Rickson Gracie (; born November 21, 1958) is a Brazilian 9th-degree red belt in

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting ( ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, contro ...

and a retired

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. He is a member of the

Gracie family The Gracie Family () are a prominent martial arts family originally from Belém, state of Pará, Brazil whose ancestors came from Paisley, Scotland. They are known for creating the self-defense martial arts system of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, also kno ...

: the third oldest son of Hélio Gracie, brother to Rorion and

Relson Gracie Relson "Campeão" Gracie is a professional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and martial arts personality. He is a member of the Gracie family. Relson currently lives alternatively in Hawaii and Brazil where he teaches Brazlilian Jiu-Jitsu at his a ...

, and half-brother to Rolker,

Royce Markus Bennett is an American hip-hop recording artist. People Surname * Ed Royce (born 1951), American politician * Elwyn E. Royce (1868–1960), American politician * Henry Royce (1863–1933), cofounder of the Rolls-Royce automobile company * H ...

, Robin and

Royler Gracie Royler Gracie (born December 6, 1965) is a Brazilian-American retired mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. Gracie ran the Gracie Humaitá school in Rio de Janeiro for many years under his father Helio's dir ...

. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was widely considered to be the best fighter of the Gracie clan, and one of the toughest in the world. In November 2014 he became an inductee of the Legends of MMA Hall of Fame, alongside Big John McCarthy, Pat Miletich, and Fedor Emelianenko. In July 2017, he was promoted to red belt, the highest ranking in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but denied the rank as he had not yet met IBJJF time in rank requirements, keeping the belt for when he does.

Biography

Rickson Gracie, son of Helio Gracie, received his black belt in

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

at age 18.

Matches against Rei Zulu

At 21, Gracie was pitted in a high-profile fight in Brasilia against famous Brazilian

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

and fighter Casemiro "Rei Zulu" Nascimento Martins (father of

Zuluzinho Wágner da Conceição Martins (born May 19, 1978), better known as Zuluzinho (), is a Brazilian vale tudo fighter and mixed martial artist. He is the son of Vale Tudo legend Casemiro Nascimento Martins ("Rei Zulu"). Wagner was raised by his gran ...

). Rei Zulu was not a qualified martial artist, having only a background in a supposedly indigenous wrestling style named ''tarracá'', but he weighed 230 pounds (104 kg) and had experience in the

vale tudo Vale Tudo (; en, Everything Goes/Everything Allowed), also known No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would even ...

circuit, being supposedly 270–0 at the time.Fred Melo Paiva, ''Rei Zulu: "Isso de Carate, Kung-Fu, essa coisa de Jiu-Jitsu, eu arrebento é na porrada"'', Trip magazine, April 1999 Despite his disadvantages, Gracie won the match at the third round by submitting Zulu with a

rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keiko ...

, gaining immediate national recognition. In 1984, Zulu requested a rematch in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, which became a controversial affair. According to Zulu, the Gracie family demanded the rules to be changed just one hour before the event, banning closed-fisted strikes, direct punches to the face, and kicks to a downed opponent. During the match, held in the Maracanazinho before an audience of 20,000 spectators, Zulu himself fouled by trying to

eye-gouge __NOTOC__ Eye-gouging is the act of pressing or tearing the eye using the fingers or instruments. Eye-gouging involves a very high risk of eye injury, such as eye loss or blindness. Eye-gouging as a fighting style was once a popular form of ...

