Roger Gracie is a Brazilian black belt and a grandson of Carlos Gracie Sr. Between 2004 and 2010 he won ten IBJJF World titles at black belt, including three absolutes. Wikipedia notes he was the first competitor to win the open weight three times. He also took double gold at ADCC 2005 and later held the ONE Championship light heavyweight title in MMA.
Background and lineage
Roger Gracie Gomes was born in Rio de Janeiro to Reila Gracie, Carlos Gracie Sr.'s daughter, and Mauricio "Maurição" Gomes, a black belt under Rolls Gracie. He trained with his father, Renzo Gracie, Rilion Gracie and his uncle Carlos Gracie Jr., who promoted him to black belt in 2003 or 2004 (sources differ). He won the IBJJF Worlds at blue (2000), purple (2001) and brown belt (2002). In 2004 he and his father opened the Roger Gracie Academy in London. He competed under the Gracie Barra banner.
Competition highlights
- IBJJF World Championship: ten black belt titles from 2004 to 2010, three of them in the absolute.
- ADCC: gold in the −99 kg division and the absolute in 2005, finishing all eight opponents according to BJJ Heroes. He won the 2007 superfight against John-Olav Einemo, who had beaten him in 2003.
- Other: IBJJF Pan champion (2006) and European Open champion (2005).
- Halls of fame: IBJJF (2014) and the first inductee into the ADCC Hall of Fame (2021).
Style and signature techniques
Roger's game was simple to describe and hard to stop. He took the back or passed to mount and finished with the cross choke from mount, a gi cross collar choke. BJJ Heroes names the cross choke from mount as his favourite technique. His most frequent finishes on BJJ Heroes are chokes from back control (18), cross chokes (12) and armbars (10). BJJ Heroes records no submission losses in his career.
Notable matches
- Ronaldo "Jacaré" Souza, ADCC 2005: a rear naked choke in the absolute, a year after losing the 2004 Worlds absolute final to Jacaré.
- Ricardo Abreu, Worlds 2010: a 13-2 win in his final IBJJF World final.
- Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida, Metamoris (2012) and Gracie Pro (2017): a 20-minute draw, then a lapel choke win in his final match.
MMA career
Roger fought MMA from 2006 to 2017 for promotions including Strikeforce, the UFC and ONE. He finished with an 8–2 record. His wins include Keith Jardine and Anthony Smith, and in 2016 he won the inaugural ONE light heavyweight title by arm-triangle against Michał Pasternak. His losses came against Muhammed Lawal and Tim Kennedy. He retired from MMA in October 2017. More recently he has coached teams in the Professional Grappling Federation.