Renzo Gracie has just announced that he has opened his very first affiliate academy in the UAE (United Arab Emirates), which will be located in Dubai. There are already several locations in the country where aspiring competitors can get high-quality training in, and BJJ in the UAE has been developing at a truly impressive rate in recent years. Just recently in fact, Zayed Alkatheeri became the first UAE athlete to win an IBJJF major at adult black belt and he already looks poised to remain at the top of the sport for many years to come.
He’s not alone either, as there’s a strong generation of competitors coming out of the country that will likely be hitting the top level of the sport in the next few years. Part of the reason that the sport has seen such success there is because it’s taken a hold in the country among huge numbers of people on a casual level. It’s not uncommon now to find that many people residing in the UAE actually train in the sport on a regular basis. In fact, Sultan Al Neyadi is an astronaut in the country’s first long duration space mission and even he is a purple belt in BJJ.
Renzo Gracie has long had a great relationship with the UAE and it makes sense that he’s now opened his first affiliate academy in the country. The new RGA facility will be located in Dubai, and it will no doubt attract top grapplers from all around the country and even outside of it. It’ll certainly be interesting to see what the academy can produce in the coming years and if we start to see some of their competitors breaking through the ranks at major tournaments.
Renzo Gracie announced the news that he will be opening his first affiliate academy in the UAE, in Dubai, in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