Gracie, while Gracie himself gave Zulu a low blow later into the fight. Gracie also claimed Zulu was oiled up with vaseline in order to impede his grip. In any case, Rickson won again, submitting his opponent with another choke in the second round. In November of the same year, Zulu defeated

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

champion Sérgio "Rock" Batarelli in another fight, which was the condition to host another match against Rickson, but it never happened.Fellipe Awi, ''Filho teu não foge à luta'', 2012, Editora Intrinseca

Challenges to luta livre

In 1988, promoters tried to put together an anticipated fight between Rickson and

luta livre Luta Livre (, lit. ''freestyle fighting''), known in Brazil as Luta Livre Brasileira (lit. ''Brazilian freestyle fighting'') or Luta Livre Submission, and also Brazilian Submission Wrestling, is a Brazilian martial arts and combat sport created ...

exponent Marco Ruas. However, Hélio Gracie refused, demanding either that Rickson received a higher payment or that the bout happened inside the Gracie Academy, which were both rejected, so the fight didn't take place. Later, Rickson himself challenged Ruas to an impromptu match during a meeting with luta livre fighters in the Clube Boqueirão do Passeio. The reasons why this second fight fell off too are disputed: Rickson claimed Ruas asked for time to train, while Ruas claimed Hélio shut down the idea claiming Ruas was not a true luta livre representative. Other names like Eugenio Tadeu and

Hugo Duarte Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

were offered, but rejected. Months later, Rickson was challenged by lutador Denilson Maia, but the latter's father died and he had to be replaced by Duarte. Although Duarte only wanted to fight in an event for a purse, Gracie encountered him on the beach, slapped him in front of his students and demanded him to fight there, so Hugo stepped down and faced Rickson on the sand. Gracie won after making him surrender to punches to the face.The riot over Renzo Gracie vs Eugenio Tadeu
Bloody Elbow, May 8, 2013 Shortly after, claiming that Gracie students had kicked him and thrown sand to his eyes during the fight, Duarte came to Rickson's gym and demanded a rematch. Gracie won again, causing a riot which forced neighbours to call the police. Shortly after, Gracie challenged Tadeu, who had been entangled in a bout with his brother Royler when the police came. Royler and Tadeu fought to a 50-minute draw. The rivalry between Brazilian jiu-jitsu and luta livre continued without Rickson, as he left Brazil for the United States after the fight.

Vale Tudo Japan

In 1994, Rickson was contacted by

Erik Paulson Erik Paulson (born June 28, 1966) is an American mixed martial artist. He is the first American to win the World Light-Heavy Weight Shooto Title in Japan. Biography Erik started his career in martial arts starting with Judo at age of 8. Howeve ...

to compete in

Satoru Sayama (born November 27, 1957) is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, MMA and wrestling promoter and writer, best known as the original Tiger Mask. He has wrestled under his real name as well as the names Sammy Lee, and masked ...

's event Vale Tudo Japan. Gracie traveled to Japan and participated in the tournament, firstly facing Daido-juku stylist Yoshinori Nishi. Gracie took him down and Nishi answered with a lockdown from half guard, but the Brazilian was able to pass his guard and catch him with a

when Nishi turned his back. He later faced much larger

wing chun Wing Chun (Chinese: 詠春 or 咏春, lit. "singing spring"), sometimes spelled Ving Tsun, is a concept-based fighting art, form of Southern Chinese kung fu and close-quarters system of self-defense. In Mandarin, it is pronounced "Yong Chun. ...

practitioner Dave Levicki, but he was an even easier prey once taken down, and Rickson won by TKO after a flurry of punches. Gracie then fought American

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

Bud Smith at the finals, winning by the same method in even less time and getting the tournament's victory. The same year, pro wrestler Yoji Anjo performed a dojo storm to challenge Rickson, after failed negotiations about Gracie wrestling for Union of Wrestling Force International. Gracie was the better in the fight and performed abundant ground and pound on Anjo, who did not surrender, so Gracie choked him unconscious. A year later, Gracie was invited again to the next Vale Tudo Japan. In the first round he faced pro wrestler Yoshihisa Yamamoto from Fighting Network Rings, who unlike Rickson's previous opponents managed to keep him away from the mat by using the ropes and even tried a

guillotine choke The guillotine choke, also known as Mae Hadaka Jime (前裸絞, "front naked choke"; compare to a rear naked choke) in judo, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from in front of the opponent, often on the ground but can also be done while stan ...

