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Today Royce is privileged to spread the techniques perfected by his father all over the world. In 2014 Royce was named one of the 50 Greatest Athletes in the World by Sports Illustrated. His recognition spans the globe to include fans on most every continent. He has also been featured in Men’s Health and Fitness and GQ and continues to give magazine and radio interviews. Since then Royce’s face has has been seen on countless martial arts magazines such as Black Belt, Inside MMA and Tapout. In November of 2003, Royce Gracie was the first fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame along with fellow UFC veteran Ken Shamrock. Royce’s continued success has opened the eyes of many disbelievers to the importance of leverage and technique in grappling. Royce defeated the giant in just 2min and 13sec with a shoulder lock. Akebono was the main event of K-1 Premium Dynamite New Years Eve show on New Year’s Eve in 2004. His largest opponent was Sumo Grand Champion Akebono, 6′ 8″ 486lbs. He also showed total domination of the Olympic Judo Gold Medalist Hidehiko Yoshida. Royce holds the record for the longest MMA match in history: 90 minutes against Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba in PRIDE Grand PRIX 2000. After leaving the UFC Royce went on to compete in MMA events in Japan and is a huge icon in this country. He went on to win 3 UFC titles and today is the only man in the history of no holds barred matches to successfully defeat four opponents in one night. His opponents consistently outweighed him by more than 50 pounds. Discipline after discipline was defeated by the slight 6’1”, 180 pound Royce Gracie. His brother Rorion came up with this innovative challenge as a way to show Gracie Jiu-Jitsu to the world. Royce’s reputable career as a fighter began in 1993 after defeating three opponents in the first Ultimate Fighting Championship in Denver, Colorado. Although Royce no longer teaches there because of his rigorous travel schedule, it remains one of the largest martial arts schools in the country. Together they opened the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy 30 years ago in Torrance, California. They began teaching private classes out of their garage, sometimes for more than ten hours a day.
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Royce moved to the United States at age 18 to live with his brother, Rorion. He received his blue belt at age 16 and was promoted to black belt in less than two years. Royce began competing in tournaments at age eight. However, they often went to the Academy in Rio after school and on weekends. He never pushed any of the children to take formal classes until they wanted to do so. His training in Jiu-Jitsu began at a very early age as a game with his father Helio. Royce Gracie was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is one of nine children, seven of whom are boys.