Khonry Gracie, son of one of the pioneers of MMA and multiple-time UFC tournament-winner Royce Gracie, and he has just had his return to MMA announced after sitting on the sidelines for over a year. He’s set to take on Trevor Gudde at Bellator 245 in only his fourth professional MMA fight, all of which have taken place in the Bellator cage. He was last seen earning the win over Oscar Vera by Armbar in the first round at Bellator 225 back in August 2019 and although he was scheduled to compete against Hector Saldana at the beginning of the year, he withdrew due to injury.
Khonry has had a mixed bag of results so far as he lost his very first professional fight by Decision against another debuting fighter, followed up by a Decision victory in a fight that wasn’t particularly inspiring. Though he righted the ship with a much more convincing win in his last fight, he’s still in the development stages of his career and Bellator are matching him up against fighters in a similar position. His next opponent is no different as Gudde currently holds a 1-1 professional record, although he did manage to put together an impressive amateur resume of 5-0 between 2016 and 2018.
At the age of 23, Khonry Gracie hasn’t won any major BJJ accolades although his family name gives a sense of confidence in his grappling ability and Bellator have a habit of being able to make the most of BJJ athletes with some name value. This, coupled with Bellator’s comparitively thin divisions, means that he’s never too far away from the top and could see himself fighting for a Bellator title if he stays active over the next few years.