The legendary family of Gracie MMA fighters has left an indelible mark on the advancement of mixed martial arts and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. This dynasty has existed since the early 1900s and has produced numerous world champions in both.
From the founder of the first Gracie Academy for Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Carlos Gracie, to Kron Gracie, a featherweight UFC fighter, I’ll present to you a short biography of all notable fighters of this legendary family.
Delay aside, I’ll start!
Carlos Gracie
Carlos Gracie is considered to be the patriarch of that family and the founder of the well-known Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Carlos earned one of the highest achievements in the grappling world, which is being a 10th-degree red belt.
He perfected his technique so much that he challenged anyone willing to test their combat skills against him. Reportedly, Carlos never lost, and he became famous throughout Brazil. What’s interesting is that he had 21 children, and 13 of them became black belts in jiu-jitsu.
Helio Gracie
Helio was Carlos Gracie’s brother and one of the founders of Gracie jiu-jitsu. As a kid, Helio was physically weak, and his lack of strength prevented him from successfully performing the grappling skills that he had memorized while watching his brother Carlos’s jiu-jitsu classes.
Helio had to alter the techniques he knew because of his lack of physical prowess, and that’s basically how Gracie jiu-jitsu was born. Like his brother, Helio was also a 10th-degree red belt.
Helio competed in mixed martial arts (MMA), and over the years, he amassed 10 wins and 3 losses. Although he was successful in MMA, his proudest achievement was when he was in his son Royce’s corner when he won the first UFC event ever, the UFC 1.
Renzo Gracie
Another Gracie MMA fighter is Renzo Gracie. He’s a 6th-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a multiple-time champion of Brazil.
Renzo might not have the best win-to-loss ratio (13-8), but he beat notable MMA fighters like Oleg Taktarov, Frank Shamrock, and Pat Miletich. Over the course of his career in MMA, he participated in fighting promotions such as the UFC, PRIDE FC, One Championship, and Rings.
In addition to his career, Renzo trained many legendary names in the MMA world, including Georges St-Pierre, Chris Weidman, and Frankie Edgar. After retiring from fighting, he opened a jiu-jitsu school in Manhattan, New York.
Image taken from YouTube.
Royce Gracie
The next member of this famous family is Royce Gracie. He’s a 7th-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and well-known in the MMA community as a sensational fighter. Moreover, he earned the reputation of fighting against physically larger opponents and his ability to win fights even when it seemed like he could be on the verge of defeat.
He participated in the first five UFC events in the mid-90s. Out of those 5 events, he won 3 and submitted 3 opponents in each of those 3 events. Throughout his accomplished career, Royce Gracie beat numerous fighters like Dan Severn, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Ken Shamrock.
Image taken from YouTube.
Rickson Gracie
Rickson Gracie, the son of Helio Gracie, is another notable member of this jiu-jitsu dynasty. He’s a multiple world champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well as an 8th-degree coral belt. Rickson has also won a world title in samba, and a Brazilian Freestyle wrestling title as well.
Rickson has fought in the fighting promotions Vale Tudo Japan, IE, and Pride FC too. Despite the fact that he only had 11 fights, it’s quite impressive that he didn’t lose a single fight and finished all of his fights, either by knockout or a sensational submission.
Kron Gracie
Kron Gracie is the youngest member of the Gracie family, in this post, being born in 1988. He had big shoes to fill since he’s Rickson’s son and the grandson of Helio Gracie, too. It’s safe to say that Gracie didn’t disappoint his family members. He’s a multiple champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and an accomplished MMA fighter.
When it comes to his career in mixed martial arts, so far, Kron has 5 wins and 2 losses. Of all of those 5 wins, Kron finished all via submission. He has fought in famous MMA promotions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Rizin.
Image taken from YouTube.
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