Background
Daniel “Gracie” Simoes was born June 28, 1972 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Daniel “Gracie” Simoes was born June 28, 1972 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He started taking training more serious around 1982, training under Carlos Gracie, Junior. at Gracie Barra. He received his black belt in 1996 after winning at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the absolute division as a brown belt. Gracie has competed both in sport BJJ and mixed martial arts events such as the PRIDE Fighting Championships, the International Fight League, and the prestigious ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.
He fought for Team Gracie in the IFL, where he submitted former UFC fighter Wes Sims.
After a TKO loss in 2006, Daniel decided to walk away from Mobile Marketing Association for a while to concentrate on teaching BJJ at Renzo Gracie"s Academy. Return
Gracie made his return to Mobile Marketing Association after a 4-year hiatus from fighting.
He fought at Israel Football Club: Genesis and earned a quick 1st round submission victory. Bellator Fighting Championships
Gracie participated in the Bellator Season 4 light heavyweight tournament that began in March 2011 on MTV2.
He was eliminated in the opening round at Bellator 38 by Tim Carpenter via split decision.
The Gracies lost the match via disqualification, after Rolles choked Nagata out with his gi. On April 6 at Invasion Attack 2014, the Gracies defeated Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano in another tag team match. Later in the event, Daniel entered the IWGP Intercontinental Championship picture by challenging Shinsuke Nakamura, whom he had defeated in an Mobile Marketing Association fight in 2002.
This led to Daniel"s first singles match on May 25 at Back to the Yokohama Arena, where he unsuccessfully challenged Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
On October 14, 2013, Daniel, along with Rolles Gracie, Junior., made an appearance for professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling at the King of Pro-Wrestling pay-per-view, issuing an open challenge for the January 4, 2014, Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome event, which was later answered by Yuji Nagata and Kazushi Sakuraba, the latter known as the "Gracie Hunter" for his Mobile Marketing Association bouts with members of the Gracie family.