In the modern era of BJJ and grappling tournaments, there is one family name that stands out amongst them all. Often there is a lot of controversy about how they have cornered the market and somewhat monopolised a lot of BJJ, however there is no doubt that they have produced some of the best grapplers and MMA fighters that the world has ever seen. Whilst some may disagree that they are as influential on grappling as is made out, they must still be respected as an extremely tough, technical and influential family when it comes to BJJ and grappling in general.
Helio Gracie and older practitioners such as Carlos Gracie will not be included in this discussion since although they are amongst the first founders of BJJ (along with others not mentioned). There is no real footage from their era and competition was not as international. We have a lot of rumours and stories from back in the day which are very tough to verify since not much made it to tape.
The following competitors are in no particular order since they have all done so many things over various different formats of competition. We will leave it up to you to make your mind up of who is the best Gracie of all time (so far).
Table of Contents
Roger Gracie
Arguably the greatest BJJ competitor his record in competition speaks for itself.
- 1st Place ADCC Championship (2005) – submitted every single one of his opponents in both absolute and normal weight categories
- 1st Place IBJJF World Championships (2004 – 2010) – Yes he won 7 in a row during this dominant period
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Ams (2006)
- 1st Place IBJJF Europeans (2005)
- Superfight win vs Buchecha after almost 7 years of competition inactivity
The highlight video below shows his complete dominance in the gi, but let’s not forget he destroyed ADCC in 2005 and was the first person to submit all of his eight opponents. This puts to rest any argument that he is only capable of great performances in the gi.
The highlight video below shows a variety of his skills, he was simply outstanding in every aspect of BJJ. His stand up judo style is somewhat unusual compared to a modern day wrestling approach but either way, he was almost impossible to take down and could pick opponents off with foot sweeps, making it look easy.
His top pressure is fantastic and he also had a great guard, not just for a bigger guy. He only lost 7 times during his competitive black belt career and finished with a record of 76-7-1, an unbelievable record which only gets better since NONE of those losses are submissions.
Royce Gracie
A name that everyone familiar with the UFC will know. Royce Gracie defined the style of BJJ in MMA and completely changed the style of fighting. Whilst BJJ competitions were not as frequent as they are now, the early 90’s were also the early years of the UFC. Royce entered all events of the UFC during this period which were 1 through to 4. His record is as follows:
- UFC 1 (1993) – Winner
- UFC 2 (1994) – Winner
- UFC 3 (1994) – Won 1 fight and then retired due to exhaustion (did not lose a fight)
- UFC 4 (1994) – Winner
Let us remind everyone that during this period there were a lot less rules, you could kick a downed opponent, headbutt your opponent and there were no drugs tests. If this was not brutal enough, Royce is around 6ft and 80kg. This may sound like a fairly big guy, but there were NO WEIGHT CLASSES.
During these 3 UFC events and even the competition in which he retired due to exhaustion, Royce defeated all his opponents by submission.
His toughness is unquestioned and unparalleled in modern MMA with a 15-2 record, his only losses being against legends Matt Hughes & Kazushi Sakuraba.
The Sakuraba loss could be in an entire article itself in which Royce’s corner threw in the towel after the fight had been going on for 90 MINUTES. Royce is thought to have become disoriented and couldn’t see properly due to exhaustion. I think this is very understandable after fighting an opponent such as Sakuraba for one and a half hours.
Rickson Gracie
Not too dissimilar from his brother, Rickson Gracie is also an MMA legend in his own right from a slightly earlier era. Rickson gained notoriety from fighting any challengers on the beaches of Rio. He then bought BJJ style to Vale Tudo & PRIDE in Japan, featuring in the now legendary documentary “choke”. Throughout the documentary, he displays his now-famous breathing techniques and yoga routines.
Much like Royce but 10 years prior, Rickson dominated all of his opponents in each tournament winning all of his bouts by submission, with several of these fights being on the same night. You were expected to fight 3 times if you were to become the champion.
It is much disputed about whether Rickson was truly one of the greatest fighters of all time as he would never face Sakuraba. Despite many negotiations, Rickson’s MMA career came to an end rather suddenly when his son Rockson tragically died in 2001. After this tragedy, Rickson would never fight in professional MMA again and finished with a 11-0 record.
- Vale Tudo Winner (2004)
- Vale Tudo Winner (2005)
Royler Gracie
Royler is probably the least known of the Gracie’s mentioned above. However, his achievements are still massive. His MMA record is not good and stands at 5-5, with this being said, he fought against very tough and some bigger opponents such as Sakuraba. Once again, his toughness cannot be questioned as he let his arm snap in the said fight, with the referee having to stop it after refusing to tap. Perhaps tarnishing his legacy slightly, his last fight was also at the age of 45 years old, something which is not very common in modern day MMA.
His BJJ competition record is still outstanding though:
- 4 x World Champion (1996-99)
- 2 x Pan Am Champion (1997 & 1999)
- 3 x ADCC Champion (1999-2001)
His overall BJJ competition record stands at 34-6, with Eddie Bravo perhaps making a career out of Triangling him at ADCC 2003. If we think about modern day fighters, perhaps the only person you would be able to make a career out of tapping in modern day is Gordon Ryan. This puts some historical relevance on just how good Royler was.
The video below shows Royler in his prime and his best setting of no gi BJJ.
