Video: UFC legend Royce Gracie says Bellator 'brand ambassador' duties no issue

For Royce Gracie, the idea of being an ambassador to the promotion rivaling the one that made him a star wasn’t sacrilege. It was a favor.

“I’m friends with Scott Coker outside Bellator,” Gracie said at a media day for Saturday’s Bellator 131 at San Diego’s Valley View Casino Center (Main card fights air live on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com). “So he already hooked me up with a few seminars. He just called me up and said, ‘I want you to be an ambassador.’

“I was like, ‘I’m here for MMA. I want to help.’”

It would be understandable if the UFC didn’t share his view. After all, the industry-leader blocked Wanderlei Silva from appearing at promotional activities surrounding Saturday’s event, and UFC President Dana White has alternated between taking shots at the Viacom-owned promotion and dismissing them.

But Gracie, a UFC Hall of Famer, is clearly on a different level. Without his family, there would be no UFC, so maybe it makes sense that the UFC isn’t breathing down his neck.

“My relationship will always be good,” Gracie said. “I have nothing bad to say about them. I talked to Dana before I came over, so it’s all good.”

Check out the above video to see what Gracie has to say about working for Bellator, his job as an ambassador, and whether or not he plans to fight again.

For more on Bellator 131, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.