Royler Gracie (born December 6, 1965) is a Brazilian-American 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, incorp ...

and

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 ...

practitioner. Gracie ran the

Gracie Humaitá Gracie Humaitá or Academia Gracie de Jiu-Jitsu is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy on Humaitá Street, in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, founded by Helio Gracie. The Academy offers classes in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. History The Academia Gracie wa ...

school 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 ...

for many years under his father Helio's direction, and lives and teaches in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. Considered a legend of jiu jitsu and

submission wrestling Submission wrestling, also known as Submission grappling, Submission fighting a form of competition and a general term for martial arts and combat sports that focus on clinch and ground fighting with the aim of obtaining a submission through the ...

, Gracie is a member of both the

IBJJF Hall of Fame List of competitors inducted into the Brazilian jiu-jitsu Hall of Fame by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), the sport's governing body. The list consists of athletes who have either achieved incredible results throughout th ...

, and the

ADCC Hall of Fame List of competitors inducted into the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Hall of Fame. The list consists of athletes who have made an outstanding contribution to the sport of submission wrestling throughout their participation at the ADCC Submission ...

Biography

As son to the late Grandmaster,

Helio Gracie Helio may refer to: * Helio AU-24 Stallion * Helio (wireless carrier), a defunct American wireless communications provider (2005–2010); originally a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink, purchased by Virgin Mobile USA in 2008 * ...

and brother of Rickson and

Royce Gracie Royce Gracie (; born 12 December 1966) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer, and a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family, he is considered to be one of the most influential figures i ...

, Royler 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 kn ...

. He holds an 8th degree red/black belt in the style pioneered by his family,

. Prior to his retirement, Royler competed in the black-belt ranks for 20+ years. Royler is also a four-time

World Jiu-Jitsu Champion The World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship (commonly known as the Worlds or Mundials) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament held once every year by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. It is widely considered to be the most important and ...

in the Pena/Featherweight Black Belt Category and has placed in the Absolute Division. Royler has a professional mixed martial arts record of five wins, five losses and one draw. His retirement fight came on September 14, 2011 at the age of 45 when he lost to

Masakatsu Ueda Masakatsu Ueda (born December 21, 1977) is a professional Japanese mixed martial artist who currently competes in the bantamweight division of Pancrase. Ueda was also a college level wrestler in Japan, where holds a win over fellow mixed marti ...

via split decision. In 2003, Royler Gracie faced

Eddie Bravo Edgar A. Bravo (''né'' Cano; born May 15, 1970) is an American martial arts instructor, podcaster, stand-up comedian, and musician. After earning a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2003, Bravo began teaching his own self-developed style ...

in the quarterfinals of the ADCC tournament in the under 66 kg/145 lbs bracket. Royler was 38 years old at the time, but still regarded as one of the favorites to win the division. Bravo did exceptionally well against Royler, submitting him by way of triangle as the Gracie tried one of his trademarked knee sliding guard passes. Royler had a highly anticipated rematch against

on March 29, 2014 at

Metamoris Metamoris was a Brazilian jiu-jitsu promotion, founded by Ralek Gracie, and executive producer Eddie Marquez that organized events in Los Angeles, California. Live events of Metamoris were broadcast via internet pay-per-view around the world and v ...

III in a submission-only competition format. Despite a tight calf slicer submission attempt and multiple groin stretch attempts by Eddie the match concluded as a draw after the 20 minutes ran out due to the no points rule.

Media appearances

In a season 3 episode of the ''

Wildboyz ''Wildboyz'' is an American television series. It is a spin-off and follow-up to '' Jackass''. ''Wildboyz'' debuted in 2003 on MTV, and moved to MTV2 in its third season. The show starred Steve-O and Chris Pontius, who perform stunts and acts ...

'',

Steve-O Stephen Gilchrist Glover (born June 13, 1974), known professionally as Steve-O, is an American entertainer, television personality, stunt performer and YouTuber. His career is mostly centered on his performance stunts in the reality comedy tel ...

and Chris Pontius visit Brazil and attend the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu school in

. Royler takes on Chris Pontius and

chokes Choking, also known as foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO), is a phenomenon that occurs when breathing is impeded by a blockage inside of the respiratory tract. An obstruction that prevents oxygen from entering the lungs results in oxygen de ...

him out, while female student Leticia Ribeiro defeats Steve-O via

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, pr ...

submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

Published works

Gracie has co-written three instructional books on Brazilian jiu-jitsu: *''Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Practice'' with his cousin

Renzo Gracie Renzo Gracie (; born March 11, 1967) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family of Brazil, Renzo is a 7th Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlos Gracie Jr. He is the so ...

