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Royce Gracie
Born (1966-12-12) December 12, 1966 (age 57)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
NationalityBrazil Brazilian
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight176 lb (80 kg; 12.6 st)
DivisionCatchweight
StyleBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Fighting out ofTorrance, California, U.S.
TeamGracie Humaitá
Teacher(s)Helio Gracie
Rank   7th degree red & black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Mixed martial arts record
Total19
Wins14
By submission12
By decision2
Losses2
By knockout2
Draws3
Other information
Notable relativesGracie family
Websitehttp://www.roycegracie.tv
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Last updated on: March 10, 2011 (2011-03-10)

Royce Gracie (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁɔjs ˈɡɾejsi]; born December 12, 1966) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A legend and pioneer in the sport of mixed martial arts, he is widely considered to be the most influential figure in the history of modern MMA.[1][2]

Gracie gained fame for his domination in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He became known for beating opponents much larger than he was, and between 1993 and 1994, he was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2, UFC 4, and fought to a draw with Ken Shamrock in the championship match in the Superfight at UFC 5. [3] Gracie popularized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and revolutionized mixed martial arts with his results contributing to the movement towards grappling and cross-training in the sport.

He holds the most submission victories in UFC history with 11, which he earned between UFC 1 and UFC 4.

Early life

Royce is a member of the Gracie family. He is the son of Hélio Gracie (Helio along with his older brother Carlos Gracie are the originators of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu—Modern Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) and spent his childhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a toddler, Gracie learned Jiu-Jitsu from his father and his older brothers Rorion, Relson, and Rickson Gracie. He began competing at the age of 8 and by the time he was 16 had attained the level of blue belt.

A year later he was invited by his brother Rorion to help teach Jiu-Jitsu from his garage in America. Despite not knowing English, Gracie accepted the offer and moved to California. He competed in a number of Jiu-Jitsu tournaments in Brazil and the United States and compiled an amateur record of 51-3. Gracie received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 18. Gracie is now a 7th degree red and black belt, the belt that signifies the designation of "master of jiu-jitsu".

The Gracie Challenge

Main article: Gracie challenge

It has been speculated that soon after he received his black belt, Gracie put out the "Gracie Challenge", in which competitors would face him in a No Rules contest, won by submission or knockout, with a prize of $100,000. This claim was nullified in an interview with Royce himself from silvervision.co.uk in which he states, "It wasn't really a $100,000 challenge. My brother had a big problem with one of the big American kickboxers. Somebody was going to do the commentary for the chapter and they called my brother, and asked if he wanted to face him. He said that he would face anyone in MMA. My brother had already faced and beat him before. He told them to ask him if they knew who he was facing as he should know who he was facing." Benny the Jet pretended he didn't know who the Gracies were, so they made a bet to put a $100,000 down each to fight for something. Benny the Jet later backed down on the bet and allegedly said he didn't want to put his money down and instead put his belt in place of the $100,000 and that if Royce Gracie won, he would become the World Champion in kickboxing..

However, there are contradictory versions of the challenge with American kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. According to an interview with Urquidez, the Gracies came to his school and challenged him to a fight. Benny agreed to the fight under the Gracies' rules and asked for time to train and for the fight to be held at a neutral location. When the Gracies found out that Benny was a competent grappler and had been training for many years with grappling legend Gene LeBell and Gokor Chivichyan, they, allegedly, backed out of the fight.

Mixed martial arts career

The Ultimate Fighting Championship

Brainchild of Rorion Gracie and Art Davie, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was an eight-man single-elimination tournament with very few rules that would award $50,000 to the winner. The basic premise was to find out how different styles of martial arts would fare against each other. Art Davie placed ads in martial arts magazines and sent letters to anyone in any martial arts directory he could find to recruit competitors for the event. Among the takers were kickboxer Patrick Smith, Pancrase fighter Ken Shamrock, and Savate world champion Gerard Gordeau.

While Art Davie felt that Gracie's older brother Rickson Gracie, who was stronger and more skilled than Royce, was the obvious choice as the Jiu-Jitsu representative, Rorion Gracie chose the younger Royce to represent the family style.

In his first match, Gracie defeated journeyman boxer Art Jimmerson. He tackled him to the ground using a baiana (morote-gari or double-leg) and obtained the dominant "mounted" position, also pinning Jimmerson's left arm around the boxer's own neck. Mounted and with only one free arm Jimmerson conceded defeat, mostly due to frustration rather than submission.

