Renzo Gracie has been involved in BJJ for an incredibly long time and now he has been awarded a 7th degree red and black belt, otherwise known as the coral belt, by Rickson Gracie in a promotion ceremony. Renzo is an incredibly prolific instructor and is responsible for some of the biggest names in BJJ in the modern era, including John Danaher. He’s coached hundreds of top-tier BJJ and MMA competitors over the years, promoting some notable names to black belt, and continues to do so until this today. Just a little over a year ago he promoted MMA legend Matt Lindland to BJJ black belt.
Renzo Gracie hasn’t just had a career as an instructor prior to being promoted to coral belt though, as he was also an incredibly proficient competitor during his youth as well. He was well known as an MMA fighter for almost three decades, starting his professional career all the way back in 1992. Renzo went on to fight for PRIDE, ONE Championship, and the UFC over the years and amassed a 14-7-1 (1) professional record against some of the best fighters around. He put together several solid wins over impressive names like Carlos Newton, Frank Shamrock, and Oleg Taktarov and was incredibly popular in Japan during his career.
He was also a frequent face at the ADCC World Championships as well, competing in seven different editions of the event in one of three different weightclasses before making his final appearance in the 2007 superfight against Mario Sperry. Renzo won gold in the 77kg division in 1998 and 2000 and has defeated some fantastic grapplers like Frank Trigg and Jean Jacques Machado along the way. His achievements in the sport of BJJ were recognised at ADCC 2022, where the promotion introduced their Hall of Fame and inducted Renzo as a member of the inaugural class.
Renzo Gracie announced the news that Rickson had promoted him to coral belt in BJJ by uploading footage of it happening to his official Instagram account:
