Renzo Gracie (; born March 11, 1967) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and 7th degree coral belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and coach. A third generation member of the Gracie family, he is the grandson of Gracie jiu-jitsu co-founder Carlos Gracie, grandnephew of Helio Gracie, nephew of Carlos Gracie Jr. and the son of Robson Gracie.
By the age of 20, Gracie was a multiple-time BJJ champion in Brazil. In mixed martial arts, Renzo has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championships, K-1, RINGS, and International Fight League (head-coaching the New York Pitbulls). Gracie is crediting with training some of the best fighters in North America such as: Georges St-Pierre, Frankie Edgar, Chris Weidman, Matt Serra, Ricardo Almeida, Roy Nelson, Rodrigo Gracie, Paul Creighton, and Shane McMahon. Gracie is also known to have trained Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of United Arab Emirates.
Renzo Gracie: Legacy, a 2008 documentary film follows his influence on Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts over a ten-year period, showing the origins of the sport from its bare knuckle days to the explosion of the sport in both Japan and America. In honor of his achievements and contributions to the sport, Gracie was inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame on February 21, 2022. On January 18, 2023, Gracie was presented with his coral belt in Abu Dhabi by Rickson Gracie.
Mixed martial arts career Renzo debuted in the Brazilian vale tudo circuit. He had his first match against kickboxer Luiz Augusto Alvareda, whom he submitted by rear naked choke. After the match, he moved to the United States to teach Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
World Combat Championships In October 1995, Gracie was called to fight in World Combat Championships, a no holds barred event created by Jon Peters's son Christopher. The event hosted two separate tournaments for strikers and grapplers whose winners would meet at the finals, and Gracie was put on the latter due to his Brazilian jiu-jitsu background.
His first match was against Dutch judoka Ben Spijkers, who had taunted Gracie in the press conference and pranked him on his hotel room the previous night. Spijkers scored the first takedown, but Renzo answered with another, took his back through headbutts and elbow strikes and finally choked him for the win. After the bout, Gracie intentionally stepped on Spijkers's head as he walked away as an act of revenge for the pranking, although Gracie later apologized for it.Jim Coleman, World Combat - We're here, deal with it!, Black Belt Magazine, February 1997 Gracie next fought striker Phil Benedict, and although he received a hard right punch in the first seconds, he executed a takedown and defeated Benedict by ground and pound from the mount. At the finals, Gracie then faced kickboxer James Warring, winning by neck crank in similar time.
Gracie had originally entered WCC with the idea of fighting Bart Vale, who would compete as well, as Vale had boasted that smaller opponents like Renzo were afraid of facing him. However, Vale would forfeit his place in the tournament after his first match, so the bout didn't happen. Producer Peters had the intention to host a second event where Gracie and Vale would fight in a "superfight" format, but these plans were abandoned.
Pentagon Combat
On September 22, 1997, Gracie partook in Pentagon Combat, an MMA event founded by future ADCC backer Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed. Gracie was pitted against Eugenio Tadeu, a fighter whose style, luta livre, was in a huge rivalry with Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the time, which guaranteed the match was received with heat. Promoters of the event hired little security for the match, and although the luta livre supporters got fewer tickets than their jiu-jitsu homologues, they snuck into the arena earlier in the event. The first minutes of the match were uneventful, with Gracie claiming years later that Tadeu had greased up his body to difficult his grip, but he eventually managed to mount Tadeu. However, Gracie got tired, and Tadeu started to take control of the action.
When the fight became stalled against the cage wall, audience members pushed their way through security staff and grabbed the very cage, screaming insults at the fighters and even attacking them through the netting whenever they came near. Some spectators climbed up the fence while others pulled them down, leading the match to be briefly stopped to clear them out, while Gracie received both punches and kicks by luta livre supporters without the referee noticing. The situation finally exploded when Gracie fought back one of his attackers, causing a massive brawl to erupt among the over 400 spectators. Audience members threw chairs and seats to each other, the lights were turned off, and gunshots were heard. The event caused mixed martial arts to be banned in Rio de Janeiro for ten years.
Pride Fighting Championships Gracie debuted in the first event of Pride Fighting Championships, Pride 1, where he was pitted against Japanese judo-based fighter Akira Shoji. The Brazilian dominated the match, at several points threatening Shoji with armbars, rear naked chokes and omoplatas, all while receiving only superficial damage from kicks and knees, but he failed at finishing Shoji, and thus the match went to a draw after thirty minutes.
His first victory in Pride was at the very next event, Pride 2, against judoka and catch wrestler Sanae Kikuta. The match was fought under special rules by Gracie's demand, which included an unlimited number of ten-minute rounds. However, this had the effect to lengthen the match to almost an hour, as both fighters remained largely inactive in the clinch and Renzo's guard. Only in the sixth round, Renzo managed to lock a guillotine choke and submit Kikuta. In 2014, Gracie claimed to have been drugged by PRIDE promoters before the fight to explain his performance.
