Rickson Gracie, son of
Helio Gracie, received his
black belt in
Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age 18 in 1977. Despite the size difference, Gracie won the match at the third round by submitting Zulu with a
rear naked choke, gaining immediate national recognition. In any case, Gracie won again, submitting his opponent with another choke in the second round.
Challenges to luta livre In 1988, promoters tried to put together an anticipated fight between Gracie and
luta livre exponent
Marco Ruas. However,
Hélio Gracie refused, demanding either that Gracie received a higher payment or that the bout happened inside the Gracie Academy, which were both rejected, so the fight didn't take place. Shortly after, claiming that Gracie students had kicked him and thrown sand to his eyes during the fight, Duarte came to Gracie's gym and demanded a rematch. Gracie won again, causing a riot which forced neighbours to call the police. Shortly after, Gracie challenged Tadeu, who had been entangled in a bout with his brother Royler when the police came. Royler and Tadeu fought to a 50-minute draw.
Pride Fighting Championships In 1997, Gracie signed up to a fight against Yoji Anjo's superior
Nobuhiko Takada in the
Pride 1 event. Before the
Tokyo Dome's 47,860 spectators, Gracie defeated the inexperienced Takada,
mounting him and locking an
armbar in 4:47. Now enjoying a growing popularity in Japan, according to Gracie he was proposed to fight
Mario Sperry at
Pride 3, but the process was stopped due to
Carlson Gracie's disavowal. Gracie only agreed to sign up to a rematch against Takada at
Pride 4, stating: "I feel Takada is a warrior and deserves the chance to try and redeem himself." In their rematch, Takada had improved and was able to wrestle Gracie to neutralize his groundwork advantage, but Gracie used a failed
leglock attempt from the Japanese to
sweep him and mount him. Nonetheless, Takada kept fighting under the jiu-jitsu master, dismounting him and threatening with a
heel hook attempt, but Gracie, who was waiting until the end of the round to prevent Takada from capitalizing should he miss his opportunity, applied an armbar and submitted him again. In May 2000, after Takada understudy
Kazushi Sakuraba defeated
Royler Gracie in the
Pride 8 event, he took the mic and challenged Gracie, who was in the Gracie corner, but nothing came of it. Gracie preferred to face
Pancrase's retired ace
Masakatsu Funaki at Colosseum event. The event almost got cancelled, as Gracie demanded special rules which banned headbutts, elbow strikes, and strikes to the head both standing or on the ground, but an agreement was reached when the Pancrase management conceded to ban headbutts and elbows. At the event, held at the Tokyo Dome and broadcast to 30 million TV Tokyo viewers, Gracie and Funaki started the fight clinching to the corner. Masakatsu appeared to have secured a guillotine choke, but the hold was loose and Gracie managed to go to the mat, although receiving a hammerfist that marked his face. They traded kicks to no effect, until some well timed upkicks from Gracie blew out Funaki's gravely injured right knee. They clinched again, but the Japanese's injury rendered him unable to wrestle Gracie correctly, and he was taken down by the Brazilian, who promptly mounted him. Masakatsu looked stunned while Gracie bloodied his face with ground and pound, and finally Gracie forced his way into a rear naked choke. After the Colosseum event, Gracie expressed interest in fighting judo medalist
Naoya Ogawa, who was signed up for the next Colosseum event. He was also proposed by Pride management to fight
Kazushi Sakuraba, who had already defeated
Royce Gracie as well, but Gracie refused saying that Sakuraba "didn't have the spirit of a warrior". When the matchup with Sakuraba was brought up again, Gracie expressed disinterest. However, nothing of it came to fruition, even after UFO president Tatsuo Kawamura proposed creating an event in order to hold the match. In 2003,
Antonio Inoki offered Gracie USD$5 million for a fight against Fujita, but it had no answer. After the match between
Royler Gracie and
Genki Sudo in 2004, the latter challenged Gracie. Producer
Sadaharu Tanikawa tried to put together a bout between both, but he was unsuccessful. Three years later, after Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Masakatsu Funaki, Tanikawa also tried to promote a bout between Sakuraba and Gracie in 2008, with the same results. On July 21, 2014, Gracie appeared on episode #524 of
The Joe Rogan Experience podcast hosted by
Joe Rogan. In November 2014 he became an inductee of the
Legends of MMA Hall of Fame, alongside
Big John McCarthy,
Pat Miletich, and
Fedor Emelianenko. ==In other media==