In the semi-finals, Gracie fought Ken Shamrock, who showed excellent grappling skills in his first-round submission win over Patrick Smith. Gracie immediately rushed Shamrock, who sprawled effectively and got on top of Gracie. Shamrock then grabbed Gracie's ankle and sat back to attempt the same finishing hold he used to finish his first match, but Gracie rolled on top of him and secured a rear choke that forced Shamrock to tap the mat in submission. Shamrock later stated that Gracie used his gi suit as a tool for ligature strangulation to perform the submission, protesting the fact that he was not allowed to wear his wrestling shoes because the event organisers had stated that it could be used as a weapon, feeling that the rules for the tournament were created to favor Gracie. Royce disputed the claim and said he had used a no-gi choke, meaning that there is no need to use his gi to apply this choke.

In the finals, Gracie defeated Savate World Champion Gerard Gordeau (who broke his hand in the first round of the tournament against Teila Tuli), taking his opponent to the ground and securing a rear choke, which he incidently also got while using his gi to secure the choke.

Over the next year, Royce Gracie continued fighting in the UFC, obtaining submission wins over fighters such as Patrick Smith, 250 pound (113 kg) European Judo Champion Remco Pardoel, and Kimo Leopoldo. His final UFC victory was in a match that lasted for 16 minutes (there were no rounds or time limits at the time), during which he was continuously pinned underneath 260 pound (118 kg) wrestler Dan Severn. To end the match, Royce locked his legs in a triangle choke for a submission victory. The match extended beyond the pay-per-view time-slot and viewers, who missed the end of the fight, demanded their money back.

Time limits were re-introduced into the sport in 1995 and Ken Shamrock would become the first fighter to survive Royce Gracie's submission attack and earn a draw. The match lasted for 30 minutes and a 6-minute overtime. The draw sparked much debate and controversy as to who would have won the fight had judges determined the outcome, or had there been no time limits, as by the end of the fight Gracie's right eye was swollen shut. However, the swollen eye was a result of a standing punch due to a sudden change of the rules in which both of the fighters were restarted on the feet.[4] After this fight the Gracies left the UFC.

At UFC 45 in November 2003, at the ten year anniversary of the UFC, Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie became the first inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame. UFC President Dana White said;[5]

We feel that no two individuals are more deserving than Royce and Ken to be the charter members. Their contributions to our sport, both inside and outside the Octagon, may never be equaled.

Gracie withdrew from a fight with Harold Howard at UFC 3 due to dehydration after his fight with Kimo Leopoldo. The announcers of UFC 3 stated that Gracie's shoulder had been hurt in the previous round. Before the Howard match began, Gracie's corner threw in the towel.

PRIDE Fighting Championships

Kazushi Sakuraba, a former amateur and professional wrestler who derived his foundation in submissions not from jiu jitsu but rather from catch wrestling, rose up in the years following Royce's final UFC appearance to make a powerful argument for the potency of that particular approach to grappling in the hands of a capable fighter. He did this by embarking upon a series of wins over Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelts, including Marcus "Conan" Silvera, Vitor Belfort and Royce's brother, Royler Gracie.

The Gracie family took great umbrage over Royler's loss. Royce Gracie returned to the sport of mixed martial arts in 2000 and entered the 16-Man Pride Grand Prix with dominant heavyweights Mark Coleman, Mark Kerr, and Igor Vovchanchyn. Sakuraba also participated. A special set of rules were requested by the Gracies that would apply only to the potential Sakuraba-Royce match, including no referee stoppages and no time-limits, the fight ending only in the event of a submission or knock-out.

Royce advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Sakuraba's stablemate Nobuhiko Takada (ironically enough, with a judge's decision), before finding himself matched up with Sakuraba. Gracie and Sakuraba battled for an hour and a half. Early in the fight, Sakuraba nearly ended things with a knee-bar towards the end of the first round. Later on, Royce returned the favor with a guillotine choke which Sakuraba lingered in, but appeared to be in no trouble since he took the time to play to the crowd by trying to pull Royce's pants down. Indeed, the Gracie's own no time-limit rules began to work against Royce when Sakuraba, displaying much better conditioning, kept punishing Royce instead of going for submissions, prolonging the match.

As the fight wore on however, Sakuraba's wrestling skills and balance nullified Royce's ability to score a takedown and—in some instances—even pull guard. Royce's ever-present jiu-jitsu gi became a weapon for the wrestler to use against him as Sakuraba used it to help him control Gracie on the instances the fight did come to the ground. However, with Sakuraba's control of the takedown, these instances of ground warfare became increasingly sporadic. After the 90 minute battle of punishing leg kicks, Royce's brother threw in the towel. Gracie could no longer stand and suffered a broken femur from accumulated damage. Sakuraba would go on to defeat other members of the Gracie family including Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie earning him the nickname "Gracie Hunter."

