Issue 184

November 2019

Son of Royce, grandson of Helio, the Bellator welterweight on living up to his family name

Being a member of the first family of the art, what was it like when you finally stepped into the cage and competed in an MMA fight yourself?

My whole life growing up I have gone to shows with my father. I’ve always thought it was amazing to be in the cage and to get into the cage. It doesn’t do it justice – to be outside of the cage and to be inside the cage are two completely different worlds. As soon as you step in the cage everything shuts off. You don’t see the lights. You don’t hear the people. Everything becomes very dim and very quiet. You focus on your opponent and that’s it. You can see the cage line but anything outside the cage you don’t really focus on. That is all in your peripheral vision at that point. You focus on what’s right in front of you. The adrenaline rush you get stepping into the cage is like nothing I have ever experienced. 

Can you put into words what the responsibility and pressure of the legacy of the name you carry entails? 

You don’t have to fight ten, twenty or one hundred fights to get that honor in my family. As long as you step in the cage once, win or lose, that is good enough for my father and good enough for the family to be recognized as a fighter, an MMA fighter, at that point. Of course, there are members of my family that have taken more of a jiu-jitsu path and there is nothing wrong with that at all. My grandfather always preached teaching over fighting. I just think that the fact that I have already stepped into the cage one time, my dad is proud of what I have done so far. I think I have pleased myself and everybody around me. At this point I do it for fun. I get to have a good time with it. 

You adopted your grandfather, Helio’s mindset of laying the groundwork of growth and knowledge as opposed to competing in BJJ tournaments or MMA early on. Can you speak to the mindset of taking the path of knowledge over competition early on?

Absolutely. A Gracie, at heart, is going to be a teacher first, always first. We weren’t fighters in the beginning, we were teachers. So, we are going to teach you the martial art of jiu-jitsu. We will teach you where it came from and how my grandfather taught it. Getting in the cage and the ring is like a bonus. It’s a little extra. You don’t have to do it. Not everyone does it.

What is your earliest jiu-jitsu memory and your time in it?

I think my earliest memory was probably growing up training on a little, maybe, 5x5 or 6x6 mat. We would set up outside of my house when I was only a few years old. We would set these mats up in the grass in the front yard or the driveway and my dad and I would roll. We would just train. I was only a few years old so I didn’t know what was going on. Looking back at those pictures now, being able to train with my father and my grandfather at the same time, those moments, when you learn from your elders, are the most cherished moments that I could take away from

jiu-jitsu.

When did you realize how special your father is?

My dad is a very humble man. In the back of my head, I have always known because of so many people coming up to him and wanting to say hello and just get the chance to meet him. I think toward the end of middle school or early high school I fully realized the magnitude. My dad was one of the best in the world. At that point it was more of me coming into jiu-jitsu now realizing what my father and what my grandfather had done and then, hopefully, what I will do. 

Your dad has said you had to know that you had the blood in your eyes. What does he mean by that?

It’s a term we use. It pretty much means knowing whether or not you are cut out for the sport. Are you going to crack under pressure? I went into MMA in my first fight for Bellator and I lost. The average person might question whether the sport was for them or start second guessing themselves. After my first loss I went straight back into the gym and told my guys we needed to build a new regimen, a new way of training. We needed new coaches and maybe needed to take away some old ones. As we progress through all of these fights, coaches will get subbed out. Sparring partners will get subbed out. Sometimes you have to change up what you eat. I’ll drink more water instead of drinking Gatorade. You have to continually change up little things.