. However, Gracie eventually took him down and choked him. He squared against another pro wrestler in the form of Koichiro Kimura, swiftly defeating him, then met

shoot wrestler Shoot wrestling is a combat sport that originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit of the 1970s. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their exciteme ...

Yuki Nakai is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist. He currently teaches Shooto and Jiu-Jitsu, and is the president of the Japanese Confederation of Jiu-Jitsu. He competed in Shooto, an early MMA promotion where he won the Shooto World Welterweight Cha ...

at the finals. Nakai, who was almost blind from an earlier match against

Gerard Gordeau Gerard Gordeau (born March 30, 1955) is a Dutch former Savateur, Karateka, Kickboxer, and mixed martial artist. He is the 1991 World Champion Savate and holder of the Dutch Champion Karate title for 8 consecutive years, but foremost known intern ...

, put up strong resistance to Rickson, but the Brazilian master managed to take his back and choke him for another tournament win.

Pride Events

In 1997, Gracie signed up to a fight against Yoji Anjo's superior

Nobuhiko Takada Nobuhiko Takada ( ja, 高田伸彦, ring name: ) (born April 12, 1962) is a Japanese former mixed martial artist, retired professional wrestler, actor, and writer. He competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Universal Wrestling Federation (UW ...

in the

Pride 1 The year 1997 is the 1st year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 1997 had only 1 event, ''Pride 1''. Debut Pride FC fighters Given that this is Pride FC's debut year, all fighter ...

event. Before the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

's 47,860 spectators, Rickson defeated the inexperienced Takada, mounting him and locking an

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the arm is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, ...

in 4:47. Now enjoying a growing popularity in Japan, according to Gracie he was proposed to fight

Mario Sperry is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the '' Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his c ...

Pride 3 The year 1998 is the 2nd year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 1998 had 3 events beginning with, ''Pride 2''. Debut Pride FC fighters The following fighters fought their first ...

, but the process was stopped due to Carlson Gracie's disavowal. Pride management also offered him to take Royce Gracie's place in his cancelled match with Mark Kerr, but he refused, citing one month to be a too short time to prepare. Fighting Network Rings's chairman

Akira Maeda (born Go Il-myeong ( Hangul: 고일명, Hanja: 高日明), January 24, 1959) is a Japanese mixed martial arts promoter, writer and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist of Korean descent. Maeda was also known by the ring ...

also challenged Gracie and proposed a fight as his own retirement match, but it was rejected. Rickson only agreed to sign up to a rematch against Takada at Pride 4, stating: "I feel Takada is a warrior and deserves the chance to try and redeem himself."Rickson Gracie interview 2
Onthemat.com In their rematch, Takada had improved and was able to wrestle Rickson to neutralize his groundwork advantage, but the Brazilian master used a failed leglock attempt from the Japanese to sweep him and mount him. Nonetheless, Takada kept fighting under the jiu-jitsu master, dismounting him and threatening with a heel hook attempt, but Gracie, who was waiting until the end of the round to prevent Takada from capitalizing should he miss his opportunity, applied an armbar and submitted him again. In May 2000, after Takada understudy

Kazushi Sakuraba is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and submission wrestler, currently signed to Rizin Fighting Federation and Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was formerly one-half of the former GHC Tag Team Champions with Takashi Sugi ...

defeated

in the

Pride 8 The year 1999 is the 3rd year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 1999 had 4 events beginning with, ''Pride 5''. Debut Pride FC fighters The following fighters fought their first ...

event, he took the mic and challenged Rickson, who was in the Gracie corner, but nothing came of it. Gracie preferred to face Pancrase's retired ace

Masakatsu Funaki is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler known professionally as , who has previously wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Newborn UWF (U ...

