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 RNC 20 2 #86e620 Submission 20 2 #5AD3D1 Armbar 10 1 #d1212a Triangle 10 1 #fad11b Leglock 10 1 #f58822 Heek hook 10 1 #224aba Choke 10 1 #ff9124 Choke from back 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 52De La RivaLReferee DecisionCopa CantaoNANA1987129Amaury BitettiAmaury BitettiLPts: 2x0World Champ.ABSSF1997136Marcio FeitosaMarcio FeitosaLPts: 2x0Copa PeleN/ASPF1997243Mario SperryMario SperryLClock chokeWorld Champ.ABSSF1998250Marcio FeitosaMarcio FeitosaLPts: 4x2Oscar de JJ74KGSPF1998763Eddie BravoEddie BravoLTriangleADCC66KG4F200341Pascoal DuarteWPointsVansport Cup68KGF198547UnknownWPointsIII Copa Company64KGF198659Alexandre SocaAlexandre SocaWN/ABrasileiro70KGF199495Marco AurelioWPointsWorld Champ.70KG4F199697Vinicius DraculinoVinicius DraculinoWPointsWorld Champ.70KGF1996107Luis AmigoWSubmissionWorld Champ.70KGR11997108Octavio CoutoOctavio CoutoWSubmissionWorld Champ.70KG4F1997111Alexandre SocaAlexandre SocaWN/AWorld Champ.70KGSF1997112Vitor ShaolinVitor ShaolinWAdvWorld Champ.70KGF1997124Arthur IgnarraWPointsWorld Champ.ABSR21997125Leo DallaLeo DallaWPointsWorld Champ.ABS4F1997137Leo DallaLeo DallaWChoke from backCopacabanaABSSPF1997216Vinicius CruzWArmbarWorld Champ.70KGR11998218Marcos AurelioWN/AWorld Champ.70KG4F1998220Joao RoqueJoao RoqueWPts: 2x0World Champ.70KGSF1998222Vinicius DraculinoVinicius DraculinoWPts: 2x0World Champ.70KGF1998269Marcos MattaMarcos MattaWPts: 0x0, AdvPan American70KGF1999279Leonardo SantosLeonardo SantosWAdvWorld Champ.70KGSF1999280Leonardo VieiraLeonardo VieiraWReferee DecisionWorld Champ.70KGF1999301Juan VallesWTriangleADCC66KGR11999306Joao RoqueJoao RoqueWAdvADCC66KG4F1999310Melchor M.WPts: 12x0ADCC66KGSF1999311Alexandre SocaAlexandre SocaWLeglockADCC66KGF1999401Baret YoshidaBaret YoshidaWPts: 2x0ADCC66KGR12000405J. WakabayashiWPts: 22x0ADCC66KG4F2000409A. HamletWPts: 10x0ADCC66KGSF2000410Alexandre SocaAlexandre SocaWPts: 5x0ADCC66KGF2000490Martin BrownWRNCADCC66KGR12001497Mike CardosoWHeek hookADCC66KG4F2001499Robson MouraRobson MouraWPts: 2x0ADCC66KGSF2001501Baret YoshidaBaret YoshidaWPts: 2x0ADCC66KGF2001632Henry MatamorosWChokeNight of ChampionsABSSPF2002756Charles PearsonWRNCADCC66KGR12003769Alexandre SocaAlexandre SocaWPts: 8x0ADCC66KG3PLC20035194Eddie BravoEddie BravoD---Metamoris 3ABSSPF2014 Banner photo taken by William Burkhardt of BJJ Pix. Royler Gracie vs Juan Valles This post is also available in: Portuguese (Brazil)