Royce Gracie ( born December 12, 1966) is a retired Brazilian professional mixed martial arts fighter, a UFC Hall of Famer and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. He holds the most submission victories in UFC history with 11, which he earned between UFC 1 and UFC 4.

Gracie became a larger than life figure in the mixed martial arts world for his domination in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He became famous for beating opponents much larger than him, and between 1993 and 1994, he was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2, UFC 4, and fought to a draw with Ken Shamrock in the championship match in the Superfight at UFC 5. Gracie popularized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and revolutionized mixed martial arts with his results contributing to the movement towards grappling and cross-training in the sport

Royce is a member of the Gracie family. He is the son of Hélio Gracie (Helio along with his older brother Carlos Gracie are the originators of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu—Modern Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) and spent his childhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a toddler, Royce learned Jiu-Jitsu from his father and his older brothers Rorion, Relson, and Rickson Gracie. He began competing at the age of 8 and by the time he was 16 had attained the level of blue belt.

A year later he was invited by his brother Rorion to help teach Jiu-Jitsu from his garage in America. Despite not knowing English, Royce accepted the offer and moved to California. He competed in a number of Jiu-Jitsu tournaments in Brazil and the United States and compiled an amateur record of 51-3. Royce received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 18. Royce is now a 7th degree red and black belt, the belt that signifies the designation of "master of jiu-jitsu".

The Gracie Challenge

It has been speculated that soon after he received his black belt, Royce put out the "Gracie Challenge", in which competitors would face him in a No Rules contest, won by submission or knockout, with a prize of $100,000. This claim was nullified in an interview with Royce himself from silvervision.co.uk in which he states, "It wasn't really a $100,000 challenge. My brother had a big problem with one of the big American kickboxers. Somebody was going to do the commentary for the chapter and they called my brother, and asked if he wanted to face him. He said that he would face anyone in MMA. My brother had already faced and beat him before. He told them to ask him if they knew who he was facing as he should know who he was facing." Benny the Jet pretended he didn't know who the Gracies were, so they made a bet to put a $100,000 down each to fight for something. Benny the Jet later backed down on the bet and allegedly said he didn't want to put his money down and instead put his belt in place of the $100,000 and that if Royce Gracie won, he would become the World Champion in kickboxing.

However, there are contradictory versions of the challenge with American kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. According to an interview with Urquidez, the Gracies came to his school and challenged him to a fight. Benny agreed to the fight under the Gracies' rules and asked for time to train and for the fight to be held at a neutral location. When the Gracies found out that Benny was a competent grappler and had been training for many years with grappling legend Gene LeBell and Gokor Chivichyan, they, allegedly, backed out of the fight.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship

Brainchild of Rorion Gracie and Art Davie, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was an eight-man single-elimination tournament with very few rules that would award $50,000 to the winner. The basic premise was to find out how different styles of martial arts would fare against each other. Art Davie placed ads in martial arts magazines and sent letters to anyone in any martial arts directory he could find to recruit competitors for the event. Among the takers were kickboxer Patrick Smith, Pancrase fighter Ken Shamrock, and Savate world champion Gerard Gordeau.

While Art Davie felt that Royce's older brother Rickson Gracie, who was stronger and more skilled than Royce, was the obvious choice as the Jiu-Jitsu representative, Rorion Gracie chose the younger Royce to represent the family style.

In his first match, Royce defeated journeyman boxer Art Jimmerson. He tackled him to the ground using a baiana (morote-gari or double-leg) and obtained the dominant "mounted" position, also pinning Jimmerson's left arm around the boxer's own neck. Mounted and with only one free arm Jimmerson conceded defeat, mostly due to frustration rather than submission.

In the semi-finals, Royce fought Ken Shamrock, who showed excellent grappling skills in his first-round submission win over Patrick Smith. Royce immediately rushed Shamrock, who sprawled effectively and got on top of Royce. Shamrock then grabbed Royce's ankle and sat back to attempt the same finishing hold he used to finish his first match, but Royce rolled on top of him and secured a rear choke that forced Shamrock to tap the mat in submission. Shamrock has later stated that Gracie used his gi suit as a tool for ligature strangulation to perform the submission, protesting the fact that he was not allowed to wear his wrestling shoes because the event organisers had stated that it could be used as a weapon, feeling that the rules for the tournament were created to favor Gracie. Royce disputed the claim and said he had used a no-gi choke, meaning that there is no need to use his gi to apply this choke.

