Childhood and early development into an important figure for Gracie Jiu Jitsu
Royce Gracie was born in Rio de Janeiro on December 12, 1966 as one of seven sons of the well-known Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Grandmaster Hélio Gracie. In his early childhood days, Royce began to learn the techniques of martial arts with a focus on self-defense from his father Hélio and older brothers Rorion, Rickson, Relson and Royler. He took part in his first competition at the age of 8. At the age of 14, Royce finally took on more responsibility in his father’s academy, where he was allowed to teach Gracie Jiu Jitsu himself. However, due to the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Association’s belt awarding guidelines, Royce did not receive his blue belt until he was 16. When he was awarded his black belt, he had not yet reached the minimum age requirements for such a belt holder. Nevertheless, his father Hélio and his older brother Rickson awarded him the highest belt grade in a ceremony due to his strong performance and dedication to martial arts.
Royce Gracie’s first competitions as a young black belt were less successful. He lost his debut as a black belt in the competitive sport of BJJ against Pachoal Magalhaes, a student of Osvaldo Alves. Gracie also lost his next fight against the experienced competitor Fabio Santos. Despite the initial defeats as a black belt, Royce gained his first important experience as a competitor against experienced opponents. During this time, he also fought his first successful Vale Tudo bouts. Shortly afterwards, he joined his older brother Rorion and went to the United States with him to teach and promote the martial art of Gracie Jiu Jitsu for self-defense.
The path to becoming a successful UFC fighter and global ambassador for BJJ
In 1993, the Gracie family, headed by Hélio, selected Royce as the most suitable candidate among all the brothers, mainly due to his average physique with a slim and tall build, to take part in the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Should Royce win the tournament despite his physical inferiority, the effectiveness of the Gracies’ fighting style would stand out even more among the other martial arts. The event was planned by Rorion Gracie, John Milius (an American director) and Art Davie (co-producer) and was one of the first official Vale Tudo events in the United States.
The UFC was an event designed to clarify the fundamental question of which fighting style proves to be superior in a full-contact fight. Similar to the Gracie Challenges and Vale Tudo fights, through which his father Hélio, his uncle Carlos and his brother Rickson brought national fame to the Gracie family name, there were hardly any restrictions in the free fight in the UFC. Eight athletes from the martial arts karate, Muay Thai, wrestling, Gracie Jiu Jitsu and judo, among others, competed against each other in a knockout system. Only a few rules were set for the tournament; there were no rounds, time limits, time-outs, judges or weight classes. A fight ended as soon as one of the fighters gave up, his corner threw in the towel or the referee had to stop the fight. The fights took place in an octagonal ring with a fence. The winner was promised prize money of 50,000 US dollars and the glory of presenting their own martial art as the dominant discipline.
Gracie Jiu Jitsu fighter Royce wore the traditional kimono of the martial art during the competition. Despite his physical inferiority, he managed to defeat all three opponents in a short space of time with chokeholds. The first opponent, Art Jimmerson, was a talented professional boxer who Royce quickly took to the ground and forced to submit in the mount position after about two minutes. Ken Shamrock, who was one of the favorites going into the tournament, defeated him in under a minute by rear-naked choke, much to the amazement of the crowd. In the final, Gracie faced a Dutch kickboxer who, at 1.96 m and 98 kg, looked quite intimidating. Royce, on the other hand, looked like an average man, which is what made his victory in two minutes by rear-naked choke so impressive.
The event on November 12, 1993 in the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, USA, later went down in the history books as the birth of mixed martial arts (MMA), a combination of different combat sports with fixed rules. Royce represented the Gracie Jiu Jitsu style at the first four events of the UFC and won the tournament three times. In the final of the third event, Gracie had to concede defeat due to an injury from the previous fight. These successes in the early days of the UFC contributed significantly to his status as a legend of Gracie Jiu Jitsu.
Further MMA career
After a five-year break from competing in MMA, Royce took up the challenge again in 2000. He took part in fights in the Japanese event Pride FC, K1 Dynamite and the UFC. In Japan, Royce first fought at the Pride Grand Prix 2000 against Nobuhiko Takada, whom he defeated on points. The following fight against Japanese MMA superstar Kazushi Sukuraba is considered the longest fight in MMA history at 90 minutes. Royce also had a fight against the Olympic champion Hidehiko Yoshida from the discipline of judo, which he clearly dominated. The tallest opponent Royce ever faced was sumo grand champion Taro Akebono, who was 2.03 meters tall and weighed 220 kg. He defeated him in just under two minutes at a K-1 Dynamite event in 2004. In 2006, Royce returned to the UFC for a fight against the then welterweight champion Matt Hughes.
End of career and legacy of the Gracie Jiu Jitsu fighter
In 2003, Royce was the first to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame and still enjoys worldwide status as an MMA icon. Gracie initially ended his successful career in 2007 after his fight against Kazushi Sukuraba. In 2016, Royce returned for a long-awaited rematch against Ken Shamrock at Bellator 149. To the surprise of many MMA fans, Gracie won convincingly in the first round with a technical knockout against the American wrestler. After the last meeting between the two fighters at UFC 5, which ended in a draw after 36 minutes of fighting, Royce impressively proved his fighting skills and superiority.
After the death of Grandmaster Hélio Gracie in January 2009, Royce decided to honor his father by dropping the black and red belt, intended for active black belt holders with more than 30 years of experience, and instead wear a navy blue belt. The belt system originally designed by Hélio only provided for two belt colors. The white belt was intended for students and the blue belt for the instructor. In the years that followed the founding of the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Association, there were some fundamental changes to the rules regarding competitions, belt grades and training, much to the displeasure of Hélio Gracie.
To this day, Royce Gracie is known as the legend of Gracie Jiu Jitsu and MMA. He looks back on an extremely successful fighting career in MMA with a record of 15 victories and only two defeats. Royce celebrated impressive victories against legends such as Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Kazushi Sakuraba. After leaving the UFC, he continued his fighting career in Japan and became a fan favorite with his fighting style. In retirement, Royce continues to promote the martial art of Gracie Jiu Jitsu with a self-defense aspect through classes and seminars.
