Royce Gracie
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60%Born
1966 (57 years old)
Birth Place
Rio de Janeiro, BrazilPosition
Fighter
Status
Ethnicity
Hispanic
Team Number
Height
6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight
176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
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FightingTeam
_Retired Fighting
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_No League
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 |  |  |  | UFC 1 The Beginning | 12 Nov 93 | |
| | | | UFC 1 The Beginning | 12 Nov 93 | |
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Royce Gracie (Portuguese: ; born 12 December 1966) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer, and a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family, he is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA). He also competed at PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1's MMA events and at Bellator.
Gracie gained fame for his success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Between 1993 and 1994, he was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2 and UFC 4, which at the time was an openweight single-elimination tournament with minimal rules. He was also known for his rivalry with Ken Shamrock, whom he beat in UFC 1 and then fought to a draw in the Superfight Championship rematch at UFC 5. Royce would later compete in PRIDE Fighting Championships, where he is most remembered for his 90-minute bout against Kazushi Sakuraba in 2000, and a controversial "Judo vs Jiu-Jitsu" mixed rules match against olympic gold-medalist in Judo Hidehiko Yoshida at Pride Shockwave in 2002.
Royce Gracie popularized Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (also known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu) and revolutionized mixed martial arts with his results contributing to the movement towards grappling and ground fighting in the sport. In 2008, Gracie was ranked by Inside MMA as the third-greatest mixed martial arts fighter of all time.
Background
Royce Gracie was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1966. One of the nine sons of jiu-jitsu grandmaster Hélio Gracie, having learned the art from his father since his childhood. He had his first competition at age 8 and started teaching classes when he was 14 years old. When he was 17, Royce was awarded a black belt by his father, Hélio. A few months later he and his brothers Royler and Rickson Gracie moved to Torrance, California to live with their older brother Rorion Gracie, who had moved there in 1978 and had established Gracie Academy.
The Gracie brothers in the United States continued the family's tradition of the "Gracie Challenge", in which they challenged other martial artists to a no-holds-barred Vale Tudo match in their gym in order to prove the superiority of Gracie jiu-jitsu. Rorion would later edit footage from the Gracie Challenge fights into a single documentary series known as Gracie in Action, with some footage featuring Royce's fights. The Gracie in Action tapes inspired Art Davie to create the UFC.
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