The beginnings of a Gracie Jiu Jitsu legend
Royler Gracie was born in Río de Janeiro on December 6, 1965 as the fifth child of Grandmaster Hélio Gracie. Hélio taught his son the martial art of Gracie Jiu Jitsu as a toddler in a playful way. When Royler was 7 years old, his cousin Rolls Gracie took over the main role of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor. Together with his brothers Rolker and Royce, he trained regularly at his cousin’s famous academy in Copacabana. The children attended classes in the afternoon and often stayed until the evening to watch the adults train. Royler was considered to be very curious and liked to ask the Gracie Jiu Jitsu fighters lots of questions about the self-defense techniques being demonstrated. It was at this time that Royler began competing in junior competitions, most of which he won. Rolls played a key role as a Gracie Jiu Jitsu teacher and mentor for Royler, encouraging and motivating him to develop a similar methodical fighting style. Rolls died in an accident in 1982 at the age of just 31, a great shock for Royler and the Gracie family. From then on, Gracie trained with his older half-brother Rickson under the supervision of Hélio. Rickson helped Royler to further improve his Gracie Jiu Jitsu techniques. His father encouraged him to take part in many competitions and offered him a reward whether he won or lost. Hélio’s intention was to take the pressure off Royler. His plan worked and after years of regular training and determination, Gracie developed into an impressive fighter with numerous victories in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitions.
At the age of 21, Gracie had his first Vale Tudo fight against an experienced opponent who also had a 7 kg weight advantage. Royler was small and slender, so he fought extremely technically. His opponent was proficient in the martial art of Luta Livre and so it came to a fight between rival disciplines, which ended in a draw after almost an hour. After several years without defeat in BJJ competitions in kimono, Royler narrowly lost to De La Riva, who had a tricky guard and won with a sweep, at the “Copa Cantao” in 1987. It was not until 1998 that Royler lost for the first time by submission to Mario Sperry, who fought at super heavyweight and was much heavier than Gracie. Royler rose to every challenge and often competed in the open weight class.
Leading role in the original Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy in Río
After his older half-brother Rickson emigrated to the USA, Royler took over his role at the academy in Río and later produced numerous world champions in BJJ such as Saulo and Xande Ribeiro, Wellington “Megaton” Dias and Vinny Magalhaes. Gracie constantly tried to improve his techniques and develop as a fighter. To this end, he also trained extensively in judo, successfully taking part in the Brazilian judo championships and winning a silver medal.
Career as a fighter in BJJ, Vale Tudo and MMA
Like his brothers, Gracie took part in several Vale Tudo events. On June 24, 1996, he successfully fought Ivan Lee at the “Universal Vale Tudo Fighting” event in Brazil. On July 7 of the same year, he defeated Japan’s Noboru Asahi at “Vale Tudo Japan” and shortly afterwards won his first world championship in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In 1997, Royler took his first opportunity to participate in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world championship in the open weight class. Gracie fought six grueling fights until the semi-finals, while his opponent only had to fight twice and was therefore much fresher. When the two met, Royler narrowly lost the fight by two points with a takedown and took third place in the open weight class as a featherweight up to 70 kg. This earned him great respect and recognition. In the following years, Royler won further world championships and dominated his weight class. In 1999, the competition in the featherweight division was particularly strong, with BJJ athletes such as Leo Vieira. The latter faced him in the final, with Gracie narrowly winning the fight by decision of the referee.
Gracie also began participating in submission wrestling competitions where traditional kimonos were not worn. Royce won the most important tournament, the ADCC World Championship, three years in a row. In the final of the 2000 tournament, Gracie faced the talented fighter Alexandre “Soca” De Freitas. After an initially even fight, Royler managed to dominate his opponent positionally. His fluid movements and effective techniques secured him the gold medal. During this time, Gracie also took part in some unregulated Vale Tudo fights to test his self-defense skills in real challenges.
When Royler decided to compete in MMA, he sought out an experienced coach in Claudio Coelho. He helped him to improve his stand-up fighting and to prepare himself adequately. In November 1999, Royler competed at the Pride 8 event against Kazushi Sakuraba, who was up-and-coming at the time. The much more experienced Sakuraba was 15 kg heavier than Royler and was the first fighter to defeat Gracie in MMA. In the following years, Gracie took part in other MMA events, mainly in K-1. He was able to celebrate several victories and later ended his career with a fight record of five wins and five losses. In 2010, after years of commuting between Río de Janeiro and San Diego in California, Royler decided to emigrate to the USA for good. Rolker Gracie took up his role at the Gracie Humaita Academy in Río.
Achievements of the featherweight Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legend
Royler’s greatest achievements were winning four BJJ world championships in a row from 1996 to 1999 in the featherweight division. Gracie also won the Pan American Championship in 1997 and 1999. He also participated in the prestigious ADCC grappling event several times, winning in 1999, 2000 and 2001. His numerous victories earned him the status of a legend in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission grappling. He dominated his weight class at featherweight for a long time and set numerous records at that time. He celebrated victories over great BJJ fighters such as Robson Moura, Vinicius Draculino, Baret Yoshida and Vitor Shaolin and was regarded as the first “king of the BJJ featherweight division”.
In 2011, Gracie ended his career in MMA at the age of 45. The third Metamoris event in 2014, a grappling event organized by his nephew Ralek, saw a rematch between Eddie Bravo and Royler Gracie. The two had previously fought in the quarter-finals of the ADCC World Championship in 2003. The seemingly indomitable Gracie surprisingly lost to an outsider. The rematch ended in a draw and was Royler’s last BJJ appearance.
Royler is known for his friendly and direct manner and brings a lot of positive energy with him. He is considered an extremely dedicated teacher who has produced several talents in the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Gracie took over his father Hélio’s original Gracie Jiu Jitsu academy in Río de Janeiro and maintained the highest standard in his teaching of Gracie Jiu Jitsu techniques with a self-defense aspect. Royler taught at the Gracie Humaita Academy in Río for many years until he finally moved to America and opened his own academy in San Diego. Gracie holds an 8th degree red-black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has made a great contribution to his family’s martial arts. Gracie is also a member of the IBJJF and ADCC Hall of Fame.
Together with his wife Vera Lucia Ribeiro, Royler has a total of four daughters, named Rayna, Rhauani, Rayssa and Rarine. Gracie now lives in San Diego and teaches classical Gracie Jiu Jitsu at his academy.
