Royce Gracie gets his first night of sleep since 1994.
Today, Kimo has tapped again, but this time, it was Death that served up “complications” via heart-attack. This ends a long-time binge of anabolic steroids, drug arrests, and careers as a fighter/minister/promoter at 41 years of age. For many, Kimo represented the original UFC nemesis (back when Brock Lesnar was still in high-school bullying kids out of their lunch money) most notably known for carrying an intimidating wooden crucifix into battle (rawesome).
When there were no rules in the UFC, Royce Gracie earned a submission victory by hair-pulling Kimo into an armbar. Grandpa Gracie then threw the towel in for Royce’s next fight, admitting that the Gracies’ only kryptonite was Kimo Leopoldo. It certainly ended Helio’s money-back-guarantee clause in the Brazilian Jujitsu infomercials (otherwise known as UFC 1,2, & 3). You’ll be hard pressed to find any O.G. MMA fan that can say they weren’t intimidated by Kimo back in the early days.
R.I.P. Kimo.
