Rickson Gracie FAQ

Ok. So I got around to asking a close family friend, a 50+ year old black belt who trained with Rickson and many of the old school tough guys and still does, about some of the things we discussed in this thread. He is still a close friend of Relson and he told me some things.

-About Rockson's death. Apparently, the real story was that he was stabbed to death by drug dealers at a "drug joint". I didn't ask much more but that could possibly be the room where he was found or pehaps he was taken/dumped there. Either way, because a knife was used, and not guns, it is believed that it wasn't premeditated, just escalated.

Rockson left his home in LA and in bad terms with his parents. Rickson asked Renzo to watch out for the kid. After he disappeared, Renzo looked for him for a long time before he finally found his body.

The way it all happened, the sudden and violent death, how Rockson was angry at his parents and passed away in those terms, added up to an extremely violent blow to Rickson, Renzo, Kron and particularly Kim.

He said that one day, years later, Rickson told him with a sigh, "I should have been harder on them, like my father was on me".

That is a common phrase in the world.

This is 100% reliable and he said he will not say another word about this.

-He has also never seen, or heard of, Rickson being tapped as a black belt. Romero Jacare claims to have done it when Rickson was a green belt. That's it.
 
awesome didnt know about bjjwiki, ill go check it out now
 
Ok. So I got around to asking a close family friend, a 50+ year old black belt who trained with Rickson and many of the old school tough guys and still does, about some of the things we discussed in this thread. He is still a close friend of Relson and he told me some things.

-About Rockson's death. Apparently, the real story was that he was stabbed to death by drug dealers at a "drug joint". I didn't ask much more but that could possibly be the room where he was found or pehaps he was taken/dumped there. Either way, because a knife was used, and not guns, it is believed that it wasn't premeditated, just escalated.

Rockson left his home in LA and in bad terms with his parents. Rickson asked Renzo to watch out for the kid. After he disappeared, Renzo looked for him for a long time before he finally found his body.

The way it all happened, the sudden and violent death, how Rockson was angry at his parents and passed away in those terms, added up to an extremely violent blow to Rickson, Renzo, Kron and particularly Kim.

He said that one day, years later, Rickson told him with a sigh, "I should have been harder on them, like my father was on me".

That is a common phrase in the world.

This is 100% reliable and he said he will not say another word about this.

that would have to be an absolutely horrible experience to go through as a family.
 
Very recent, very personal, very closed. If it lasts I'm sure we will hear about it soon enough.
 
I read that interview too. The only reason I posted that was because I got it from a close source. Either way, I hope they're well.
 
From yesterday's interview with Cristiano Marcello, posted on Portal do Vale Tudo, two excerpts regarding Rickson:

YouTube - Cristiano Marcello responde ao Portal do Vale Tudo - Parte 1

Question 1- Do you think Rickson can actually beat the people he claims he can?

Answer- Who am I to question Rickson?

Question 2- You trained with Rickson, is he everything people say he is?

Answer - And more. What I learned most from him, apart from jiu jitsu, came from being near him, you have no idea how he is. He never speaks ill of anyone, and if he meets you once, he will always remember your name and greet you in the future. He always helps everyone.

Question - And on the mat, is he that good?

Answer- Yes. Look, training is something that cant be commented on, it's unethical. But I've seen personally some world champions get their asses handed to them on the mat against him. Guys who went to him to train for their MMA matches, and you can see the difference. People who I had previously taken as a reference of superiority, were as inferior to him as I was to them.

Question - We even commented that Rickson, from what we hear, isn't a guy who brings new, crazy stuff. He is known as a very meat-and-potatoes kind of guy.

Answer - Yeah, totally, I got that from him. He said " I dont like to show you new stuff, I'm a diagnostician, I untie knots, you tell me `Rickson I have some difficulty with this or that aspect of my game' and I will go and settle that doubt for you. "
 
Ok. So I got around to asking a close family friend, a 50+ year old black belt who trained with Rickson and many of the old school tough guys and still does, about some of the things we discussed in this thread. He is still a close friend of Relson and he told me some things.

-About Rockson's death. Apparently, the real story was that he was stabbed to death by drug dealers at a "drug joint". I didn't ask much more but that could possibly be the room where he was found or pehaps he was taken/dumped there. Either way, because a knife was used, and not guns, it is believed that it wasn't premeditated, just escalated.

Rockson left his home in LA and in bad terms with his parents. Rickson asked Renzo to watch out for the kid. After he disappeared, Renzo looked for him for a long time before he finally found his body.

The way it all happened, the sudden and violent death, how Rockson was angry at his parents and passed away in those terms, added up to an extremely violent blow to Rickson, Renzo, Kron and particularly Kim.

He said that one day, years later, Rickson told him with a sigh, "I should have been harder on them, like my father was on me".

That is a common phrase in the world.

This is 100% reliable and he said he will not say another word about this.

-He has also never seen, or heard of, Rickson being tapped as a black belt. Romero Jacare claims to have done it when Rickson was a green belt. That's it.
DonkeyKong

Thank you for the information in this post and the entire thread in general. I have read every page of this thread and it's the main reason that I started reading the forums more and signed up for an account. :icon_chee
 
It's my pleasure. Doing my part to help people understand the Rickson myth and what's behind it.
 
Amazing thread! Very well done TS. Very unbiased and very acurate.

As a Rickson Gracie fan, I couldnt be happier with this unbiased thread.

Rickson will forever be, the man!
 
What MMa Fighter has the best BJJ in MMA? I believe it's Demian Maia who if I'm not mistaken is a Black Belt under Fabio Gurgel. I wish for the day a pure BJJ fighter dominates MMA I'm not sure it's possible because MMA has evolved so much.
 
What MMa Fighter has the best BJJ in MMA? I believe it's Demian Maia who if I'm not mistaken is a Black Belt under Fabio Gurgel. I wish for the day a pure BJJ fighter dominates MMA I'm not sure it's possible because MMA has evolved so much.

Hard to be possible, when people are cross trainings few martial arts together. Bjj black belt w muaythai/boxing/karate.

That why many of these bjj belt belt know that standup is really a vital knowledge/skills to acquire

Unless that guy is a bjj saint like perhaps rickson?
 
What MMa Fighter has the best BJJ in MMA? I believe it's Demian Maia who if I'm not mistaken is a Black Belt under Fabio Gurgel. I wish for the day a pure BJJ fighter dominates MMA I'm not sure it's possible because MMA has evolved so much.

If you ask me who's the best BJJ guy in MMA, not counting the world champions who just started ( Xande, Jacare and Roger), I would say BJ Penn.

But if you're asking who uses BJJ most effectively in MMA, then of course Demian Maia.
 
UPDATE: Rickson now officially wears the 8th rank coral belt.

He resisted for so long because he didn't like the color and also because it had a very strong "aging" meaning to it.

Ah, and those are also the colors of Flamengo soccer team, and I'm pretty sure he's Fluminense. Not a big deal but he did prefer to tell 150 people to move at a seminar from one picture location to another so the Flamengo symbol wouldn't be on the wall on the back of the pic. :P

kyrarickson.jpg
 
I wonder if his decision to wear the coral belt was linked to him officially announcing his retirement?

He called it 'an old man's belt,' and I always had the impression it was forthose who'd retired from competition.
 
Back
Top