Royce Gracie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Royce Gracie |
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Gracie in 2018
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| Born | 12 December 1966 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Weight | 176 lb (80 kg) |
| Division | Middleweight Light heavyweight Openweight |
| Reach | 194 cm (76 in) |
| Style | Gracie jiu-jitsu |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Fighting out of | Torrance, California, United States |
| Team | Gracie Humaitá Team Royce Gracie |
| Teacher(s) | Hélio Gracie |
| Rank | 7th deg. BJJ coral belt (under Rickson Gracie) |
| Years active | 1993–1995, 2000–2007, 2016 (MMA) 1998 (Grappling) |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 20 |
| Wins | 15 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| By submission | 11 |
| By decision | 2 |
| Losses | 2 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| Draws | 3 |
| Other information | |
| Notable relatives | Gracie Family |
Royce Gracie (Portuguese: [ˈʁɔjsi ˈɡɾejsi]; born 12 December 1966) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist. He is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA). He also competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1's MMA events, and Bellator.
Royce Gracie's success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) popularized Gracie jiu-jitsu (commonly known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu) and revolutionized mixed martial arts, contributing to the movement towards grappling and ground fighting. For his pioneering in mixed martial arts, Gracie was the first inductee to the UFC Hall of Fame in 2003 alongside his once-rival Ken Shamrock. In 2016, he was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.
Contents
Background
Royce Gracie was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1966. One of the nine sons of jiu-jitsu grandmaster Hélio Gracie, having learned the art from his father since his childhood. He had his first competition at age 8 and started teaching classes when he was 14 years old. When he was 17, Royce was awarded a black belt by his father, Hélio. A few months later he and his brothers Royler and Rickson Gracie moved to Torrance, California to live with his older brother Rorion Gracie, who had moved there in 1978 and had established Gracie Academy.
The Gracie brothers in the United States continued the family's tradition of the "Gracie Challenge", in which they challenged other martial artists to a no-holds-barred Vale Tudo match in their gym in order to prove the superiority of Gracie jiu-jitsu. Rorion would later edit footage from the Gracie Challenge fights into a single documentary series known as Gracie in Action, with some footage featuring Royce's fights. The Gracie in Action tapes inspired Art Davie to create the UFC.
Mixed martial arts career
Gracie gained fame for his success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In 1993 and 1994, he was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2 and UFC 4, which were openweight single-elimination tournaments with minimal rules. He used his skills in submission grappling to defeat larger and heavier opponents. He was also known for his rivalry with Ken Shamrock, whom he beat in UFC 1 and then fought to a draw in the rematch for the Superfight Championship at UFC 5. Royce later competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships, where he is most remembered for his 90-minute bout against catch wrestler Kazushi Sakuraba in 2000, and a controversial "judo vs jiu-jitsu" mixed rules match against Hidehiko Yoshida, an Olympic gold medalist in judo, at Pride Shockwave in 2002.
On November 15, 2013, at UFC 167 on the 20th Anniversary of the UFC, Royce Gracie confirmed to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani that he had retired from competing in mixed martial arts.
He returned from retirement to face rival Ken Shamrock in a trilogy fight, taking place on February 19, 2016, at Bellator 149. Gracie won the fight via TKO in round one.
Grappling career
On December 17, 1998 at Oscar de Jiu Jitsu, Royce Gracie competed in a grudge-match superfight against Wallid Ismail in front of several thousand spectators. Carlson Gracie was Ismail's coach, though Ismail originally was Carlson's fourth choice to face Royce after Mario Sperry, Murilo Bustamante and Amaury Bitetti. The match was contested without points and with no time-limit in place, with Ismail choking Gracie unconscious via clock choke in four minutes and fifty-three seconds.
Post-fight career
Gracie has been since retired from MMA competition and has been focusing in teaching jiu-jitsu. He mostly travels around the world going to schools, teaching in seminars and doing interviews in magazines, websites and talk shows. He has opened his own association of gyms known as "Royce Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Network", with affiliate schools in 34 locations in the United States, and many throughout the world in Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Guatemala, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
Royce Gracie's branch of jiu-jitsu focuses mainly on the self-defense parts of the martial art. Gracie has accused modern "sporting" jiu-jitsu of teaching techniques that are unpractical and unrealistic to use in a self-defense situation, and claims to be rescuing the true intent of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu as devised by his father Hélio Gracie.
Career accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- UFC Hall of Fame (Inaugural inductee, Pioneer Wing, class of 2003)
- UFC 1 Tournament Championship
- UFC 2 Tournament Championship
- UFC 4 Tournament Championship
- UFC 3 Tournament Semi-finalist
- UFC Viewer's Choice Award
- First tournament champion in UFC history
- Longest finish streak in UFC history (11)
- Most bouts won in tournaments in UFC history (11)
- Most tournaments won in UFC history (3)
- Most fights in a single night in UFC history (4) - tied with (Patrick Smith)
- Longest fight in UFC history (36 minutes) - vs Ken Shamrock at (UFC 5)
- Longest submission streak in UFC history (6)
- Highest submissions-per-win percentage in UFC history (10 submissions / 11 wins - 90.91%)
- Pride Fighting Championships
- Longest fight in Pride history (90 minutes) - vs Kazushi Sakuraba at (Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals)
- Fight Matrix
- Fighter of the Year (1993)
- Black Belt Magazine
- Competitor of the Year (1994)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Fight of the Year (2000) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba on May 1
- World MMA Awards
- 2013 Lifetime Achievement
Personal life
Gracie filed for divorce in 2016. He and his former wife Marianne have three sons and a daughter. His son Kheydon Gracie enlisted in the US Army.