at Colosseum event. The event almost got cancelled, as Rickson demanded special rules which banned headbutts, elbow strikes, and strikes to the head both standing or on the ground, but an agreement was reached when the Pancrase management conceded to ban headbutts and elbows. At the event, held at the Tokyo Dome and broadcast to 30 million TV Tokyo viewers, Gracie and Funaki started the fight clinching to the corner. Masakatsu appeared to have secured a guillotine choke, but the hold was loose and Rickson managed to go to the mat. They traded kicks to no effect, until some well timed upkicks from Gracie blew out Funaki's gravely injured knee. They clinched again, but the Japanese's injury rendered him unable to wrestle Rickson correctly, and he was taken down by the Brazilian grappler, who promptly mounted him. Masakatsu looked stunned while Rickson bloodied his face with ground and pound, and finally Gracie forced his way into a rear naked choke. During the post-match interview, Gracie claimed that one of the hammerfist delivered by Funaki made him lose his eyesight for a few moments. After the Colosseum event, Gracie expressed interest in fighting judo medalist

Naoya Ogawa (born 31 March 1968) is a Japanese Olympic and world champion judoka, retired professional wrestler, and mixed martial artist. He won a total of seven medals at the All-Japan Judo Championships (second only behind Yasuhiro Yamashita), and set ...

, who was signed up for the next Colosseum event. He was also proposed by Pride management to fight

, who had already defeated Royce Gracie as well, but Gracie refused saying that Sakuraba "didn't have the spirit of a warrior". Rickson further said he didn't want to fight a wrestler who was so much smaller than him. Thus,

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority sha ...

invited him to face

Shinya Hashimoto was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and actor. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, Hashimoto was dubbed one of the "Three Musketeers" that began competing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the mid-1980s and dominated the pr ...

, or especially

Manabu Nakanishi is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler, who was primarily associated with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a one-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, one-time G1 Climax winner and three-time IWGP Tag Team Cha ...

Kazuyuki Fujita is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and a former amateur wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a one-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has most recently fought in Road FC, but is also known fo ...

, but they were refused. The fight against Ogawa was set to the next year, with Naoya vacating his

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus (wrestler), ...

to focus on training for the bout. However, tragedy struck when Rickson's son Rockson was found dead in January 2001. Affected by the loss, Gracie contemplated retirement, and the event fell off after some negotiations. Months later, he stated he was willing to fight again and evaluating propositions, but nothing came from it.Robert W. Young,
Rickson Gracie: The Legend of No-Holds-Barred Fighting Speaks Out on the State of Grappling Arts
', Black Belt magazine, March 2001 When the matchup with Sakuraba was brought up again, Rickson expressed uninterest on it, although he conceded, "...in my heart, I think Sakuraba deserves to get beat."

Other appearances

In August 2002, Rickson had a special appearance in Japanese media helping out Ogawa before his bout against Matt Ghaffari at the UFO Legend event, in which he assisted. After the event, Ogawa talked again about a fight against Rickson, which the Brazilian considered as possible return match. Rickson also mentioned

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (, born 2 June 1976), better known as Minotauro or Big Nog, is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. He competed in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Inte ...

and Kazuyuki Fujita as candidates to fight him in said return. However, nothing of it came to fruition, even after UFO president Tatsuo Kawamura proposed creating an event in order to hold the match. In 2003,

Antonio Inoki Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born ; February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name , a homage ...

offered Rickson USD$5 million for a fight against Fujita, but it had no answer. After the match between

and Genki Sudo in 2004, the latter challenged Rickson. Producer Sadaharu Tanikawa tried to put together a bout between both, but he was unsuccessful. Three years later, after Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Masakatsu Funaki, Tanikawa also tried to promote a bout between Sakuraba and Rickson in 2008, with the same results. Gracie has confirmed that he is officially retired now and his major focus is to give seminars on

and to try to develop BJJ as his father saw it: not a fighting tool but a social tool, to give confidence to women, children, and physically weak individuals by giving them the ability to defend themselves. On July 21, 2014, Gracie appeared on episode #524 of

The Joe Rogan Experience ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian, presenter, and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. It launched on December 24, 2009, on YouTube by Rogan and comedian Brian Redban, who was its sole co-host and producer unti ...

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

hosted by

Joe Rogan Joseph James Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American UFC color commentator, podcaster, comedian, actor, and former television presenter. He hosts '' The Joe Rogan Experience'', a podcast in which he discusses current events, comedy, pol ...