Gracie returned to PRIDE in 2002 to fight Japanese gold-medalist judoka Hidehiko Yoshida in a Judo vs. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu limited rules MMA match. Gracie lost that match when the referee declared Gracie knocked out. He contested the loss lying that he was fully conscious when the match was stopped. Later backstage, the Gracies demanded it be turned into a no contest, and an immediate rematch be booked (with different rules for the next time). If not, the Gracie family would pull themselves from PRIDE FC, and never fight for them again. PRIDE, desperate to keep the Gracie family with them, accepted their demands. Afterward, Royce took Rickson's advice and started fighting without a gi so that his opponents could not stall by holding onto the gi. The grudge match between Yoshida and Gracie had rules more like the standard PRIDE MMA rules. This match took place at PRIDE's Shockwave 2003 event on December 31, 2003. The match had no judges' decision per Gracie's request, and it ended in a draw after two 10-minute rounds; however, Bas Rutten commented Gracie would have won the fight had it gone to the judges' decision.

In September 2004 Pride had a disagreement with Gracie about his participation in the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix. Gracie had issues with the proposed opponents and rules (Grand Prix fights must have a winner and cannot end in a draw). He jumped to the competing K-1 organization. Pride sued Gracie for breaching his contract with them. The case was settled in December 2005, with Gracie issuing a public apology, blaming his actions on a misinterpretation of the contract by his manager.

Fighting and Entertainment Group

On December 31, 2004 Gracie entered the K-1 scene at the "Dynamite!" card inside the Osaka Dome, facing off against former sumo wrestler and MMA newcomer Akebono Tarō aka. Chad Rowan under special MMA rules (Two 10-minute rounds; the match would end as a draw if there was no winner after the two rounds). Gracie made quick work of his heavy opponent, forcing Akebono to submit to a shoulder lock at 2:13 of the first round. The match was refereed by renowned MMA ref John McCarthy.

Exactly one year later, on the "Dynamite!" card of December 31, 2005, Gracie fought Japan's Hideo Tokoro, a 143 pound fighter, in a fight ending in a draw after 20 minutes. Gracie's original opponent was scheduled to be the tall Korean fighter Choi Hong-man, another MMA newcomer.

Return to UFC

On January 16, 2006, UFC President Dana White announced that Royce Gracie would return to the UFC to fight UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes on May 27, 2006, at UFC 60. This was a non-title bout at a catchweight of 175 lb. under UFC/California State Athletic Commission rules. To prepare, Gracie cross-trained in Muay Thai and was frequently shown in publicity materials from Fairtex.[6] In round one, Hughes hyperextended Gracie's arm in a straight armbar, but Gracie refused to tap[7] and held on with a calm expression on his face.

Hughes has stated, in past interviews, that Gracie would rather let his arm break than submit.[8] Hughes went on to win the fight by TKO due to strikes at 4:39 of the first round.

Rematch with Sakuraba

On May 8, 2007, EliteXC announced that Gracie's opponent for the June 2 K-1 Dynamite!! USA event in Los Angeles, California, would be Japanese fighter Kazushi Sakuraba.

In a largely strategic and uneventful fight, Gracie defeated Sakuraba by a somewhat controversial unanimous decision, not only many viewers and MMA Sites felt that Sakuraba won the fight, Sherdog scored it 29-28 in favor of the Japanese fighter[9], but also due to the fact that Royce was caught with huge levels of Nandrolone in his system, “Use of steroids is simply cheating,” said Armando Garcia, California State Athletic Commission executive director. “It won’t be tolerated in this state.”[10]

Steroids

On June 14, 2007, the California State Athletic Commission declared that Gracie had tested positive for Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, after his fight with Sakuraba.[11] According to the California State Athletic Commission, the average person could produce about 2 ng/ml of Nandrolone, while an athlete following "rigorous physical exercise" could have a level of around 6 ng/ml. Both "A" and "B" test samples provided by Gracie "had a level of over 50 ng/ml and we were informed that the level itself was so elevated that it would not register on the laboratory's calibrator," said the CSAC.[12] Gracie was fined $2,500 (the maximum penalty the Commission can impose) and suspended for the remainder of his license, which ended on May 30, 2008. Gracie paid the fine.[13]

