Rickson Gracie

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Rickson Gracie
Born	(1958-11-20) November 20, 1958 (age 53) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Other names	Adrian Rai
Nationality	Brazilian
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	185 lb (83.9 kg; 13.2 st)
Division	Middleweight (185 lb)
Teacher(s)	Helio Gracie
Rank	8th degree black and red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt in Judo black belt in Aikido
Years active	1980, 1984, 1994 - 2000 (MMA)
Mixed martial arts record
Total	11
Wins	11
By submission	11
Losses	0
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Rickson Gracie (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁiksõ ˈɡɾejsi]; born November 20, 1958) is a Brazilian 8th degree black and red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a retired mixed martial artist.^[1][2][3] He is a member of the Gracie family: the son of Hélio Gracie, brother to Rorion and Relson Gracie, and half-brother to Rolker, Royce, Robin and Royler Gracie.^[4]

Biography

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Rickson Gracie, son of Helio Gracie, was born into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. At six years old he began competing; at 15 he started to teach it; and at 18 he received his black belt. At 20 Rickson won his first victory against the famous 230-pound Brazilian brawler Rei Zulu. With this victory, Rickson gained immediate national acclaim as the top freestyle fighter, leaving his mark on the history of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and the Gracie challenge. Five years later Zulu requested a rematch and lost to Rickson again, in Maracanazinho before an audience of 20,000 spectators.

In the 1997 Pride 1 Vale Tudo match in Japan's Tokyo Dome (before 47,860 spectators), Gracie defeated Japanese professional wrestler, Nobuhiko Takada, in 4:47 of the first round. A year later, to the day, at Pride 4, Rickson defeated Takada once again. At Colosseum 2000, held at the Tokyo Dome, broadcast to 30 million TV Tokyo viewers, Rickson fought Masakatsu Funaki. He defeated his opponent with a rear naked choke in 11:46 of the first round.

Gracie has confirmed that he is officially retired now and his major focus is to give seminars on Jiu-Jitsu and to try to develop BJJ as his father saw it: not a fighting tool but a social tool, to give confidence to women, children, and physically weak individuals by giving them the ability to defend themselves.^{[citation needed]}

Released by Manga Entertainment in 1999, Choke, is a 98 minute documentary by filmmaker Robert Goodman who follows Rickson Gracie and 2 other fighters as they prepare and fight in Tokyo's Vale Tudo 1995. Choke has been distributed in 23 countries. Rickson has a small role in The Incredible Hulk as Bruce Banner's martial arts instructor. His character is credited as an Aikido instructor, despite his Jiu-Jitsu background. He has appeared on National Geographic's television programme Fight Science.^[5][6]

Controversy

Rickson has raised the ire of some in the MMA community by criticizing the abilities of current top fighters. Though he had not fought in a sanctioned MMA contest in eight years, Rickson claimed in 2008 that he could still beat them easily. In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Rickson argued that Fedor Emelianenko was a great athlete, but possessed "so-so" technical ability, and that he (Rickson) was "100% sure" that he would defeat him.^[7]

In 2010, Rickson stated that he disagreed with those who view Emelianenko as "somehow special" and that he believed Emelianenko deserved to lose the decision in his fight with Ricardo Arona; described Brock Lesnar as having "zero defense from the bottom" in the fight against Carwin; and criticized Shane Carwin for what he perceived were deficiencies in Carwin's jiu-jitsu game, characterizing him as "strong as a bull but flimsy like a paper tiger."^[8] Previous critical comments that Rickson made about Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (claiming that Nogueira has no "guard") prompted Wanderlei Silva to say that Rickson is "living in a fantasy world."^[9]

Hélio Gracie disputed Rickson's claim to have had over 400 fights. According to Hélio, Rickson has only competed in fights that are commonly known and reported: the two against Rei Zulu and those that took place in Japan. Hélio alleged that Rickson uses practice and amateur bouts to obtain a number over 400, and that if he counted his fights like Rickson does, he would have in excess of one million. ^[10]

Rickson lost a match — from the 1993 U.S. Sambo Championships in Norman, Oklahoma, where he was defeated by Ron Tripp by Total Victory via uchi-mata in 45 seconds. Rickson disputed this loss, claiming he was misinformed of the rules of the event.^[11][12]

Personal life

Rickson has 3 children; Rockson Gracie (deceased^[13]), Kauan, Kaulin and Kron Gracie. Aside from Jiu-Jitsu, Rickson is ranked in Judo, Sambo and Aikido.^{[citation needed]}

Mixed martial arts record

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Win	11–0	Masakatsu Funaki	Technical submission (rear naked choke)	C2K: Colosseum	02000-05-26May 26, 2000	1	12:49	Japan
Win	10–0	Nobuhiko Takada	Submission (armbar)	Pride 4	01998-10-11October 11, 1998	1	9:30	Tokyo, Japan
Win	9–0	Nobuhiko Takada	Submission (armbar)	Pride 1	01997-10-11October 11, 1997	1	4:47	Tokyo, Japan
Win	8–0	Yuki Nakai	Submission (rear naked choke)	Vale Tudo Japan 1995	01995-04-20April 20, 1995	1	6:22	Tokyo, Japan
Win	7–0	Koichiro Kimura	Submission (rear naked choke)	Vale Tudo Japan 1995	01995-04-20April 20, 1995	1	2:07	Tokyo, Japan
Win	6–0	Yoshihisa Yamamoto	Technical submission (rear naked choke)	Vale Tudo Japan 1995	01995-04-20April 20, 1995	3	3:49	Tokyo, Japan
Win	5–0	Bud Smith	Submission (punches)	Vale Tudo Japan 1994	01994-07-29July 29, 1994	1	0:39	Urayasu, Chiba, Japan
Win	4–0	Dave Levicki	Submission (punches)	Vale Tudo Japan 1994	01994-07-29July 29, 1994	1	2:40	Urayasu, Chiba, Japan
Win	3–0	Yoshinori Nishi	Submission (rear naked choke)	Vale Tudo Japan 1994	01994-07-29July 29, 1994	1	2:58	Urayasu, Chiba, Japan
Win	2–0	Rei Zulu	Submission (rear naked choke)	Independent promotion	01984-01-01January 1, 1984	1	N/A	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Win	1–0	Rei Zulu	Submission (rear naked choke)	Independent promotion	01980-04-25April 25, 1980	1	11:55	Brasília, Brazil

See also

• List of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners

References

External links

• Official website
• Rickson Gracie Seminar
• Columbia BJJ (Official Rickson Gracie Representative)
• Axis Jiu-Jitsu Academy (Rickson Gracie Japan Representative) Official website
• Rickson Gracie FAQ
• Professional MMA record for Rickson Gracie from Sherdog
• Rickson Gracie at the Internet Movie Database
• Video footages of Rickson's seminars
• Rare Rickson Gracie Videos