Renzo Gracie (; born March 11, 1967) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and 7th degree coral belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and coach. A 3rd generation member of the Gracie Family of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, he is the grandson of Gracie jiu-jitsu founder Carlos Gracie, grandnephew of Helio Gracie, nephew of Carlos Gracie, Jr. and the son of 9th degree red belt Robson Gracie.
By the age of 20, Gracie was a multiple-time BJJ champion in Brasil. In mixed martial arts, Renzo has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championships, K-1, RINGS, and International Fight League (head-coaching the New York Pitbulls). He holds notable victories over five former UFC Champions: Frank Shamrock (UFC Light Heavyweight Champion), Carlos Newton (UFC Welterweight Champion), Pat Miletich (UFC Welterweight Champion), Maurice Smith (UFC Heavyweight Champion), and Oleg Taktarov (UFC 6 Tournament Winner)
A world-famous Jiu-Jitsu coach, Gracie has produced several renowned black belts and is crediting with training some of the best fighters in North America such as: Georges St-Pierre, Frankie Edgar, Chris Weidman, Matt Serra, Ricardo Almeida, Roy Nelson, Rodrigo Gracie and Paul Creighton. Gracie is also known to have trained Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of United Arab Emirates.
Renzo Gracie: Legacy, a 2008 documentary film follows his influence on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed martial arts over a ten-year period, showing the origins of the sport from its bare knuckle days to the explosion of the sport in both Japan and America. In honor of his achievements and contributions to the sport, Gracie was inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame on February 21, 2022. On January 18, 2023, Gracie was presented with his Coral Belt in Abu Dhabi by Rickson Gracie.
Mixed martial arts career
Renzo debuted in the Brazilian vale tudo circuit. He had his first match against kickboxer Luiz Augusto Alvareda, whom he dominated with his grappling ability and submitted by rear naked choke. After the match, he moved to the United States to teach Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
World Combat Championships
In October 1995, Gracie was called to fight in World Combat Championships, a no holds barred event created by Jon Peters's son Christopher. The event hosted two separate tournaments for strikers and grapplers whose winners would meet at the finals, and Gracie was put on the latter due to his Brazilian jiu-jitsu background. His first match was against Dutch judoka Ben Spijkers, who had taunted Gracie in the press conference and pranked him on his hotel room the previous night. Spijkers scored the first takedown, but Renzo answered with another, took his back through headbutts and elbow strikes and finally choked him for the win. After the bout, Gracie intentionally stepped on Spijkers's head as he walked away as an act of revenge for the pranking, an act he later apologized for. 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. At the finals, Gracie then faced kickboxer James Warring, winning by neck crank in similar time.
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. However, Vale would forfeit his place in the tournament after his first match, so the bout didn't happen. Producer Peters had the intention to host a second event where Gracie and Vale would fight in a "superfight" format, but these plans were abandoned.
Pentagon Combat
On September 22, 1997, Gracie partook in Pentagon Combat, an MMA event founded by future ADCC backer Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed. 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. Promoters of the event hired little security for the match, and although the luta livre supporters got fewer tickets than their jiu-jitsu homologues, they snuck into the arena earlier in the event. The first minutes of the match were uneventful, with Gracie claiming years later that Tadeu had greased up his body to difficult his grip, but he eventually managed to mount Tadeu. However, Gracie got tired, and Tadeu started to take control of the action.