Films

Gracie was the subject of the 1995 documentary, ''Choke'', by filmmaker Robert Goodman. The documentary followed Gracie and two other fighters (

Todd Hays Todd Dennys Hays (born May 21, 1969) is a former American bobsledder who competed from 1994 to 2006. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won the silver medal in the four-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002, breaking a 46-year medal drought for ...

and Koichiro Kimura) as they prepared and fought in Tokyo's Vale Tudo Japan 1995. Released by

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...

, the film has been distributed to 23 countries. Rickson had a small role in '' ''The Incredible Hulk'''' as Bruce Banner's martial arts instructor. His character is credited as an

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in aroun ...

instructor, despite his jiu-jitsu background. He has appeared on

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

's television programme ''

Fight Science ''Fight Science'' is a television program shown on the National Geographic Channel in which scientists and martial arts masters work together to analyze the world's fighting techniques, to compare the disciplines and to find out which one has the ...

''. On May 8, 2020, news surfaced that a Netflix film about Rickson Gracie is in the making, release date targeted in late 2021. The film is directed by

José Padilha José Bastos Padilha Neto (; born 1 August 1967) is a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the Brazilian critical and financial successes ''Elite Squad'' and '' Elite Squad: The Enemy Within'' an ...

and the role of Gracie is played by

Cauã Reymond Cauã Reymond Marques (, born 20 May 1980) is a Brazilian actor. He is best known for his television roles in ''Malhação'' and ''Cordel Encantado''. His television credits include ''Belíssima'', ''Passione'', ''A Favorita'', and '' Avenida B ...

Controversy

Criticism of other fighters

Gracie raised the ire of some in the MMA community by criticizing the abilities of top fighters. In 1996, speaking about

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

tournament winners, he labelled

Don Frye Donald Frye (born November 23, 1965) is an American former mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. In MMA, he was one of the sport's earliest well-rounded fighters and won the ''UFC 8'' and '' Ultimate Ultimate 96'' tournaments ...

and

Mark Coleman Mark Daniel Coleman (born December 20, 1964) is an American retired mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and amateur wrestler. Coleman was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first UFC Heavyweight Champion, and the Pride Fig ...

as "very weak", and said that the latter "would offer no danger."Rickson Gracie interview 4
Onthemat.com He also saw Wallid Ismail as an "average fighter,"

as "not a fighter that has a great expertise in anything" and "lucky all the time," and Marco Ruas as "nothing special" and "basic". Ruas, who was known for challenging Rickson to a fight several times in his career, was quoted in return as: "Talk is cheap. He has to step up in the ring and prove what he says." Though he had not fought in a sanctioned MMA contest in eight years, Gracie claimed in 2008 that he could still beat the current top fighters easily. In an interview with ''Tokyo Sports'', Gracie argued that Fedor Emelianenko was a great athlete, but possessed "so-so" technical ability, and that he (Gracie) was "100% sure" that he could defeat him. Two years after, Gracie stated that he disagreed with those who view Emelianenko as "somehow special" and that he believed Emelianenko deserved to lose the decision in his fight with Ricardo Arona; described

Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist (MMA), amateur wrestler, and professional American football player who holds both American and Canadian citizenship. He is ...

as having "zero defense from the bottom" in the fight against Carwin; and criticized

Shane Carwin Western Colorado Mountaineers Shane Bannister Carwin (born January 4, 1975) is an American former mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former Interim UFC H ...

for what he perceived were deficiencies in Carwin's jiu-jitsu game, characterizing him as "strong as a bull but flimsy like a paper tiger." Previous critical comments that Gracie made about

(claiming that Nogueira had "no

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

") prompted Wanderlei Silva to say that Gracie is "living in a

fantasy world A fantasy world is a world created for/from fictional media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds involve magic or magical abilities, nonexistent technology and, sometimes, either a historical or futuristic theme. Some worl ...

" and launch a new challenge to him.

