public, but of myriads of athletes and students belonging to both teams, eager to know which of the masters would succeed. In a way, it was their reputations as gym-owners and school-makers that were at stake. 
 
The fight only lasted 3 minutes. 
 
After an exchange with punches and kicks without considerable effectiveness, Renzo applied a stand up guillotine, fitted with diabolical efficiency. 
 
Miletich lay still for a long time, with Renzo dangling from his body, both feet off the ground, Miletich's neck trapped between his arms. 
 
The audience stopped breathing during those seconds. 
 
Miletich nearly fell, rose again, and froze once more with Renzo clinging to him, exerting a pressure as unbearable as it was incessant. 
 
Then he gave up. 
 
When Renzo released him, Miletich still stumbled around the ring before collapsing, exhausted. 
 
After recovering, Miletich approached Renzo and asked, humbly, what was the way to escape that deadly guillotine. Still in the ring, Renzo taught him the best defense against that attack. A conversation between two of the best teachers in the world, which confirmed a phrase that Renzo often says in his classes: “In a fight, you either win or you learn.”