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Royler Gracie

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John Danaher Instructionals

Royler Gracie is the son of Gracie jiu jitsu Grandmaster Helio Gracie and a legend in jiu jitsu and submission wrestling of his own merit, having been the first “King of BJJ’s Featherweight Division” setting the record of world championships at the time. Royler Gracie also ventured in mixed martial arts (MMA) ending his career in 2006, and excelled as a coach, leading the Gracie Humaitá academy in Rio de Janeiro, developing fighters like “Megaton” Dias, Alexandre Ribeiro, Omar Salum, Renato Barreto and many others. In 2010 Royler moved to San Diego, California (USA) where he opened his own academy.

Royler Gracie Jiu Jitsu

Full Name: Royler Gracie

Nickname: n/a

Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Royler Gracie

Main Achievements:

  • World Champion (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999)
  • Pan American Champion (1997, 1999)
  • ADCC Champion (1999, 2000, 2001)

Weight Division: Peso Pena (Featherweight) 70kg/154lbs

Team/Association: Gracie Humaita

Royler Gracie Biography

Royler was born on December 6, 1965 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He started being taught by his father as a toddler in a joyful and playful manner, many times playing soccer in his classes, but has he grew into an child, the games went away and the martial art stayed. He started taking his Jiu Jitsu seriously when he was around 7 or 8 years old under his cousin Rolls’s tutelage. Royler said that some of his most precious moments were lived in that period, he lived in Botafogo (Rio de Janeiro) and every day he would catch a bus to Copacabana together with his brothers Royce and Rolker to train at his cousin’s famous academy. His classes started at 5pm and finished at 6pm, but he would often stay until 8.30/9pm to watch the adults training sessions and see their techniques always enquiring the experts about them.

Rolls used to encourage Royler as a child, putting tremendous belief in him and Royler always mirrored his BJJ on his cousin’s (even today). The two were very close and it came as a great shock when Rolls passed away due to an unfortunate accident (check Rolls Bio here), but it did not detour Royler from Jiu Jitsu as he moved his training to his older brother Rickson‘s camp (that was supervised by his father).

It was with his father and brother that Royler started taking competition seriously, Helio Gracie would encourage him to compete by saying “If you win, I will give you 5 dollars. If you lose, I will give you 10 dollars”. At first Royler did not understand his father’s intentions, but later he comprehended that this was his way of taking the pressure off his back.

Helio’s plan worked and Royler turned into a formidable fighter, one of the best ever seen. His victories became legendary in both Jiu Jitsu and Submission Grappling having an unbeaten run that lasted for several years, until in 1987 when he was surprised by De La Riva’s sneaky guard at the “Copa Cantao” a competition he lost to a sweep, but it wasn’t until 1998 that Royler would be beat by a submission, and that was to a much larger Zé Mario Sperry who was a Super Heavy Weight.

As Rickson moved to the USA Royler picked up the mammoth task of filling in Rickson’s boots (gi) at the Gracie Humaita’s Academy, a job he did with perfection having been responsible for the formation of some of the best in the sport today (people like Saulo and Xande Ribeiro as well as Vinny Magalhaes and many others).

Always trying to improve his BJJ game, Royler often looked at other grappling forms, he trained extensively in Judo at both Sion (former Vasco da Gama) and at the Regatas Flamengo club to improve his base and ended up competing in the Japanese Martial Art reaching a silver medal in the Judo Brazilian Nationals. In 1997 Royler took his chance competing in the Open Weight Division of the World Championships. He made 6 gruelling matches to reach the semi finals while on the other side of the brackets Amaury Bittetti fought only 2 after a series of injuries allowed him to win by WO (no opponent) he (Amaury) also avoided fighting at his weight class and was clearly the fresher of the two. When they faced each other, Royler tried to play on top position, but was overpowered by the superior strength of his fresher opponent and so he got taken down losing the fight by two points. He placed 3rd in the Open weight being a Featherweight.
When Royler decided to compete in MMA he also looked to improve his stand up training boxing with Claudio Coelho, a coach that helped him a lot, lifting his spirits and building up his confidence as well as his stand-up technique.

In 2000 Royler accepted a fight against Kazushi Sakuraba, an up and coming MMA fighter who was a middleweight at the time and walked around 190lbs. Royler was the first Gracie to succumb to the Japanese fighter, losing to a Kimura lock in the second round.

In 2010 after 20 years of living in between Rio de Janeiro and San Diego (California), Royler decided to move definitively to the USA leaving Rolker Gracie in his place at Gracie Humaita (Rio). In San Diego he was able to find a place were he can live more relaxed, enjoy the sun and still enjoy his loved hobby of surfing.

