The Gracie family now make up a huge proportion of the ADCC Hall of Fame as a fourth member of BJJ’s most famous family has now been inducted, Renzo Gracie. Renzo joins the legendary Roger Gracie, his lighter relative Royler Gracie, and the only female member of the ADCC Hall of Fame to date; Kyra Gracie. Renzo is actually one of a handful of competitors who competed at the very first ADCC World Championships and continued to return to the ADCC mats for years to come.
In 1998 he competed in the 77kg weightclass and managed a clean-sweep of the division in order to leave as the inaugural champion of that weightclass. He returned the next year in 1999 and fought much higher at 99kg but couldn’t replicate his previous success as he lost on points to Egan Inoue in the second round. When he decided to make it back to 77kg for his third appearance at ADCC 2000, he found his form again and came away with his second gold medal after defeating the legendary Jean-Jacques Machado in the final.
Not to be disheartened by his 1999 performance, Renzo decided to try to win a heavier weightclass once again in 2001 as he entered at 88kg this time around. He went out in the opening round this time and returned to 77kg in 2003 but was shut down by fellow ADCC hall of famer Marcelo Garcia in what would go on to be recognized as one of the greatest upset victories ever and the one that kickstarted his illustrious career.
Renzo made another two attempts to win the 77kg division in 2005 and 2007 but couldn’t make it past the opening round on either of those occasions. His final appearance on the ADCC mats then came in 2011 when he challenged another Hall of Famer in Mario Sperry at one superfight arranged for the event. Although he didn’t win this match, Renzo is undoubtedly one of the biggest legends of ADCC history and grappling as a whole.
Renzo Gracie was announced as the fourth member of BJJ’s most famous and accomplished family to be included in the ADCC Hall of Fame in a post to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
