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Royce Gracie
Born	December 12, 1966 (1966-12-12) (age 43) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	176 lb (80 kg; 12.6 st)
Style	Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Fighting out of	Torrance, California, U.S.
Team	Gracie Humaitá[1]
Teacher(s)	Helio Gracie
Rank	7th degree red & black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
MMA record
Total	20
Wins	14
By knockout	0
By submission	12
By decision	2
Losses	3
By knockout	2
By submission	1
Draws	3
No contests	0
Other information
Notable relatives	Gracie family
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Royce Gracie (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈxɔjs ˈɡɾejsi]; born December 12, 1966) is a retired Brazilian professional mixed martial arts fighter, a UFC Hall of Famer and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. He holds the most submission victories in UFC history with 11, which he earned between UFC 1 and UFC 4.

Gracie became a larger than life figure in the mixed martial arts world for his domination in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He became famous for beating opponents much larger than him, 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. ^[2] 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.

Early life

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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

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.

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 5-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.^[3] 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;^[4]

Gracie’s official UFC record when he left did include one loss. In the second round of UFC 3 Royce was to face fighter Harold Howard in the semi-finals. Although Gracie came out to the ring, he was dehydrated as a result of his first round match against 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

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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 stopped the match based on Gracie being knocked out. He contested the loss claiming that he was fully conscious when the match was stopped. Afterward, Gracie stopped fighting with a gi. The next year, Yoshida and Gracie then fought again in another MMA match which 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.

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.^[5] In round one, Hughes hyperextended Gracie’s arm in a straight armbar, but Gracie refused to tap^[6] and held on with a calm expression on his face.

In a later interview, Hughes stated that he purposely let Gracie out of the arm lock because he knew that Gracie would not submit and would rather allow his arm to break.^[7] 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.

While both fighters fought a largely strategic fight, Gracie defeated Sakuraba by unanimous decision in a fight of three 5-minute-rounds, surprising both commentators and spectators alike that felt Sakuraba won the fight. Sherdog scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Sakuraba .

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.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10]

Royce Gracie disputed the allegations, most recently in an online video interview on May 2009, 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.^[11] 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.”

Championships and Accomplishments

Ultimate Fighting Championship

• UFC 1 Tournament Winner
• UFC 2 Tournament Winner
• UFC 4 Tournament Winner
• UFC Hall of Fame

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• Fight of the Year (2000)- vs. Kazushi Sakuraba on May 1

Personal life

Gracie is married and has three sons.^[12]

He starred in the music video for Attitude by Brazilian band Sepultura.^[13]

In an interview in early 2009,^[14] 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 kimura 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 ^[15] Royce stated that he had adopted his fathers stance on belt promotions and had gone back to wearing a dark blue belt, as opposed to the more widely accepted black belt.

MMA record

Date	Result	Record	Opponent	Event	Decision	Round, Time	Notes
2007-06-02	Win	14–3–3	Kazushi Sakuraba	K-1 Dynamite!! USA	Decision (Unanimous)	Round 3, 5:00	Gracie tested positive for anabolic steroids after match
2006-05-27	Loss	13–3–3	Matt Hughes	UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie	TKO (Punches)	Round 1, 4:39
2005-12-31	Draw	13–2–3	Hideo Tokoro	K-1 Premium 2005 Dynamite	Draw	Round 2, 10:00	Match was a draw due to a lack of judges.
2004-12-31	Win	13–2–2	Akebono Taro	K-1 Premium 2004 Dynamite	Submission (Wrist Lock)	Round 1, 2:13
2003-12-31	Draw	12–2–2	Hidehiko Yoshida	PRIDE Shockwave 2003	Draw	Round 2, 10:00	Match was a draw due to a lack of judges.
2000-05-01	Loss	12–2–1	Kazushi Sakuraba	PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	Round 6, 15:00	Rules modified for unlimited rounds and no referee stoppages.
2000-01-30	Win	12–1–1	Nobuhiko Takada	PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round	Decision	Round 1, 15:00
1995-04-07	Draw	11–1–1	Ken Shamrock	UFC 5: The Return of the Beast	Draw	Round 1, 36:00	For UFC Superfight Championship. Match was a draw due to a lack of judges.
1994-12-16	Win	11–1	Dan Severn	UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors	Submission (Triangle Choke)	Round 1, 15:49	Won UFC 4 Tournament
1994-12-16	Win	10–1	Keith Hackney	UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors	Submission (Armbar)	Round 1, 5:32
1994-12-16	Win	9–1	Ron van Clief	UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	Round 1, 3:59
1994-09-09	Loss	8–1	Harold Howard	UFC 3: The American Dream	TKO (Towel Thrown Before Start of Match)	Round 1, 0:00	Fight never got started. Injured during previous match.
1994-09-09	Win	8–0	Kimo Leopoldo	UFC 3: The American Dream	Submission (Armbar)	Round 1, 4:40
1994-03-11	Win	7–0	Patrick Smith	UFC 2: No Way Out	Submission (Strikes)	Round 1, 1:17	Won UFC 2 Tournament
1994-03-11	Win	6–0	Remco Pardoel	UFC 2: No Way Out	Submission (Lapel Choke)	Round 1, 1:31
1994-03-11	Win	5–0	Jason Delucia	UFC 2: No Way Out	Submission (Armbar)	Round 1, 1:07
1994-03-11	Win	4–0	Minoki Ichihara	UFC 2: No Way Out	Submission (Lapel Choke)	Round 1, 5:08
1993-11-12	Win	3–0	Gerard Gordeau	UFC 1: The Beginning	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	Round 1, 1:44	Won UFC 1 Tournament
1993-11-12	Win	2–0	Ken Shamrock	UFC 1: The Beginning	Submission (Ligature strangulation)	Round 1, 0:57
1993-11-12	Win	1–0	Art Jimmerson	UFC 1: The Beginning	Submission	Round 1, 2:11

See also

• Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
• Gracie family
  • Hélio Gracie (Father)
  • Carlos Gracie (uncle)
  • Rickson Gracie (Half-brother)
  • Carlos Gracie Jr. (Cousin)
  • Renzo Gracie (First cousin, once-removed)
  • Rorion Gracie (Half-brother)
  • Relson Gracie (Half-brother)
  • Rocian Gracie (Cousin)
  • Royler Gracie (Brother)
  • Rolker Gracie (Brother)
  • Carlson Gracie (Cousin)
  • Rolls Gracie (Cousin)
• List of male mixed martial artists
• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
• Mixed martial arts

References

External links

• Official Website
• Professional MMA record for Royce Gracie from Sherdog