Royler Gracie Grappling Record

34 WINS
  • BY POINTS
    19 (56%)
  • BY ADVANTAGES
    4 (12%)
  • BY SUBMISSION
    10 (29%)
  • BY DECISION
    1 (3%)
  • BY PENALTIES
    0 (0%)
  • BY DQ
    0 (0%)

10 SUBMISSIONS WINS

#214eb8
Submission
20
2
#86e620
RNC
20
2
#5AD3D1
Choke
10
1
#d1212a
Choke from back
10
1
#fad11b
Armbar
10
1
#f58822
Triangle
10
1
#224aba
Leglock
10
1
#ff9124
Straight ankle lock
10
1
10
(100%) SUBMISSIONS
6 LOSSES
  • BY POINTS
    3 (50%)
  • BY ADVANTAGES
    0 (0%)
  • BY SUBMISSION
    2 (33%)
  • BY DECISION
    1 (17%)
  • BY PENALTIES
    0 (0%)
  • BY DQ
    0 (0%)

2 SUBMISSIONS LOSSES

#214eb8
Clock choke
50
1
#86e620
Triangle
50
1
2
(100%) SUBMISSIONS

Royler Gracie Fight History

ID Opponent W/L Method Competition Weight Stage Year
53De La RivaLReferee DecisionCopa CantaoNANA1987
130Amaury BitettiAmaury BitettiLPts: 2x0World Champ.ABSSF1997
137Marcio FeitosaMarcio FeitosaLPts: 2x0Copa PeleN/ASPF1997
244Mario SperryMario SperryLClock chokeWorld Champ.ABSSF1998
251Marcio FeitosaMarcio FeitosaLPts: 4x2Oscar de JJ74KGSPF1998
767Eddie BravoEddie BravoLTriangleADCC66KG4F2003
42Pascoal DuarteWPointsVansport Cup68KGF1985
48UnknownWPointsIII Copa Company64KGF1986
60Alexandre SocaAlexandre SocaWN/ABrasileiro70KGF1994
96Marco AurelioWPointsWorld Champ.70KG4F1996
98Vinicius DraculinoVinicius DraculinoWPointsWorld Champ.70KGF1996
108Luis AmigoWSubmissionWorld Champ.70KGR11997
109Octavio CoutoOctavio CoutoWSubmissionWorld Champ.70KG4F1997
112Alexandre SocaAlexandre SocaWN/AWorld Champ.70KGSF1997
113Vitor ShaolinVitor ShaolinWAdvWorld Champ.70KGF1997
125Arthur IgnarraWPointsWorld Champ.ABSR21997
126Leo DallaLeo DallaWPointsWorld Champ.ABS4F1997
138Leo DallaLeo DallaWChoke from backCopacabanaABSSPF1997
217Vinicius CruzWArmbarWorld Champ.70KGR11998
219Marcos AurelioWN/AWorld Champ.70KG4F1998
221Joao RoqueJoao RoqueWPts: 2x0World Champ.70KGSF1998
223Vinicius DraculinoVinicius DraculinoWPts: 2x0World Champ.70KGF1998
271Marcos MattaMarcos MattaWPts: 0x0, AdvPan American70KGF1999
281Leonardo SantosLeonardo SantosWAdvWorld Champ.70KGSF1999
282Leonardo VieiraLeonardo VieiraWReferee DecisionWorld Champ.70KGF1999
303Juan VallesWTriangleADCC66KGR11999
308Joao RoqueJoao RoqueWAdvADCC66KG4F1999
312Melchor M.WPts: 12x0ADCC66KGSF1999
313Alexandre SocaAlexandre SocaWLeglockADCC66KGF1999
404Baret YoshidaBaret YoshidaWPts: 2x0ADCC66KGR12000
408J. WakabayashiWPts: 22x0ADCC66KG4F2000
412A. HamletWPts: 10x0ADCC66KGSF2000
413Alexandre SocaAlexandre SocaWPts: 5x0ADCC66KGF2000
493Martin BrownWRNCADCC66KGR12001
500Mike CardosaWStraight ankle lockADCC66KG4F2001
502Robson MouraRobson MouraWPts: 2x0ADCC66KGSF2001
504Baret YoshidaBaret YoshidaWPts: 2x0ADCC66KGF2001
636Henry MatamorosWChokeNight of ChampionsABSSPF2002
760Charles PearsonWRNCADCC66KGR12003
773Alexandre SocaAlexandre SocaWPts: 8x0ADCC66KG3PLC2003
5277Eddie BravoEddie BravoD---Metamoris 3ABSSPF2014

Banner photo taken by William Burkhardt of BJJ Pix.

Royler Gracie vs Juan Valles

 

 

John Danaher BJJ Escapes

7 Comments

  • Excellent story. I had the chance to meet Royler at the 2008 Mundials and for being a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legend, he was very approachable and happy to sign autograghs and take photos. Unlike some of the Sports Legends in American sports.

  • Anonymous says:

    I think Rolls was Royler's cousinn not uncle (but Rolls was considered to be his brother, since he was raised by Helio Gracie but sired by Carlos Gracie, Sr). Apologies if I am incorrect…but I think I am correct on this.

  • admin says:

    Hi Anonymous, sorry for the mistake (corrected), you are obviously correct, Rolls was the son of Carlos Gracie (Senior) so that would make him Royler's cousin. He was raised for a long period with Helio and his sons, Royler included.

  • izmsmn says:

    royler fought against Kazushi Sakuraba in 1999,not 2000

  • Chris From Hawaii says:

    My favorite Royler Gracie quote when I asked him if he wanted to fight, after I fought Rickson Gracie around 30 times in 1991; "But I swallowed the —!"

  • Tartaruga says:

    "Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."

  • RJ says:

    Royler is one of the best ADCC competitors of ALL TIME. Incredible how significant Eddie Bravo’s triangle was. Royler had won THIRTEEN ADCC matches in a row at that point.

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