Royce Gracie decided to dispute the allegations during an online video interview on May 2009, more than two years after the fact, saying that his weight in the first UFC event was 178 lb and during his Sakuraba fight was 180 lb, thus only gaining 2 pounds[14], something widely disputed by experts, according to ESPN "Gracie is hardly possessed of an exaggerated physique, but he was clearly more sculpted for his June 2 fight with Kazushi Sakuraba than he was for a May 2006 match with Matt Hughes. In the former contest, he weighed in at 175 pounds; for Sakuraba, he was 188. One may not need to be nutritionist to observe that a muscle gain of 13 pounds in one year at the age of 40 is a strikingly accomplished feat. Athletes nearing the half-century mark are often happy to maintain functional mass, let alone pack it on".[15]

Possible return to UFC

While Gracie does not consider himself officially retired, neither is he actively searching out matches, telling FanHouse, "I get approached all the time. I just have to say, 'Set up a show,' and I can fight. That's easy. But I don't really have that urge to fight, that anger to fight." In a recent interview in December 2010 , he stated that he might go for a superfight, but he is negotiating his comeback for 2011.[16][17]

On December 15, 2010 the UFC held a press conference in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil announcing an event August 27, 2011 at the HSBC Arena. During the press conference Royce stated: "This return of UFC to Brazil touched me, made me feel the wish of coming back to the Octagon. Everything is being negotiated with Dana White. Let's wait”. On March 11, 2011 Royce Gracie's profile was added back to ufc.com active fighters list as a middleweight. and his manager stated that they were actively negotiating with the UFC for a return to the octagon and said it was just a matter of "getting it nailed down" and that there was plenty of time for it.[18] UFC president Dana White has indicated to MMA Fighting that the promotion has no interest in offering a fight to Brazilian pioneer Royce Gracie for the UFC's upcoming August event in Rio de Janeiro, refuting previous reports that talks between the two sides could result in a Gracie return.

Just last week, Gracie told Brazilian news site Esporte.UOL.com that negotiations for his return were ongoing.

The legend has not fought in the UFC's octagon since May 2006, when he returned after more than 11 years away from the promotion, only to suffer a first-round drubbing at the hands of then UFC welterweight champ Matt Hughes. The fight took place at a 175-pound catch weight, and Hughes dominated Gracie en route to a first-round TKO.

Championships and accomplishments

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Black Belt Magazine

  • 1994 Competitor of the Year [1]

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Personal life

Gracie and his wife Marianne have three sons, Khonry, Khor, and Kheydon and a daughter named, Kharianna.[20]

He starred in the music video for Attitude by Brazilian band Sepultura.

In an interview in early 2009,[21] Royce made a series of claims, including:

  • "There wouldn't be any legacy, no UFC, if it wasn't by my father's efforts to prove that Jiu Jitsu is the most efficient martial art of the world".

  • "I'd never tap, I'd never tap there or any other occasion" -- Referring to both Matt Hughes' straight armbar that almost broke his arm and Wallid Ismail clock choke that put him to sleep.

  • "I'm the best paid fighter in the world" -- When questioned if he was worried about the financial crisis in the world, when the reporter mentioned that it is widely believed Fedor Emelianenko has the best contract, money-wise, he commented, "I make more".

In an interview that took place January 2010 [22] Royce stated that he had adopted his father's stance on belt promotions and had gone back to wearing a dark blue belt, as opposed to the more widely accepted black belt.

