Rayron Gracie - Skillful Son of Legendary Ryan Gracie (Late)

The son of the late Ryan Gracie and member of the 4th generation of Gracie’s family. Rayron’s biggest aim is to continue his family’s BJJ legacy after his father's death He is the number 1 IBJJF brown belt in 2022.

Rayron Gracie, the son of legendary Ryan Gracie, was born on 8 December 2001. He lost his father at the age of six, it was a challenging time for Rayron. As a kid, Rayron used to write letters to his father so he could somehow symbolically communicate with him.

Rayron Gracie arrived in New York about six years ago. His primary purpose was to improve his English before going back to Brazil, not to pursue a career in BJJ. After moving in, he inherited a huge BJJ school with more instructors than Ivy League colleges. The Gracie family was home to many elite competitors, including Ryan's brother Renzo Gracie, the legendary Jiu-Jitsu star. His short stay has now turned into a long-term BJJ success story.

In the Blue Belt Super-Heavyweight class, Rayron Gracie, the 18-year-old son of the late Ryan Gracie and Elaine Capparoz, won Gold by defeating Mathew Wade Greene.

Additionally, he won Silver in the Open Weight Class, losing only to Ultra-Heavyweight Champion Bruno Ricardo Reagan.

The young Gracie has improved his record in Jiu-Jitsu at an impressive speed and earned a new level by winning significant titles. He earned a Purple Belt in 2020 IBJJF Pans after fighting against his cousin Gregor Gracie. The only Gracie now engaged in Gi Jiu-Jitsu competition is Rayron, who is also the only member of the family to have ever won the Open Class Title as a Purple Belt.

The prodigal son of his legendary father, Rayron continued climbing the ladder of success and finally reached the Brown Belt. Rayron was promoted to Brown Belt by Master Renzo Gracie.

The 28-minute documentary "Letters To My Father" was published by Rayron Gracie, the late Ryan Gracie's son.

The documentary explores Rayron's early years, Rayron’s bond with his father, and the tragic moment when he heard of his father's demise at the age of six. Gracie wrote letters to his father for 13 years posthumously; some of these letters are shown in the documentary.

His experience of growing up without a father is portrayed at length in the documentary, “Letters to My Father”.

Rayron Expressed in the Documentary:

Although the 6'2" and 230-pound star's BJJ abilities are still improving, Rayron claims that his overall strength is his most obvious deficiency. While sparring with former NFL Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Cushing, he became aware. He claims that the fights with football players were the most difficult in his career. They're extremely powerful and nimble, the next-level athletes. Jiu-Jitsu is undoubtedly about technique, but being physically powerful is really helpful. Rayron said, “I had to find out what they were doing”.

Rayron contacted strength coach Joe DeFranco, Cushing's former trainer who is currently working with UFC welterweight contender Mickey Gall, in order to match the raw power he requires while facing super heaviest opponents.

Knowing how much time Rayron spends on the mats, DeFranco had to be careful not to risk overtraining his athlete while also assisting Rayron in maximizing his strength.

The plan: Rayron would repeat the same movement patterns but with different motions in DeFranco's two-day condensed training methods.

Rayron completes two exercises per week as part of strength coach Joe DeFranco's conjugate technique of training. The first exercise pairs a lower-body action with a maximum-effort upper-body movement. He will include an auxiliary motion for his upper and lower bodies.

Day 2 involves a reversal, as shown in the workout that follows, which includes a dynamic upper-body motion, a lower-body exercise that requires maximum effort, and accessory work. Both exercises conclude with a finisher that either consist of farmer's walks or sled runs.

The skillful Rayron fought against Gabriel Brod at Purple Belt level in the World Championship. This Open Class World Title win is one of his greatest successes of Rayron Gracie.

Rayon and Joao Ribeiro faced each other at Indianapolis Open 2021. This was another remarkable win for Rayron as a Purple Belt, he held a strong Cross Choke over Ribeiro and forced him to tap.

Both young BJJ practitioners Rayron and Rafael faced each other at the Oklahoma City Open at Brown Belt level. Both fought amazingly showing off their elite grappling skills. Gracie secured another amazing win against Silva by decision.

Rayron Gracie competed against Ramiro, a Brown Belt in Jiu-Jitsu at Houston Open. This was another stunning win for Gracie, he submitted Ramiro via collar choke. Ramiro showed remarkable resistance for almost three minutes but couldn’t get himself free from Gracie’s grip and tapped out.

The younger black belt, Rayron Gracie fought against an amazing grappler Enrique Reyes at Austin Open. Both fought in a skillful way. In the last minutes of the fight, Gracie used an armbar which forced Enrique to tap out.

Rayron Gracie came across an amazing BJJ athlete Junior Fernandes in the 2021 World Championship. The young Gracie made another marvelous win to his career by defeating Junior Fernandes with 7 points.

The young Gracie made another remarkable win when he faced Charles Courtney at Indianapolis Open 2021 in the super-heavyweight class.

During the fight, Charles failed to retain every move by Rayron Gracie like he failed to retain guard in side control, failed to roll his knees, and failed to hook the feet on the mount. All this led Gracie to win the fight by 7 points. 

The younger Gracie and Felipe, a fighter out of Miami, faced each other in the 2020 Orlando Open.

Both of the fighters showed their amazing grappling skills. The great son of a legendary father, Rayron attempted a strong arm lock on Felio which resulted in his submission.

• No. 1 Ranked Blue Belt in the World by IBJJF

• No. 1 Ranked Purple Belt in the World by IBJJF
• No. 5 Ranked Brown Belt in the World by IBJJF
• Only Gracie Family Member Competing in the Gi- Jiu Jitsu
• Only Gracie ever to Win an Open Class as a Purple Belt
  
  

Event	Medal
Pan American	3 Times Gold Medalist
Pan American	3 Times Silver Medalist
Pan American	1 Time Bronze Medalist

Event	Medal
World Championship	3 Times Gold Medalist
World Championship	3 Times Silver Medalist
World Championship	3 Times Bronze Medalist

Event	Medal
European Championship	1 Times Gold Medalist
European Championship	3 Times Bronze Medalist

Event	Medal
Orlando Open	8 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Washington D.C Open	5 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
New York Open	4 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Oklahoma Open	4 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Austin Open	4 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Miami Open	3 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Houston Open	3 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
American Nationals	2 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Chicago Open	2 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Austin Open	4 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Boston Open	2 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Dallas Open	2 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Atlanta Open	2 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Detroit Open	2 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Charleston Open	1 Times Gold Medalist

Event	Medal
Foley Open	1 Times Gold Medalist

Rayron Gracie v Gabriel Brod / World Championship 2021

Rayron Gracie v Joao Ribeiro / Indianapolis Open 2021

Rayron Gracie v Dory Aoun / World Championship 2021

Photo credit: @rayrongracie , @muscleandfitness