For those of you old enough to remember, Renato Laranja is a fictional character portrayed by the actor Rhasaan Orange. Whilst training BJJ, Orange decided to create a comedic alter ego by the name of Renato Laranja, who was a stereotypical Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner.
This meant the over-emphasis of certain words being pronounced with a heavy ‘H’, as well as throwing about various BJJ cliches in the process.
In 2015, Renato Laranja was promoted to the rank of black belt under Eddie Bravo at Bravo’s 10 Planet HQ in Los Angeles. So, all jokes aside, Laranja (or Orange) is actually a legitimate BJJ black belt. Even though the character is a joke, the training isn’t and Rhasaan Orange genuinely trained BJJ enough to obtain the black belt.
As seen in the video below, Laranja can be seen sparring and does so with a typical 10th Planet style (with a lockdown sweep for good measure). This video was also uploaded 4 years prior to his black belt promotion, so it’s fair to say he earned it. As well as training with Eddie Bravo, Rhasaan also trains in the gi from time to time.
