Career

Renzo Gracie (pronounced "Henzo") (born March 11, 1967 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a lifelong practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and a member of the legendary Gracie family from Brazil. He holds notable wins over former UFC champions Frank Shamrock, Pat Miletich, Oleg Taktarov, Carlos Newton and Maurice Smith.

He is brother to Ralph Gracie, and Ryan Gracie. Renzo has competed both in sport BJJ and mixed martial arts events such as the PRIDE Fighting Championships, the International Fight League, RINGS – King of Kings, Martial Arts Reality Superfighting(MARS) and the World Combat Championship. In February of 2007, Gracie won a match against Frank Shamrock for upstart MMA promotion EliteXC on its debut night Saturday February 10, 2007, on Showtime. Shamrock was disqualified by referee Herb Dean due to knee strikes to the back of Gracie's head while both fighters were on the ground. He had already been given one warning earlier in the match for illegal strikes to the back of Gracie's head. After the match, Gracie had to be helped out of the ring and back to his dressing room by his team due to receiving a concussion from the strikes. He will fight Carlos Newton in a third fight in June. Renzo is currently coaching his team, the New York Pitbulls, for the International Fight League.

Renzo is the main instructor at the Renzo Gracie Academy which is located in Midtown Manhattan. Many well known BJJ and MMA fighters have been trained by Renzo, including BJJ black belts Rodrigo Gracie, Matt Serra, Ricardo Almeida and Sean Alvarez.

Renzo also has written an instructional book on Jujitsu, called "Mastering Jujitsu", with his training partner John Danaher.