In the finals, Royce defeated Savate World Champion Gerard Gordeau (who broke his hand in the first round of the tournament against Teila Tuli), taking his opponent to the ground and securing a rear choke.

Over the next year, Royce Gracie continued fighting in the UFC, obtaining submission wins over fighters such as Patrick Smith, 250 pound (113 kg) European Judo Champion Remco Pardoel, and Kimo Leopoldo. His final UFC victory was in a match that lasted for 16 minutes (there were no rounds or time limits at the time), during which he was continuously pinned underneath 260 pound (118 kg) wrestler Dan Severn. To end the match, Royce locked his legs in a triangle choke for a submission victory. The match extended beyond the pay-per-view time-slot and viewers, who missed the end of the fight, demanded their money back.

Time limits were re-introduced into the sport in 1995 and MMA legend Ken Shamrock would become the first fighter to survive Royce Gracie's submission attack and earn a draw. The match lasted for 30 minutes and a 5-minute overtime. Fans have been calling for a rematch ever since. The draw sparked much debate and controversy as to who would have won the fight had judges determined the outcome, or had there been no time limits, as by the end of the fight Royce's right eye was swollen shut. However, the swollen eye was a result of a standing punch due to a sudden change of the rules in which both of the fighters were restarted on the feet. After this fight the Gracies left the UFC.

At UFC 45 in November 2003, at the ten year anniversary of the UFC, Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie became the first inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame. UFC President Dana White said;

“ We feel that no two individuals are more deserving than Royce and Ken to be the charter members. Their contributions to our sport, both inside and outside the Octagon, may never be equaled. ”

Royce's official UFC record when he left did include one loss. In the second round of UFC 3 Royce was to face fighter Harold Howard in the semi-finals. Although Royce came out to the ring, he was dehydrated as a result of his first round match against Kimo Leopoldo. The announcers of UFC 3 stated that Gracie's shoulder had been hurt in the previous round. Before the Howard match began, Royce's corner threw in the towel.

Kazushi Sakuraba, a former amateur and professional wrestler who derived his foundation in submissions not from jiu jitsu but rather from catch wrestling, rose up in the years following Royce's final UFC appearance to make a powerful argument for the potency of that particular approach to grappling in the hands of a capable fighter. He did this by embarking upon a series of wins over Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelts, including Marcus "Conan" Silvera, Vitor Belfort and Royce's brother, Royler Gracie.

The Gracie family took great umbrage over Royler's loss. Royce Gracie returned to the sport of mixed martial arts in 2000 and entered the 16-Man Pride Grand Prix with dominant heavyweights Mark Coleman, Mark Kerr, and Igor Vovchanchyn. Sakuraba also participated. A special set of rules were requested by the Gracies that would apply only to the potential Sakuraba-Royce match, including no referee stoppages and no time-limits, the fight ending only in the event of a submission or knock-out.

Royce advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Sakuraba's stablemate Nobuhiko Takada, before finding himself matched up with Sakuraba. Gracie and Sakuraba battled for an hour and a half. Early in the fight, Sakuraba nearly ended things with a knee-bar towards the end of the first round. Later on, Royce applied a guillotine choke at the end of round 2 which Sakuraba eventually escaped due of the bell ending the round. As the confrontation stretched on, Sakuraba's wrestling skills and balance nullified Royce's ability to score a takedown. After the 90 minute battle, punishing leg kicks showed their effects. Royce's brother with Royce's full acknowledgement threw in the towel during the intermission. Gracie had suffered a broken foot from accumulated damage. After the match, Royce and Sakuraba embraced in the ring. Gracious in victory, Sakuraba pointed to Royce as the superior ground-technician when questioned as to why he didn't engage him on the ground more frequently. Sakuraba would go on to defeat other members of the Gracie family including Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie earning him the nickname "Gracie Hunter."

