Master Renzo Gracie (born March 11, 1967) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) expert and is one of the first Gracie Barra Black Belts under Carlos Gracie Jr. and is one of the most famous members 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.
His brothers Ralph and the late Ryan Gracie are also famous fighters. Master Renzo holds notable wins in the sport of mixed martial arts over former UFC champions Pat Miletich, Oleg Taktarov, Carlos Newton and Maurice Smith.
Master Renzo Gracie has competed both in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 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.
Master Renzo formerly coached a team, the New York Pitbulls, for the International Fight League where they won the 2007 World Team Championships.
Master Renzo Gracie is the head instructor at the Renzo Gracie Jiu jitsu Academy in midtown Manhattan. Many well known BJJ and MMA fighters have been trained by Renzo Gracie, including BJJ black belts Rodrigo Gracie, current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra, former BJJ World Champion Fabio Leopoldo, Rafael “Gordinho” Correa, Paul Creighton, former Middleweight King of Pancrase Ricardo Almeida, Sean Alvarez, Shawn Williams, and GRACIE Magazine founder Luca Atalla.
Renzo Gracie also has affiliate academies in US, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, South Africa and Israel.
Gracie has co-written two instructional books on jiu-jitsu; “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Practice” with his cousin Royler Gracie, and “Mastering Jujitsu” with training partner John Danaher. He has also been the personal jiu-jitsu teacher of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, since 1993.
Personal life
Master Renzo Gracie is a resident of Holmdel, New Jersey. He and his wife Cristina have 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(original teacher of Professor Fabio Leopoldo).