Fighting record

His father Hélio Gracie disputed Rickson's claim to have had over 400 fights. According to Hélio, Rickson has only competed in fights that are commonly known and reported: the two against Rei Zulu and those that took place in Japan. Helio Gracie alleged that Rickson uses practice and amateur bouts to obtain a number over 400, and that if he counted his fights like Rickson does, he would have in excess of one million. Footage does exist of Rickson competing against his cousin Rigan Machado in a Jiu-Jitsu match in 1986, in what was one of the first public matches between members of the family. Alongside this, he was also seen competing in several Sambo competitions and submitting practitioners of the art on numerous occasions. However, these were not no holds barred or

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incor ...

fights, and as such would count towards one's records in Jiu-Jitsu and Sambo but not one's fighting record. Rickson's only official loss in martial arts competition came at the 1993 U.S. Sambo Championships in Norman, Oklahoma. Rickson, claimed to be a former gold medalist at 1980 Pan American Sambo Championships at 74 kilograms, faced

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

and

sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , olymp ...

champion

Ron Tripp Ron Tripp (born April 22, 1953) is a World Sambo and Judo champion. His name is well known in the MMA world, especially among Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling enthusiasts, as he is the only person to hold an official victory in compe ...

. Tripp threw Gracie to the canvas by uchi mata in 47 seconds, thus giving Tripp absolute victory under FIAS International Sambo rules. Rickson disputed this loss, claiming he was misinformed of the rules of the event, despite claiming to be a two-time Pan American Sambo champion.

Personal life

Gracie has four children; Rockson Gracie (deceased), Kauan, Kaulin and Kron Gracie. His son Rockson died of a drug overdose in December 2000; Rickson was scheduled to fight

that year but the event was canceled and Rickson never fought professionally again.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 11–0 ,

, Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) , C2K: Colosseum , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 12:49 , Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 ,

, Submission (armbar) , Pride 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 9:30 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,

, Submission (armbar) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:47 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , rowspan=3, Vale Tudo Japan 1995 , rowspan=3, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 6:22 , rowspan=3,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Koichiro Kimura , Submission (rear-naked choke) , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:07 , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Yoshihisa Yamamoto , Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:49 , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Bud Smith , TKO (Submission to punches) , rowspan=3, Vale Tudo Japan 1994 , rowspan=3, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:39 , rowspan=3, Urayasu, Chiba, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Dave Levicki , TKO (Submission to punches) , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:40 , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Yoshinori Nishi , Submission (rear-naked choke) , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:58 , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Rei Zulu , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ''Independent promotion'' , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 9:00 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Rei Zulu , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ''Independent promotion'' , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 11:55 ,

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

, Brazil ,

Jiu-Jitsu record

KO PUNCHES , - style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;" , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Result , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Opponent , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Method , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Event , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Date , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Round , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Time , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Notes , - , Win, , Joe Moreira , , Submission (Choke) , , V Copa Company - Absolute , , 1988, , , , , , , - , Win, , Joe Moreira , , Submission (Choke) , , V Copa Company - Light Heavyweight, , 1988, , , , , , , - , Win, , Rigan Machado , , Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) , , ''Independent promotion'', , 1986, , , , , , , - , Win, , Murilo Sa , , Submission (Armbar) , , Copa Cantao, , 1986, , , , , , , - , Win, , Rigan Machado , , Submission (Exhaustion) , , III Copa Company, , 1986, , , , , , , - , Win, , Otavio Peixotinho , , Submission (Armbar) , , LINJJI , , 1984, , , , , , , - , Win, , Sergio Penha , , Submission (Choke) , , AABB , , 1981, , , , , , , - , Win, , Sergio Penha , , Submission (Armbar) , , AABB , , 1981, , , , , , , -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gracie, Rickson 1958 births Brazilian choreographers Brazilian male judoka Brazilian male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Living people Middleweight mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city) Rickson People awarded a red belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists utilizing vale tudo