Rickson Gracie
Rickson Gracie (born in Brazil, November 21,1959- ) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and a mixed martial arts fighter.
Biography
Rickson (pronounced Hickson), son of Hélio Gracie and half-brother to the fighters Royce Gracie and Royler Gracie, was born into Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. At six years old he began competing; at fifteen he started to teach the art; and at eighteen he received his Black Belt. At twenty Rickson won his first victory against the well-known 230-pound (104.5 Kg) Brazilian brawler Zulu. With this victory, Rickson gained immediate national acclaim as a top free-style 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.
Rickson is a 7th Degree Black Belt Open Class Champion of the Gracie Family. He competed in the Japan Open Vale Tudo, a mixed martial arts competition, winning both in 1994 and 1995.
In the 1997 Pride 1 Vale Tudo match in Japan's Tokyo Dome (before 47,860 spectators), he defeated the Japanese professional wrestler Nobuhiko Takada, in 4:47 of the first round. A year later, to the day, in the 1998 Pride 4 Vale Tudo match, Gracie defeated Takada once again. At Colosseum 2000, held at the Tokyo Dome, broadcast to 30 million TV Tokyo viewers (the highest viewed television program for its time slot), Rickson won a knockout tournament by defeating Masakatsu Funaki with a rear naked choke in 11:46 of the first round.
In recent years, Rickson has focused more on teaching his art and less on competition. He has been teaching his martial arts style for over 20 years and his array of students have included FBI Agents, SWAT Teams, Navy Seals, military personnel, martial artists of various styles, athletes and actors.
Rickson Gracie founded the Rickson Gracie International Jiu-Jitsu Association in 1996 in order to provide a thorough and complete system in which Jiu-Jitsu students are presented with clearly defined standards of progression relating to proper belt ranking and testing. Through the Association, the traditional, technical and philosophical aspects of Jiu-Jitsu can be shared with students around the world.
Rickson presently competes in invitational tournaments and teaches on special tours and seminars as well as at the Rickson Gracie International Jiu-Jitsu Center in West Los Angeles. His niece Kyra Gracie (as spelled Kira) is the first female in her family to actively compete in the sport in which she is a black belt and World Champion.
Record
Rickson's fighting record is controversial. Rickson has had one documented loss in a Sambo match to Dr. Ron Tripp in Norman, Oklahoma at the 1993 U.S. Sambo Championships, although Rickson claims he lost because the rules were not properly explained to him [1]. There is a claim that Rickson has an undefeated record in more than 400 fights, including Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, free-style wrestling, Sambo, open weight free-style competitions, and no holds barred challenge matches -- Rickson has not been documented as personally stating such a record. Some sources list most of Rickson's wins as training matches or matches against students or exhibitions. When counting only professional MMA matches in organizations such as Vale Tudo Japan, PRIDE Fighting Championships and C2K, Rickson's record shows 10 wins with no loss or draw as of May 26, 2000.[2]
In addition, there are unsubstantiated claims of Rickson being a two time Brazilian champion in free-style wrestling, a gold medal winner in sambo, and the middle-heavyweight and open class division world jiu-jitsu champion for 16 years.
See also
- List of MMA fighters
- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- Hélio Gracie (father)
- Royler Gracie (brother)
- Royce Gracie (brother)
- Renzo Gracie (cousin)
- Kyra Gracie (daughter)