*''Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Submission Grappling Techniques'' with author Kid Peligro *''Gracie Submission Essentials: Grandmaster and Master Secrets of Finishing a Fight'' with his late father

and Kid Peligro

Personal life

Royler is married to Vera Lucia Ribeiro. They have 4 daughters; Rayna, Rayssa, Rhauani and Rarine. On September 23, 2015 Royler became a

citizen of the United States of America United States nationality law details the conditions in which a person holds United States nationality. In the United States, nationality is typically obtained through provisions in the U.S. Constitution, various laws, and international agree ...

Instructor lineage

Kano Jigoro Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

→

Tomita Tsunejiro is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Aijiro Tomita (1885–1954), Japanese politician *Hiroyuki Tomita (born 1980), Japanese gymnast * Isao Tomita (1932–2016), Japanese electronic music composer * Kazuo Tomita (born 1 ...

→ Mitsuyo "Count Koma" Maeda →

Carlos Gracie Carlos Gracie (September 14, 1902October 7, 1994) was a Brazilian martial artist who is credited with being one of the primary developers of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Along with his younger brother Hélio Gracie and fellow students Luis França and ...

→

→ Royler Gracie

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 5–5–1 ,

, Decision (split) , Amazon Forest Combat 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...

, Brazil , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–4–1 ,

Hideo Tokoro Hideo Tokoro (born August 22, 1977) is a Japanese mixed martial artist who last competed in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2000, Tokoro has also formerly competed for Vale Tudo Japan, ZST, Shooto, Rings and K-1 Hero' ...

, Decision (unanimous) ,

K-1 Premium 2006 Dynamite!! ''K-1 PREMIUM 2006 Dynamite!!'' was an annual kickboxing and mixed martial arts event held by K-1 and Hero's on New Year's Eve, Sunday, December 31, 2006 at the Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan. It featured 10 HERO'S MMA rules fights, and 4 K-1 ...

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–3–1 ,

Norifumi Yamamoto was a Japanese mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competed in the bantamweight division of the UFC. He quickly gained popularity in the Shooto organization due to his aggressive, well-rounded style and controversial persona. He moved on to ...

, KO (punch) , Hero's 3 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:38 , Tokyo, Japan ,

Hero's Hero's was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion operated by Fighting and Entertainment Group, the parent entity behind kickboxing organization K-1. Grown from and branched off of K-1's earlier experiments in MMA, including the ''K-1 Romanex' ...

2005 Lightweight Grand Prix quarter-final. , - , Win , align=center, 5–2–1 , Koji Yoshida , Decision (majority) , Hero's 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 4–2–1 ,

Kazuyuki Miyata Kazuyuki Miyata ( ''Miyata Kazuyuki'') is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of Rizin. A professional competitor since 2004, Miyata has competed for DREAM, K-1 HERO'S, DEEP, RINGS, and made an app ...

, Submission (triangle choke) , Rumble on the Rock , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:46 , Honolulu, Hawaii, USA , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–2–1 ,

Genki Sudo is a Japanese MMA fighter, singer, actor and politician who has been serving as a political independent in the House of Councillors since 2019. Between 1998 and 2006, Sudo was a professional athlete and then was in the entertainment industry fro ...

, KO (punches) ,

K-1 MMA ROMANEX This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a kickboxing promotion based in Hong Kong. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993 at Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. 2023 events 2022 events 2021 events ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:40 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Draw , align=center, 3–1–1 , Takehiro Murahama , Draw , Deep – 1st Impact , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 10:00 ,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–1 ,

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 Sugiura. ...

, Technical Submission (Referee stoppage) , Pride 8 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 13:16 , Tokyo, Japan , Royler demanded special rules: No stand ups, no judges , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 ,

Yuhi Sano (born February 2, 1965) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist most notable for being the generational rival of legendary Japanese pro wrestler Jushin Liger. During the last years of his career he went by the ...

, Submission (armbar) ,

Pride 2 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 ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 33:14 ,

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 ,

Noboru Asahi is a Japanese retired mixed martial artist, a designer, and an owner of MMA gym. He was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan on January 5, 1968, as . Mixed martial arts career A former amateur wrestler, Asahi was trained in Satoru Sayama's Supe ...

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , Vale Tudo Japan 1996 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:07 ,

Urayasu 260px, old Urayasu is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 170,533 in 81,136 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Urayasu is best known as the home of the Tokyo ...

, Japan , Royler demanded special rules: No strikes on ground , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Ivan Lee , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:33 , Brazil ,

References

External links

*
Royler's web siteAcademia Gracie de Jiu Jitsu

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gracie, Royler 1965 births Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Brazilian jiu-jitsu trainers Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian people of Scottish descent American people of Scottish descent American sportspeople of Brazilian descent Brazilian emigrants to the United States Royler World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship medalists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a coral belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu American mixed martial artists of Brazilian descent ADCC Hall of Fame inductees