Royce returned to PRIDE in 2002 to fight Japanese gold-medalist judoka Hidehiko Yoshida in a Judo vs. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu limited rules MMA match. Royce lost that match when the referee stopped the match based on Gracie being knocked out. He contested the loss claiming that he was fully conscious when the match was stopped. Afterward, Gracie stopped fighting with a gi. The next year, Yoshida and Gracie then fought again in another MMA match which had rules more like the standard PRIDE MMA rules. This match took place at PRIDE's Shockwave 2003 event on December 31, 2003. That match had no judges decision on Royce's request and it ended in a draw after two 10 minute rounds.

In September 2004 Pride had a disagreement with Royce about his participation in the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix. Royce had issues with the proposed opponents and rules (Grand Prix fights must have a winner and cannot end in a draw). He jumped to the competing K-1 organization. Pride sued Royce for breaching his contract with them. The case was settled in December 2005, with Royce issuing a public apology, blaming his actions on a misinterpretation of the contract by his manager.

Fighting and Entertainment Group

On December 31, 2004 Royce entered the K-1 scene at the "Dynamite!" card inside the Osaka Dome, facing off against former sumo wrestler and MMA newcomer Akebono Tarō aka. Chad Rowan under special MMA rules (Two 10-minute rounds; the match would end as a draw if there was no winner after the two rounds). Royce made quick work of his heavy opponent, forcing Akebono to submit to a shoulder lock at 2:13 of the first round. The match was refereed by renowned MMA ref John McCarthy.

Exactly one year later, on the "Dynamite!" card of December 31, 2005, Royce fought Japan's Hideo Tokoro, a 143 pound fighter, in a fight ending in a draw after 20 minutes. Royce's original opponent was scheduled to be the Korean giant Choi Hong-man, another MMA newcomer.

Return to UFC

On January 16, 2006, UFC President Dana White announced that Royce Gracie would return to the UFC to fight UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes on May 27, 2006, at UFC 60. This was a non-title bout at a catchweight of 175 lb. under UFC/California State Athletic Commission rules. To prepare, Royce cross-trained in Muay Thai and was frequently shown in publicity materials from Fairtex. In round one, Hughes hyperextended Gracie's arm in a straight armbar, but Gracie refused to tap and held on with a calm expression on his face.

In a later interview, Hughes stated that he purposely let Gracie out of the arm lock because he knew that Gracie would not submit and would rather allow his arm to break.Hughes went on to win the fight by TKO due to strikes at 4:39 of the first round.

Rematch with Sakuraba

On May 8, 2007, EliteXC announced that Royce's opponent for the June 2 K-1 Dynamite!! USA event in Los Angeles, California, would be Japanese fighter Kazushi Sakuraba.

While both fighters fought a largely strategic fight, Gracie defeated Sakuraba by unanimous decision in a fight of three 5-minute-rounds, surprising both commentators and spectators alike that felt Sakuraba won the fight. Sherdog scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Sakuraba .

On June 14, 2007, the California State Athletic Commission declared that Gracie had tested positive for Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, after his fight with Sakuraba. According to the California State Athletic Commission, the average person could produce about 2 ng/ml of Nandrolone, while an athlete following "rigorous physical exercise" could have a level of around 6 ng/ml. Both "A" and "B" test samples provided by Gracie "had a level of over 50 ng/ml and we were informed that the level itself was so elevated that it would not register on the laboratory's calibrator," said the CSAC.Gracie was fined $2,500 (the maximum penalty the Commission can impose) and suspended for the remainder of his license, which ended on May 30, 2008. Gracie paid the fine.

Royce Gracie disputed the allegations, most recently in an online video interview on May 2009, saying that his weight in the first UFC event was 178 lb and during his Sakuraba fight was 180 lb, thus only gaining 2 pounds. . While Gracie does not consider himself officially retired, neither is he actively searching out matches, telling FanHouse, "I get approached all the time. I just have to say, 'Set up a show,' and I can fight. That's easy. But I don't really have that urge to fight, that anger to fight."

Personal life

Royce is married and has three sons.

