Robson Gracie Jr. ‘ready for everything’ headed into closed-door Bellator 241

Following a win in his debut fight in 2018, welterweight Robson Gracie Jr. was able to keep things going in 2019 with two straight wins.

Not only did things go well for Gracie in the win column, he feels like he showed growth in the cage in the victories he picked up.

“I’m happy with the results,” Gracie told MMAWeekly.com. “Every fight I’m more relaxed in the cage. That’s very important to me. The fact of being relaxed is important because I don’t to right away take the fight to the ground. I can relax and go for standing and take my time.

“That’s one of the things I was nervous about the first time that I fought; not just go for the takedown and fail on that and get tired or whatever, get frustrated in the fight and become a problem. I’m happy with the result that I’m able to keep calm and use my game plan.”

As a member of the pioneering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Gracie family, Robson admits that he has felt the weight of his family name at times, but has been able to put it aside in his recent bouts.

“If I say I don’t feel any pressure I’m lying,” said Gracie. “I feel a lot of pressure in my first fights, but now every time I go in there I just think about having fun, and I’m there for myself. I am doing it because I like it, not because of the Gracie name.”

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On Friday in Uncasville, Connecticut, Gracie (3-0) will look to remain unblemished when he faces Billy Goff (2-2) in a preliminary 170-pound bout at Bellator 241. Despite numerous sporting events shutting down because of the coronavirus scare, Bellator 241 will move forward with no audience in the 12,000-seat arena.

“I trained a lot for this fight,” Gracie said. “I trained really hard. I’m hoping I can apply my game plan. I’m ready for everything. I’m reading for standing up, submission, or decision and fighting for three rounds.”

With his family history comes expectations, and while he wants to add championship gold to his part of his family’s legacy, he wants to work his way there in his own time and not jump too far too fast.

“I wish and hope to fight at least four times this year,” said Gracie. “I go up little by little on the Bellator events and then think about titles. But for now I just think about my next step. I really like to be inside the cage, and I really hope to fight more than I did last year.”