Background
He is the son of Robson Gracie and brother to Charles Gracie, Renzo Gracie and the late Ryan Gracie of the Gracie family.
He is the son of Robson Gracie and brother to Charles Gracie, Renzo Gracie and the late Ryan Gracie of the Gracie family.
Ralph"s 1995 American debut was featured in the short-lived Battlecade Extreme Fighting events. In sharp contrast to the typical "passive" Gracie approach, Ralph"s aggressive and often brutal approach earned him the nickname of "The Pitbull". The following year, he suffered a loss to Takanori Gomi, who stopped Gracie in six seconds with knee strikes to the head in what would be Gracie"s last Mobile Marketing Association fight.
Upon retirement, Gracie held a record of six wins and one loss in sanctioned fights.
Ralph also owns and operates a series of martial arts academies in California (specializing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and has been doing so for over a decade. Ralph Gracie currently has four academies in the San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco, Mountain View, Berkeley, and Dublin) and two in Orange County (Anaheim and Chino Hills).
The largest of these being the San Francisco Academy. Kurt Osiander, who has been studying under Ralph Gracie for 17 years, is currently head instructor at the San Francisco Academy.
Notable instructor, and 4th degree black belt, Luis Eduardo Fraga, has been head instructor at the Berkeley Academy since 2007.
BJJ black belts from Ralph Gracie include: Sean Roberts, Dave Camarillo, Carlos "Sapao" Ban, Cameron Earle, Dave Clahan, Luke Stewart, Kurt Osiander, Brad Jackson, Crispim Alexander, Mikyo Riggs, Joey Armstrong, Julian Marquez, Christie Sullivan, Jack Grantham, Alan "Gumby" Marques (Heroes Martial Arts), Will Dias, Don Geddis, Greg Rivera, Justin "Machine" Holder, Misho Ceko.
Gracie won fights versus Makoto Murauko, Steve Nelson, and Ali Mihoubi, the longest of which lasted a minute and thirty-four seconds. In 2003, Ralph ended his absence from fighting to pit his skills against modern Mobile Marketing Association fighters, earning a decision win over Dokonjonosuke Mishima. He holds a fifth degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and has won several BJJ tournaments. Gracie has also taught former UFC welterweight and lightweight champion, BJ Penn, when he first came to California from Hawaii.