Mixed martial arts

Professional record breakdown
20 matches 14 wins 2 losses
By knockout 0 2
By submission 12 0
By decision 2 0
Draws 3
No contests 1
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 14–2–3 Kazushi Sakuraba Decision (unanimous) Dynamite!! USA June 2, 2007 3 5:00 Los Angeles, California, U.S. Gracie tested positive for anabolic steroids after match.
Loss 13–2–3 Matt Hughes TKO (punches) UFC 60 May 27, 2006 1 4:39 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Draw 13–1–3 Hideo Tokoro Draw K-1 PREMIUM 2005 Dynamite!! December 31, 2005 2 10:00 Osaka, Osaka, Japan Match was a draw due to a lack of judges.
Win 13–1–2 Akebono Taro Submission (omoplata wrist lock) K-1 PREMIUM 2004 Dynamite!! December 31, 2004 1 2:13 Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Draw 12–1–2 Hidehiko Yoshida Draw Pride Shockwave 2003 December 31, 2003 2 10:00 Saitama, Saitama, Japan Match was a draw due to a lack of judges.
Loss 12–1–1 Kazushi Sakuraba TKO (corner stoppage) Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals May 1, 2000 6 15:00 Tokyo, Japan Quit under Gracie rules.
Win 12–0–1 Nobuhiko Takada Decision (unanimous) Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round January 30, 2000 1 15:00 Tokyo, Japan
Draw 11–0–1 Ken Shamrock Draw UFC 5 April 7, 1995 1 36:00 Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. For UFC Superfight Championship. Match was a draw due to a lack of judges.
Win 11–0 Dan Severn Submission (triangle choke) UFC 4 December 16, 1994 1 15:49 Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. Won UFC 4 Tournament
Win 10–0 Keith Hackney Submission (armlock) UFC 4 December 16, 1994 1 5:32 Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Win 9–0 Ron van Clief Submission (rear naked choke) UFC 4 December 16, 1994 1 3:59 Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
NC 8–0 Harold Howard No Contest UFC 3 September 9, 1994 1 0:00 Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. Withdrew before the start of the match.
Win 8–0 Kimo Leopoldo Submission (armlock) UFC 3 September 9, 1994 1 4:40 Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Win 7–0 Patrick Smith Submission (punches) UFC 2 March 11, 1994 1 1:17 Denver, Colorado, U.S. Won UFC 2 Tournament
Win 6–0 Remco Pardoel Submission (lapel choke) UFC 2 March 11, 1994 1 1:31 Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Win 5–0 Jason Delucia Submission (armlock) UFC 2 March 11, 1994 1 1:07 Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Win 4–0 Minoki Ichihara Submission (lapel choke) UFC 2 March 11, 1994 1 5:08 Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Win 3–0 Gerard Gordeau Submission (rear naked choke) UFC 1 November 12, 1993 1 1:44 Denver, Colorado, U.S. Won UFC 1 Tournament
Win 2–0 Ken Shamrock Submission (rear naked choke) UFC 1 November 12, 1993 1 0:57 Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Win 1–0 Art Jimmerson Submission UFC 1 November 12, 1993 1 2:18 Denver, Colorado, U.S.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/422132-top-10-influential-figures-in-mma#page/11
  2. ^ http://www.profighting-fans.com/mma/hof/mma-hof-gracie.html
  3. ^ http://ufcstats.x10hosting.com/records.php
  4. ^ Blackbelt Magazine May 1995
  5. ^ http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Zuffa-Creates-quotHall-of-Famequot-with-Shamrock-Gracie-Charters-1262
  6. ^ Fairtex.com
  7. ^ Fairtex.com
  8. ^ Matt Hughes vs Royce Gracie - How the Battle of Champions Went Down - by Cliff Montgomery, ExtremeProSports.com
  9. ^ http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/K-1-Dynamite-USA-Play-by-Play-7750
  10. ^ http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles/5164-royce-gracie-suspended-fined-for-steroids
  11. ^ Royce Gracie Suspended, Fined For Steroids - by David A. Avila, TheSweetScience.com
  12. ^ Gracie Opts Against Appealing - by Josh Gross. 16 July 2007
  13. ^ Sporting News - Your expert source for MLB Baseball, NFL Football, NBA Basketball, NHL Hockey, NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball and Fantasy Sports scores, blogs, and articles
  14. ^ The Daily Telegraph. London http://video.telegraph.co.uk/services/player/bcpid1138375875?bctid=24496967001. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=2939575
  16. ^ http://www.tatame.com.br/2010/12/16/TATAME-TV-Royce-quer-UFC-no-Maracana
  17. ^ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/545206-royce-gracie-to-compete-at-ufc-brazil-additional-information-on-brazil-event?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bleacherreport%2FdGcS+%28Bleacher+Report+%29
  18. ^ http://mmajunkie.com/news/22798/manager-optimistic-on-royce-gracies-ufc-return-negotiations-ongoing.mma?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mmajunkie+%28MMAjunkie.com+Feed%29
  19. ^ http://www.fighttimes.com/magazine/magazine.asp?article=856
  20. ^ "About Royce". ROTCEGRACIE.tv. 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  21. ^ http://globoesporte.globo.com/Esportes/Noticias/Lutas/0,,MUL969109-16314,00.html
  22. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9nDX_0vMuY

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royce Gracie.
Achievements
New championship UFC 1 Tournament winner
November 12, 1993 		Succeeded by
Royce Gracie
Preceded by
Royce Gracie
 UFC 2 Tournament winner
March 11, 1994 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UFC 4 Tournament winner
December 16, 1994 		Succeeded by

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