Introduction
Royler Gracie (born December 6, 1965) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. He ran the Gracie Humaitá school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for many years under his father Helio's direction, but currently lives in San Diego.
Biography
As son to the late Grandmaster, Helio Gracie and brother of Rickson and Royce Gracie, Royler is a member of the Gracie family. He holds a 7th degree red/black belt in the style pioneered by his family, Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Prior to his retirement, Royler competed in the black-belt ranks for 20+ years. Royler is also a four-time World Jiu-Jitsu Champion in the Pena/Featherweight Black Belt Category and has placed in the Absolute Division.
Royler has a professional mixed martial arts record of five wins, five losses and one draw. His retirement fight came on September 14, 2011 at the age of 45 when he lost to Masakatsu Ueda via split decision.
Royler Gracie had a highly anticipated rematch against Eddie Bravo on March 29, 2014 at Metamoris III in a submission-only competition format. Despite a tight calf slicer submission attempt and multiple groin stretch attempts by Eddie the match concluded as a draw after the 20 minutes ran out due to the no points rule.
Media appearances
In a season 3 episode of the Wildboyz, Steve-O and Chris Pontius visit Brazil and attend the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu school in Rio de Janeiro. Royler takes on Chris Pontius and chokes him out, while female student Leticia Ribeiro defeats Steve-O via armbar submission.
Books
Gracie has co-written three instructional books on Brazilian jiu-jitsu:
- “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Practice” with his cousin Renzo Gracie;
- “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Submission Grappling Techniques” with author Kid Peligro; and,
- “Gracie Submission Essentials: Grandmaster and Master Secrets of Finishing a Fight” with his late father Helio Gracie and Kid Peligro.
Personal life
Royler is married to Vera Lucia Ribeiro. They have 4 daughters.
On September 23, 2015 Royler became a citizen of the United States of America.
Instructor lineage
Kanō Jigorō → Tomita Tsunejirō → Mitsuyo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie → Helio Gracie → Royler Gracie
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 11 matches | 5 wins | 5 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 2 |
| By submission | 4 | 1 |
| By decision | 1 | 2 |
| Draws | 1 | |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 5–5–1 | Masakatsu Ueda | Decision (split) | Amazon Forest Combat 1 | 000000002011-09-14-0000September 14, 2011 | 3 | 5:00 | Manaus, Brazil | |
| Loss | 5–4–1 | Hideo Tokoro | Decision (unanimous) | K-1 Premium 2006 Dynamite!! | 000000002006-12-31-0000December 31, 2006 | 2 | 5:00 | Osaka, Japan | |
| Loss | 5–3–1 | Norifumi Yamamoto | KO (punch) | Hero's 3 | 000000002005-09-07-0000September 7, 2005 | 2 | 0:38 | Tokyo, Japan | Hero's 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix quarter-final. |
| Win | 5–2–1 | Koji Yoshida | Decision (majority) | Hero's 2 | 000000002005-07-06-0000July 6, 2005 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 4–2–1 | Kazuyuki Miyata | Submission (triangle choke) | Rumble on the Rock | 000000002004-11-20-0000November 20, 2004 | 2 | 2:46 | Honolulu, Hawaii, USA | |
| Loss | 3–2–1 | Genki Sudo | KO (punches) | K-1 MMA ROMANEX | 000000002004-05-22-0000May 22, 2004 | 1 | 3:40 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Draw | 3–1–1 | Takehiro Murahama | Draw | Deep - 1st Impact | 000000002001-01-08-0000January 8, 2001 | 2 | 10:00 | Nagoya, Japan | |
| Loss | 3–1 | Kazushi Sakuraba | Submission (Referee stoppage) | Pride 8 | 000000001999-11-21-0000November 21, 1999 | 2 | 13:16 | Tokyo, Japan | Royler demanded special rules: No stand ups, no judges |
| Win | 3–0 | Yuhi Sano | Submission (armbar) | Pride 2 | 000000001998-03-15-0000March 15, 1998 | 1 | 33:14 | Yokohama, Japan | |
| Win | 2–0 | Noboru Asahi | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Vale Tudo Japan 1996 | 000000001996-07-07-0000July 7, 1996 | 1 | 5:07 | Urayasu, Japan | Royler demanded special rules: No strikes on ground |
| Win | 1–0 | Ivan Lee | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 2 | 000000001996-06-24-0000June 24, 1996 | 1 | 1:33 | Brazil |