Renzo Gracie is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and 7th degree coral belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and coach.
55 Facts About Renzo Gracie
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In mixed martial arts, Renzo Gracie has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championships, K-1, RINGS, and International Fight League.
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Renzo Gracie holds notable victories over five former UFC Champions: Frank Shamrock, Carlos Newton, Pat Miletich, Maurice Smith, and Oleg Taktarov.
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Renzo Gracie is known to have trained Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of United Arab Emirates.
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In honor of his achievements and contributions to the sport, Renzo Gracie was inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame on February 21,2022.
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On January 18,2023, Renzo Gracie was presented with his Coral Belt in Abu Dhabi by Rickson Renzo Gracie.
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In October 1995, Renzo Gracie was called to fight in World Combat Championships, a no holds barred event created by Jon Peters's son Christopher.
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The event hosted two separate tournaments for strikers and grapplers whose winners would meet at the finals, and Renzo Gracie was put on the latter due to his Brazilian jiu-jitsu background.
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Spijkers scored the first takedown, but Renzo Gracie answered with another, took his back through headbutts and elbow strikes and finally choked him for the win.
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Renzo 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.
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At the finals, Renzo Gracie then faced kickboxer James Warring, winning by neck crank in similar time.
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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.
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On September 22,1997, Renzo Gracie partook in Pentagon Combat, an MMA event founded by future ADCC backer Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed.
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Renzo 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.
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The first minutes of the match were uneventful, with Renzo Gracie claiming years later that Tadeu had greased up his body to difficult his grip, but he eventually managed to mount Tadeu.
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However, Renzo Gracie got tired, and Tadeu started to take control of the action.
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Some spectators climbed up the fence while others pulled them down, leading the match to be briefly stopped to clear them out, while Renzo Gracie received both punches and kicks by luta livre supporters without the referee noticing.
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The situation finally exploded when Renzo Gracie fought back one of his attackers, causing a massive brawl to erupt among the over 400 spectators.
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Renzo Gracie debuted in the first event of Pride Fighting Championships, Pride 1, where he was pitted against Japanese judo-based fighter Akira Shoji.
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Only in the sixth round, Renzo Gracie managed to lock a guillotine choke and submit Kikuta.
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In 2014, Renzo Gracie claimed to have been drugged by PRIDE promoters before the fight to explain his performance.
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Renzo Gracie returned in Pride 8, where he fought professional wrestler Alexander Otsuka.
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Renzo 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.
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Renzo Gracie discontinued his appearances in PRIDE to participate in the King of Kings tournament of rival promotion Fighting Network Rings.
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Renzo Gracie defeated him quickly, taking him down from a kick and submitting him by armbar.
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The match finally came to its peak when Renzo Gracie executed a De la Riva reversal and captured Sakuraba's back against the corner.
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Uncharacteristically for the Gracie side during their rivalry with Sakuraba, Renzo took the mic after the match and declared Sakuraba was the better man.
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Similarly, years later Renzo Gracie called Sakuraba "his hero" and remembered their match as "one of the biggest lessons he learned in his life".
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Renzo 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.
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Renzo Gracie bounced back with a victory over professional wrestler Michiyoshi Ohara, who resorted to clinch defensively for most of the match.
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In 2002, Renzo Gracie fought against Shungo Oyama in Pride 21.
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Renzo Gracie became so irritated that he spat on Oyama at the end of the second round.
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At the third, Renzo 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.
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Renzo Gracie was unhappy with this, and stated to believe he had lost the decision only because he spat on Oyama.
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Renzo Gracie took him down and captured his back, only for Newton to reverse positions.
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At the second, Renzo Gracie 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.
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Renzo Gracie debuted for International Fight League in September 2006, submitting Pat Miletich in three minutes with a guillotine choke.
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The match was noted to resemble oddly their first encounter, as they struggled for position in the first round with Renzo Gracie threatening a submission and Newton ending it in side mount.
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The situation reversed at the second, as Renzo Gracie flipped Newton over to side mount, only for Newton to menace him with an ankle lock.
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At the third and final round, Newton worked to keep the fight standing and made Renzo Gracie bleed with some glaring strikes, but the fight ended without a result, and after deliberation, the judges gave it to Renzo Gracie.
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On February 10,2007 Renzo Gracie won a match by disqualification against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Frank Shamrock for upstart MMA promotion EliteXC on its debut night Saturday February 10,2007, on Showtime.
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Renzo Gracie was able to take Frank down and keep the fight on the ground, until Shamrock was disqualified by referee Herb Dean for landing illegal knee strikes to the back of Renzo Gracie's head.
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On June 7,2018, ONE Championship's president Chatri Sityodtong announced that Renzo Gracie had been enticed from retirement and was scheduled to face Yuki Kondo at One Championship Reign of Kings on July 27, marking Gracie's first fight since his loss to Matt Hughes in 2010.
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Renzo Gracie won the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the second round.
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Renzo Gracie formerly coached a team, the New York Pitbulls, for the International Fight League.
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Renzo Gracie has affiliate academies in the United States, Brazil, Peru, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Iraq, Israel, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
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Renzo Gracie has co-written two instructional books on jiu-jitsu; "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Technique" with his cousin Royler Renzo Gracie, and "Mastering Jujitsu" with training partner John Danaher.
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Renzo Gracie has been the personal jiu-jitsu teacher of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, since 1993.
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On November 22,2014, Renzo fought Kazushi Sakuraba in a grappling match in Metamoris V The fight ended in a draw.
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Renzo Gracie has eleven brothers and sisters, including Charles Gracie, Flavia Gracie, Carla Gracie, Ralph Gracie and the late Ryan Gracie.
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In early 2022, Renzo Gracie released his biography, written by Brazilian former Special Culture Secretary and theatre director Roberto Alvim.
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In May 2014, Renzo Gracie was arrested at 1OAK in New York City after being charged with gang assault after sending a night club bouncer to the hospital.
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Renzo Gracie maintained that he took down the bouncer and mounted him, but did not punch him.
54.
In 2017 Renzo Gracie took part in a BJJ seminar in Chechnya at a gym owned by dictator Ramzan Kadyrov, Renzo Gracie appeared during that time on local TV to promote Kadyrov's government.
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In September 2022, footage emerged of Renzo Gracie being involved in an altercation with a stranger in the subway, Renzo Gracie alleged that the man had approached him making racist remarks.