Renzo Gracie was born on March 11, 1967. He is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) expert and a Gracie Barra Black Belt under Carlos Gracie Jr. and a member of the Gracie family from Brazil. He is the son of Robson Gracie, grandson of Carlos Gracie, nephew of Carlos Gracie, Jr. and grandnephew of Helio Gracie.
Renzo Gracie has never been one to step down from a challenge and trained hard for the future challenges that awaited him. From his early days as a pro surfer to a top MMA fighter, Renzo has been regarded as one of the most humble yet fierce competitors in the circuit. He is constantly challenging himself and those that make up Team Renzo Gracie, from the beginner student to the one’s who have stepped into the ring to become champions.
Renzo Gracie has competed both in BJJ and mixed martial arts events such as the PRIDE Fighting Championships, the International Fight League, RINGS, Martial Arts Reality Superfighting (MARS) and the World Combat Championship.
He holds notable wins in the sport of mixed martial arts over former UFC champions Pat Miletich, Oleg Taktarov, Carlos Newton and Maurice Smith, Frank Shamrock and loses to Matt Hughes.
Gracie is the head instructor at the Renzo Gracie Academy in midtown Manhattan. Renzo Gracie trained many well known BJJ and MMA fighters, including BJJ black belts Rodrigo Gracie, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra, former BJJ World Champion Rafael “Gordinho” Correa, Paul Creighton, former Middleweight King of Pancrase Ricardo Almeida, Sean Alvarez, Alan Teo, Mike Codella, Carl Massaro, Shawn Williams,Gabe Koura, Chad Lebrun and GRACIE Magazine founder Luca Atalla.
Renzo Gracie is also affiliate with BJJ academies in US, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, South Africa and Israel.
Renzo Gracie co-wrote two instructional books on jiu-jitsu; “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Practice” written with his cousin Royler Gracie, and he and his training partner, John Danaher, wrote “Mastering Jujitsu”. He also has been the personal jiu-jitsu instructor for Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, since 1993.
Renzo Gracie lives in Holmdel, New Jersey with his wife Cristina have their three children, Catarina, Cora and Ruran. He has eleven brothers and sisters, including Charles Gracie, Flavia Gracie (Kyra Gracie’s mother), Ralph Gracie and the late Ryan Gracie.
