Rickson Gracie recently shared some rare insight into one of the most difficult periods of his life; the death of his eldest son Rockson Gracie. It’s a truly tragic incident that occurred back in December 2000, when 19 year-old Rockson passed away due to drug intoxication. He was a top prospect in Jiu-Jitsu competition at the time, having won the IBJJF Pan Championship at the colored belt levels three years in a row. Rickson meanwhile was at the height of his MMA career, with a perfect 11-0 record of submission finishes and approaching a potential fight with Kazushi Sakuraba. That would have been the biggest fight in MMA history at the time, but Rickson stepped away from the sport after Rockson passed and never returned.
Rickson hasn’t spoken about this period of his life very often, but he did during a recent podcast appearance:
“With his passing I was left devastated. I really wanted to embrace the pain and jump into a lake with 200kg on my chest.”
He went on to explain that he struggled to deal with his grief for several years after Rockson’s passing:
“I spent almost two years like this with no desire to train no desire to surf. I had a serious drop in testosterone. I got depressed because I didn’t do anything and I didn’t act like I had to get back to normal.”
Having come out the other side of such a difficult time, Rickson now feels a much greater level of appreciation for what he does have:
“Until Rockson’s passing, time didn’t mean much to me. When Rockson left, I discovered that tomorrow may never come. I don’t waste my time anymore. The time we live, the present, the moment I currently have… a value like this, I treat it like a diamond.”
The full interview with Rickson Gracie where he opens up about the death of his son Rockson was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of Pura Connection:
