Royce Gracie
The gi-wearing jiu-jitsu fighter who won UFC 1
- Born
- December 12, 1966, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Nationality
Brazil- Height
- 183 cm (6′0″)
- Reach
- 194 cm (6′4″)
- Stance
- Southpaw
- Style
- Gracie jiu-jitsu specialist
- Weight
- Openweight, Middleweight, Light Heavyweight
- Active
- 1993–1995, 2000–2007, 2016
- Status
- Retired · age 59
The record
Professional MMA. record
The story
oyce Gracie won three of the first four UFC tournaments using Gracie jiu-jitsu. Wearing a gi and usually giving up size, he submitted three opponents in one night to win UFC 1 in November 1993, won four fights in a night at UFC 2, and took UFC 4 by catching Dan Severn in a triangle choke after nearly 16 minutes. His tools were basics done extremely well: get the fight down, survive in guard, reach mount or the back, and finish with chokes and armbars. He fought Ken Shamrock to a 36-minute draw at UFC 5 and in 2000 lost a 90-minute bout to Kazushi Sakuraba in PRIDE, then beat him in a 2007 rematch. He was the first inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame, in 2003, and holds a coral belt in jiu-jitsu.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- UFC 1 tournament champion (1993)
- UFC 2 tournament champion
- UFC 4 tournament champion (1994)
- UFC Hall of Fame, inaugural inductee (2003)
- Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame (2007)
- International Sports Hall of Fame (2016)
Defining fights
- 1993WINvs Gerard Gordeau (rear-naked choke R1, won UFC 1)
- 1994WINvs Dan Severn (triangle choke at 15:49, won UFC 4)
- 1995DRAWvs Ken Shamrock (36-minute draw, UFC 5)
- 2000LOSSvs Kazushi Sakuraba (corner stoppage after 90 minutes)
- 2007WINvs Kazushi Sakuraba (UD)
Master the fundamentals before anything fancy: survive in guard, sweep or stand up, then climb to mount or the back and finish with a choke or armbar. Grappling students can drill guard-to-mount-to-back sequences with and without the gi.