Despite being a 7th degree coral belt, Gracie wears a dark blue belt when training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu paying homage to his father, Hélio Gracie, who primarily wore a dark blue belt despite having the highest possible rank, red belt. Hélio Gracie died in 2009, and Royce said he does not want to be promoted by anybody else.
He is a supporter of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro.
Gracie won the 2022 Sig Sauer Hunter Games as a member of Team Warrior.
Documentary Series
On July 6, 2023, it was announced that ESPN Films is producing a major documentary series on the Gracie family directed by Chris Fuller and produced by Greg O'Connor and Guy Ritchie that features Royce Gracie and other members of the Gracie clan.
Instructor lineage
Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Kano Jigoro → Tomita Tsunejiro → Mitsuyo Maeda → Carlos Gracie → Hélio Gracie → Royce Gracie
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 20 matches | 15 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 2 | 2 |
| By submission | 11 | 0 |
| By decision | 2 | 0 |
| Draws | 3 | |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 15–2–3 | Ken Shamrock | TKO (knee and punches) | Bellator 149 | February 19, 2016 | 1 | 2:22 | Houston, Texas, United States | Light heavyweight bout. |
| Win | 14–2–3 | Kazushi Sakuraba | Decision (unanimous) | Dynamite!! USA | June 2, 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | Los Angeles, California, United States | 188 lbs Catchweight bout. Gracie tested positive for anabolic steroids after match. The judges' decision was not overturned. |
| Loss | 13–2–3 | Matt Hughes | TKO (punches) | UFC 60 | May 27, 2006 | 1 | 4:39 | Los Angeles, California, United States | 175 lbs Catchweight bout. |
| Draw | 13–1–3 | Hideo Tokoro | Draw | K-1 PREMIUM 2005 Dynamite!! | December 31, 2005 | 2 | 10:00 | Osaka, Osaka, Japan | Rules modified for no judges' decision. |
| Win | 13–1–2 | Akebono Taro | Submission (omoplata) | K-1 PREMIUM 2004 Dynamite!! | December 31, 2004 | 1 | 2:13 | Osaka, Osaka, Japan | |
| Draw | 12–1–2 | Hidehiko Yoshida | Draw (time limit) | Pride Shockwave 2003 | December 31, 2003 | 2 | 10:00 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | Rules modified for no referee stoppages and no judges' decision. |
| Loss | 12–1–1 | Kazushi Sakuraba | TKO (corner stoppage) | Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals | May 1, 2000 | 6 | 15:00 | Tokyo, Japan | 2000 Openweight GP Quarterfinal; Rules modified for unlimited rounds and no referee stoppages; Fight of the Year. |
| 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 (time limit) | UFC 5 | April 7, 1995 | 1 | 36:00 | Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | For the inaugural UFC Superfight Championship. Match was declared a draw due to lack of judges. Longest fight in UFC history. |
| Win | 11–0 | Dan Severn | Submission (triangle choke) | UFC 4 | December 16, 1994 | 1 | 15:49 | Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States | Won the UFC 4 Tournament. Became the first and only three time UFC Tournament Winner. |
| Win | 10–0 | Keith Hackney | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 5:32 | UFC 4 Tournament Semi-finals. | |||
| Win | 9–0 | Ron van Clief | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 3:59 | UFC 4 Tournament Quarterfinals. | |||
| Win | 8–0 | Kimo Leopoldo | Submission (armbar) | UFC 3 | September 9, 1994 | 1 | 4:40 | Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | UFC 3 Tournament Quarterfinals. Gracie withdrew from tournament afterwards. |
| Win | 7–0 | Patrick Smith | TKO (submission to punches) | UFC 2 | March 11, 1994 | 1 | 1:17 | Denver, Colorado, United States | Won the UFC 2 Tournament. |
| Win | 6–0 | Remco Pardoel | Submission (lapel choke) | 1 | 1:31 | UFC 2 Tournament Semi-finals. | |||
| Win | 5–0 | Jason DeLucia | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 1:07 | UFC 2 Tournament Quarterfinals. | |||
| Win | 4–0 | Minoki Ichihara | Submission (lapel choke) | 1 | 5:08 | UFC 2 Tournament Opening Round. | |||
| Win | 3–0 | Gerard Gordeau | Submission (rear-naked choke) | UFC 1 | November 12, 1993 | 1 | 1:44 | Denver, Colorado, United States | Won the UFC 1 Tournament. |
| Win | 2–0 | Ken Shamrock | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 0:57 | UFC 1 Tournament Semi-finals. | |||
| Win | 1–0 | Art Jimmerson | Submission (smother choke) | 1 | 2:18 | UFC 1 Tournament Quarterfinals. |
Jiu-jitsu record
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
| Lose |  Wallid Ismail |
Technical submission (clock choke) | Oscar de Jiu-Jitsu | December 17, 1998 | n/a | 4:53 | No time limit, no points. |
Images for kids
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Royce Gracie in 2007
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Gracie in 2010
See also
In Spanish: Royce Gracie para niños
- Gracie family
- Rodrigo Gracie
- List of doping cases in sport
- List of Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners
