Roger Gracie: Rebuilding a Legacy

It all started in 1993 when a 170 lb Royce Gracie shocked everyone in the world of combat when he won the first UFC tournament, gaining all his wins via submission. From that day on the Gracie name was hand in hand with MMA along with having the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in a choke hold(no pun intended), the Gracie Family looked destined to rule combat sports for a very long time…

 Unfortunately for the family, History did not play out that way. Since those days the Gracie’s have feel victim to a family curse of some sort, since Royce Gracie there hasn’t been a Gracie who has had what it takes to gain a world championship, some critics even believe that the game has evolved around the Gracie style of MMA…But there is still hope for the family, and that hope lies in 23 year old Roger Gracie.

For the casual MMA fans who may not know Roger let me start off by saying his is the best BJJ black belt & Submission grappler alive today, and possibly to ever live. He won the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Worlds a record 10 times and most recently submitted all his opponent from the mount with a cross collar choke ( one of the most basic and fundamental moves in BJJ) Submitting black belts of various degree’s with a white belt technique to win a world title is plenty to brag about, but let’s take a look at Rogers other amazing Jiu Jitsu Credentials.

– 7x Super HW Black Belt BJJ world champion (The Mundials)

– 3x Open weight Black Belt BJJ world champion (The Mundials)

–  88-89 kg ADCC Submission Wrestling Champion (2005)

– Absolute ADCC Submission Wrestling Champion (2005)

–  Reigning CBJJ -97kg Black Belt World champion (2003-2010)

– Reigning CBJJ Black Belt Open weight Champion (2007-2010)

– CBJJ Pan American Black Belt Champion Open weight champion (2006)

– CBJJ European -97kg Black Belt Champion (2005)

Roger Gracie knew that after dominating the world of BJJ and winning every prestigious award possible he needed a new challenge.

The 2nd degree Black belt fought in his first MMA bout on a European MMA event winning via Arm bar in the first round. Since his first victory Roger has signed with Strikeforce and went undefeated in four fights. Roger is a unique Mixed Martial Artists, one of those guys who lays there game plan on the table, tells you what he plans to do, and does exactly that come fight night. Roger Gracie has been called a complete Mixed Martial Artists by everyone whom he’s ever trained wit, Including Georges St.Pierre, who stated that Roger “kicked my ass pretty bad”

The point of all this rambling is the fact that Roger is only  29 and has plenty of time to grow as a Mixed Martial Artist. With a skill set of grappling like his i don’t see him working on his BJJ skills anytime soon. He also submitted Olympic level wrestlers in the ADCC Submission Grappling championships, So that leaves plenty of time for the Gracie product to work on his striking and other fundamentals of the MMA game.

 

The last thing that sets Roger apart from other Gracie’s is the fact that he isn’t so focused on family pride, Roger is willing to admit that the Gracie’s aren’t the best in BJJ & MMA just because their the “family”. He is willing to swallow his pride and soak in all the knowledge he can. Roger has made it very clear he is in the MMA game for one reason and that is to be a world champion.

“In the end, it’s just a last name,”  “It’s whatever YOU do that makes the difference.” – Roger Gracie Gomes