Ralph (pronounced Halph) Gracie is a Brazilian martial artist. Like other members of the Gracie family, he competed in mixed martial arts. He is the son of Robson Gracie and brother to Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie, both of whom have competed in various fighting events. In sharp contrast to the typical "passive" Gracie approach, Ralph's aggressive and often brutal approach earned him the nickname of "Pitbull". Ralph's 1995 American debut was featured in the short-lived Battlecade Extreme Fighting events. Gracie easily won fights versus Makoto Murauko, Steve Nelson, and Ali Mihoubi, the longest of which lasted a mere minute and thirty-four seconds. Despite Gracie's obvious success, critics are now quick to point out that MMA competitions in this period were still in its infancy. It would take the competition several years to catch up to the Gracie approach to ground fighting. In 2003, Ralph ended his absence from fighting to pit his skills against modern MMA fighters, earning a decision win over Dokonjonosuke Mishima. The following year, he suffered the only blemish on his record in a six-second loss to Takanori Gomi, who stopped Ralph's opening takedown attempt with a flurry of knee strikes to the head. To date, Gracie has not since returned to the ring.
Upon retirement, Gracie held a record of six wins and one loss in sanctioned fights. He holds a third degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and has succeeded in several BJJ tournaments like Joe Moreira's Atlantico Sul Cup. Ralph has also owned and operated a series of martial arts academies in California for over a decade. Controversey: Dave Camarillo, a Ralph Gracie black belt, has accused Ralph of physically abusing him: Things weren't going much better over at the Gracie Academy. Since day one Ralph had been a very good but rough instructor. In the early years I hadn't thought much about his style of teaching, but after receiving my black belt and being more exposed to the martial arts community, I realized that I didn't always agree with his methods. For example, one afternoon back when I was a blue belt, I was at the Academy with BJ Penn and a few other guys. Ralph walked in, and I headed over to him to give him a big hug. Instead of hugging me back, he threw me to the ground and jumped on top of me. I thought that he wanted to grapple, and then he started punching me in the face with closed fists. For fifteen minutes he beat on me with everything but the kitchen sink. By the time I crawled to my knees, I had a broken nose and blood streaming down my face. At the time I rationalized his actions. I told myself that Ralph had roughed me over because he wanted to see what kind of student he had and to ensure that his team was tough, which it was. It wouldn‚Äôt have been so bad if those were actually his intentions, but that sure didn't seem to be the case. In my opinion, Ralph would have got much more out of his students if he had allowed them to prove themselves through their determination. He could have helped them reach their full potential by taking their advice and treating them with respect. Realizing that I would never mesh well with his methods, I approached Ralph one afternoon when I was a brown belt to tell him that I was finished. He pulled me into a little room with Batata, one of his black belt instructors, and then locked the door behind us. It was unnerving the say the least, but I stuck to my guns and told them that I was done. Ralph's retort was straightforward. If I ever catch you teaching jiu-jitsu, I will hurt you.‚At the time I thought he might actually be able to stop me from teaching jiu-jitsu. I had dedicated my life to the sport, and the thought of being banned from teaching others on the mat hit me hard. I also desperately wanted my black belt. I should have seen the red flags, but at the time I wasn‚Äôt yet confident enough to part ways. I ended up falling right back under his control, which is exactly where he wanted me. In the back recesses of my mind, however, I started searching for a way out.