He starred in the music video for Attitude by Brazilian band Sepultura.

Royce once said "The Gracie name can be a blessing or a curse. I tell our family (that train/instruct in BJJ) that you don't have to be world champion, but you have to know what you're doing. You know?"

In an interview in early 2009, Royce made a series of claims, including:

- "There wouldn't be any legacy, no UFC, if it wasn't by my father's efforts to prove that Jiu Jitsu is the most efficient martial art of the world".

- "I'd never tap, I'd never tap there or any other occasion" -- Referring to both Matt Hughes kimura that almost broke his arm and Wallid Ismail clock choke that put him to sleep.

- "I'm the best paid fighter in the world" -- When questioned if he was worried about the financial crisis in the world, when the reporter mentioned that it is widely believed Fedor Emelianenko has the best contract, money-wise, he commented, "I make more".

In an interview that took place January of 2010 Royce stated that he had adopted his fathers stance on belt promotions and had gone back to wearing a dark blue belt, as opposed to the more widely accepted black belt.

MMA record

Professional record breakdown

20 matches 14 wins 3 losses

By knockout 0 3

By submission 12 0

By decision 2 0

Draws 3

2007-06-02 Win 14–3–3 Kazushi Sakuraba K-1 Dynamite!! USA Decision (Unanimous) Round 3, 5:00 Gracie tested positive for anabolic steroids after match

2006-05-27 Loss 13–3–3 Matt Hughes UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie TKO (Punches) Round 1, 4:39

2005-12-31 Draw 13–2–3 Hideo Tokoro K-1 Premium 2005 Dynamite Draw Round 2, 10:00 Match was a draw due to a lack of judges.

2004-12-31 Win 13–2–2 Akebono Taro K-1 Premium 2004 Dynamite Submission (Omoplata) Round 1, 2:13

2003-12-31 Draw 12–2–2 Hidehiko Yoshida PRIDE Shockwave 2003 Draw Round 2, 10:00

2000-05-01 Loss 12–2–1 Kazushi Sakuraba PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Finals TKO (Corner Stoppage) Round 6, 15:00 Rules modified for unlimited rounds and no referee stoppages.

2000-01-30 Win 12–1–1 Nobuhiko Takada PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round Decision Round 1, 15:00

1995-04-07 Draw 11–1–1 Ken Shamrock UFC 5: The Return of the Beast Draw Round 1, 36:00 For UFC Superfight Championship. Match was a draw due to a lack of judges.

1994-12-16 Win 11–1 Dan Severn UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors Submission (Triangle Choke) Round 1, 15:49 Won UFC 4 Tournament

1994-12-16 Win 10–1 Keith Hackney UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors Submission (Armbar) Round 1, 5:32

1994-12-16 Win 9–1 Ron van Clief UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Round 1, 3:59

1994-09-09 Loss 8–1 Harold Howard UFC 3: The American Dream TKO (Towel Thrown Before Start of Match) Round 1, 0:00 Fight never got started. Injured during previous match.

1994-09-09 Win 8–0 Kimo Leopoldo UFC 3: The American Dream Submission (Armbar) Round 1, 4:40

1994-03-11 Win 7–0 Patrick Smith UFC 2: No Way Out Submission (Strikes) Round 1, 1:17 Won UFC 2 Tournament

1994-03-11 Win 6–0 Remco Pardoel UFC 2: No Way Out Submission (Lapel Choke) Round 1, 1:31

1994-03-11 Win 5–0 Jason Delucia UFC 2: No Way Out Submission (Armlock) Round 1, 1:07

1994-03-11 Win 4–0 Minoki Ichihara UFC 2: No Way Out Submission (Lapel Choke) Round 1, 5:08

1993-11-12 Win 3–0 Gerard Gordeau UFC 1: The Beginning Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Round 1, 1:44 Won UFC 1 Tournament

1993-11-12 Win 2–0 Ken Shamrock UFC 1: The Beginning Submission (Rear naked choke) Round 1, 0:57

1993-11-12 Win 1–0 Art Jimmerson UFC 1: The Beginning Submission (Mount) Round 1, 2:11

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