Royce Gracie (born 12 December 1966) is a Brazilian semi-retired professional mixed martial artist a UFC Hall of Famer, and a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family, he is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of MMA.

Achievements:

Gracie gained fame for his success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. 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 Super fight at UFC 5. Gracie popularized Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and revolutionized mixed martial arts with his results contributing to the movement towards grappling and ground fighting in the sport. With his wins, Gracie changed martial arts forever, putting mixed martial arts on the map. Today, nearly every high-level fighter practices his father’s art, and Gracie, a sixth-degree black belt, has become as influential as anyone else in the discipline.

Other achievements and honors include UFC Viewer’s Choice Award, Pride Fighting Championships Longest fight in Pride history (90 minutes) – vs. Kazushi Sakuraba at (Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals), Fight Matrix Fighter of the Year (1993), Black Belt Magazine Competitor of the Year (1994), Wrestling Observer Newsletter Fight of the Year (2000) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba on May 1, 2013 Lifetime Achievement, MMA Freak Hall of Fame Class of 2013.

Rank and style:

His style is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and he achieved the 7th degree red/black coral belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

Royce’s challenge letters

Throughout his UFC days, Royce frequently challenged well-known fighters though usually to no avail to “fight to the finish, any place and any time.” Many big-name sportspeople, including Mike Tyson (who was serving the prison term at the time,) received the note several times in an open letter fashion, usually published by the Black Belt Magazine at The Ultimate Fighter column.

Return with Bellator MMA

At Bellator 145, it was announced that Gracie would return from retirement to face rival Ken Shamrock in a trilogy fight, taking place on February 19, 2016, at Bellator 149. Gracie won the fight in the first round after taking Shamrock down and ending the contest with hammer fists. The win was not without controversy, however, as replays showed that Gracie landed a knee strike to the groin of Shamrock prior to the finish. Shamrock protested the stoppage, however, the bout has officially ruled a victory for Gracie.