Gracie returned in Pride 8, where he fought professional wrestler Alexander Otsuka. The latter, who came to the match bandaged due to a pro wrestling match the same day, scored a takedown and passed Gracie's guard for a moment, but the Brazilian regained his defense. Gracie came back with hard upkicks and multiple submission attempts, like a triangle choke and a guillotine choke, being answered with short hammerfists by the Japanese. After the match was restarted, Renzo seemed to secure an armbar from the bottom, only for Otsuka to escape and defend until the end. Even although Gracie next landed a German suplex-like takedown, the match ended with both Otsuka and Gracie pursuing a submission each.
Fighting Network Rings Gracie discontinued his appearances in PRIDE to participate in the King of Kings tournament of rival promotion Fighting Network Rings. His first bout in the card was against the promotion's usual low carder Wataru Sakata, who nonetheless had a 20Ibs advantage. Gracie defeated him quickly, taking him down from a kick and submitting him by armbar. After advancing round to meet former kickboxer and UFC Heavyweight Champion Maurice Smith, Gracie achieved the same result, taking him down before submitting him with a judo-style yoko-sankaku-jime/ude-gatame combination.Renzo Gracie, John Danaher, Mastering Jujitsu, Human Kinetics, 2003
The Brazilian reached the quarterfinals, where he encountered another Rings shoot wrestler, Kiyoshi Tamura. Gracie started the fight with takedowns and guillotine choke attempts, but Tamura took over with defense and positional control, ending the first round inflicting ground and pound on Renzo. At the second, the wrestler started passing Gracie's guard and capturing his back, to the extent of locking a facedown crucifix and searching for a rear naked choke. Although Gracie managed to escape without being submitted, the unanimous decision was given to Tamura, thus eliminating the Brazilian.Stephen Quadros, Henderson Wins, Gracie Loses in RINGS Tourney, Black Belt magazine, July 2000
Return to Pride Gracie returned to Pride to fight Kazushi Sakuraba, who had been nicknamed "The Gracie Hunter" for his victories against Renzo's relatives Royler and Royce. During the first round, they fought evenly, mainly exchanging strikes and takedown attempts. At the second, the Japanese wrestler took Gracie down, but he was unable to pass his guard despite his many techniques and tricks. The match finally came to its peak when Renzo executed a De la Riva reversal and captured Sakuraba's back against the corner. At that moment, the Japanese got hold of Gracie's arm and spun around with a Kimura lock, dislocating the arm before hitting the mat and prompting the referee to stop the fight. Uncharacteristically for the Gracie side during their rivalry with Sakuraba, Renzo took the mic after the match and declared Sakuraba was the better man. Similarly, years later Gracie called Sakuraba "his hero" and remembered their match as "one of the biggest lessons he learned in his life".
Gracie next fought American wrestler Dan Henderson at Pride 13, now under new rules that allowed knees and kicks to the head of a downed opponent.Stephen Quadros, Silva Stops Sakuraba, Telligman Upsets Vovchanchyn, Black Belt magazine, July 2001 The resultant match was short, as Henderson used his wrestling superiority to keep the fight on their feet and land punches and knees as per the new ruleset. After one minute, Gracie tried a takedown, but Henderson landed two heavy punches and knocked him out. The American became the first fighter ever to knock out a Gracie. Renzo bounced back with a victory over professional wrestler Michiyoshi Ohara, who resorted to clinch defensively for most of the match.Keith Vargo, Sperry, Silva, Nogueira and Gracie Win at Pride 17, Black Belt magazine, March 2002
In 2002, Gracie fought against Shungo Oyama in Pride 21. Oyama taunted Renzo incessantly through the match and imitated Sakuraba's offensive moves, getting some measure of success with it. Renzo became so irritated that he spat on Oyama at the end of the second round. At the third, Gracie looked to re-take the bout, but they just could exchange takedowns and strikes before the match went to the judges, with Oyama winning a unanimous decision. Gracie was unhappy with this, and stated his belief that he had lost the decision only because he spat on Oyama.
His last match for Pride would be in October 2003 against eclectic grappler Carlos Newton. Gracie took him down and captured his back, only for Newton to reverse positions. The two fighters exchanged multiple sweeps and submission attempts in a short time, with Renzo almost locking a kneebar, but Newton ultimately escaped and ended the round hitting ground and pound from side mount. At the second, Renzo received a slamming takedown and a hip throw, so he opted to grab a guillotine choke and pull guard, seeking the finish, yet Newton freed himself and ended the match again with punches from half guard. Newton was given the split decision win, which Gracie disputed.
IFL and EliteXC Gracie debuted for International Fight League in September 2006, submitting Pat Miletich in three minutes with a guillotine choke. He would then rematch Carlos Newton in December. The match was noted to resemble oddly their first encounter, as they struggled for position in the first round with Gracie threatening a submission and Newton ending it in side mount. The situation reversed at the second, as Gracie flipped Newton over to side mount, only for Newton to menace him with an ankle lock. At the third and final round, Newton worked to keep the fight standing and made Gracie bleed with some glaring strikes, but the fight ended without a result, and after deliberation, the judges gave it to Gracie. This outcome was immediately met with controversy, with Gracie himself declaring he felt Newton was the winner.