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Cesar Gracie

Cesar Gracie built a Bay Area team whose study-driven approach to jiu-jitsu and MMA shaped the Diaz brothers, Jake Shields, and others.

Biography

Cesar Gracie is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach and team builder whose Northern California academy brought together Nick and Nate Diaz, Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez, and David Terrell. He has explained his emphasis on coaching in terms of duration: a fighter has one competitive career, while a team can carry a teacher's approach through many athletes and for much longer. The son of Sonja Gracie-Gronning and a grandson of Carlos Gracie, Gracie spent formative years on both sides of the Brazil-United States divide. In a 2012 interview, he recalled moving to the United States as a child, returning to Brazil at 18 for intensive training, and bringing Rigan Machado to Los Angeles in January 1990. Fighters Only later described him studying at UCLA, training alongside Rickson Gracie, and moving north to establish his first gym in Pleasant Hill. Gracie has identified Rilion Gracie as his earliest formative teacher and a continuing influence. His black-belt history has another layer. Gracie said that he declined an initial offer, continued training for roughly two years, and was eventually promoted through Robson Gracie's federation. Renzo Gracie, who had also trained and taught him, delivered the belt. That sequence matters: Rilion's role was as an early teacher, while the promotion came through Robson's federation and Renzo served as the person who delivered it. At the Pleasant Hill gym, Gracie said he combined Brazilian jiu-jitsu with sambo leg-lock ideas, substantial no-gi practice, and technical exchanges with Bulgarian and Russian practitioners in the Bay Area. Nick Diaz later credited Gracie with teaching him to approach mixed martial arts as something to study and learn, not merely a test of toughness. The team grew through relationships as much as recruitment. Gracie recalled Nick Diaz arriving at 16 and bringing his younger brother Nate, then 14. Jake Shields later joined after an invitation to train, and Shields brought Gilbert Melendez from college. Sherdog places Shields at Gracie's gym by 2002. UFC reported in 2012 that Gracie awarded Nate Diaz his black belt after having previously promoted Nick Diaz, Shields, and David Terrell. Gracie's documented professional MMA record is brief: Sherdog lists one bout, a first-round loss to Frank Shamrock at Strikeforce in 2006. Gracie has described coaching as the longer project, one in which a shared method can continue through the careers of many athletes.

Sources for this profile

  • Adriano Albuquerque, Sportv/Combate, interview with Cesar Gracie, 31 May 2012.(opens in a new tab)

    • A 2012 interview identifies Cesar Gracie as the son of Sonja Gracie-Gronning and a grandson of Carlos Gracie.

      Where in the source: Introduction identifying his maternal Gracie-family relationship.

      Accessed:

    • Gracie says he moved from Brazil to the United States in 1973 at age seven, returned to Brazil at 18 to train intensively, and brought Rigan Machado to Los Angeles in January 1990.

      Where in the source: Answer to the question about moving to the United States and California.

      Accessed:

    • Gracie says he declined an initial black-belt offer, waited about two more years, and was promoted through Robson Gracie's federation, with Renzo Gracie delivering the belt after having trained and taught him.

      Where in the source: Answer to the question about who awarded his black belt.

      Accessed:

    • Gracie credits Rilion Gracie as his first real teacher and an important continuing influence.

      Where in the source: Answer about contact with other members of the Gracie family.

      Accessed:

    • Gracie explains his emphasis on coaching by arguing that a team can carry a teacher's approach through many athletes and over a much longer period than one fighter's competitive career.

      Where in the source: Answer about why prominent Gracies had become coaches rather than active fighters.

      Accessed:

  • Cesar Gracie Academy, current home page (publication date not shown).(opens in a new tab)

    • The current Cesar Gracie Academy site presents Cesar Gracie and his staff as the academy's instructors and lists active locations in Pleasant Hill and Brentwood, California.

      Where in the source: Home page introduction, class schedules, and contact section.

      Accessed:

  • Fighters Only, “Leader of the pack,” Issue 081, November 2011.(opens in a new tab)

    • Fighters Only reports that Gracie studied at UCLA, trained alongside Rickson Gracie in Los Angeles, and then established his first Northern California gym in Pleasant Hill.

      Where in the source: Biographical section preceding the account of his first gym.

      Accessed:

    • Gracie says his early Northern California teaching mixed Brazilian jiu-jitsu with sambo leg-lock ideas, substantial no-gi practice, and technical exchanges with Bulgarian and Russian practitioners in the Bay Area.

      Where in the source: First-person account immediately after the description of the Pleasant Hill gym.

      Accessed:

    • Gracie describes Nick Diaz arriving at his gym at 16 and bringing Nate Diaz, then 14; Jake Shields later joined after an invitation to train, and Shields brought Gilbert Melendez from college.

      Where in the source: Skrap Pack section describing how the four athletes entered the academy.

      Accessed:

  • Thomas Gerbasi, UFC.com, “A Title Shot Looming, Diaz Deals with the Mission at Hand,” 4 May 2012.(opens in a new tab)

    • UFC reported in May 2012 that Cesar Gracie had awarded Nate Diaz his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt the previous month; it identified Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, and David Terrell as the three earlier team members to receive that rank from Gracie.

      Where in the source: Opening section on Nate Diaz's April black-belt promotion.

      Accessed:

  • Michael David Smith, MMA Fighting, “Nick Diaz Is an Old-School Martial Artist,” 30 October 2010.(opens in a new tab)

    • Nick Diaz identifies Cesar Gracie as his coach and credits him with teaching that mixed martial arts can be studied and learned rather than being only about toughness.

      Where in the source: Diaz's first-person discussion of his coach and training approach.

      Accessed:

  • Joseph Santoliquito, Sherdog, “Jake Shields: An Unexpected Journey,” 21 December 2016.(opens in a new tab)

    • Sherdog reports that Jake Shields had moved to San Francisco and was training at Cesar Gracie's gym by 2002 while balancing school, work, and family responsibilities.

      Where in the source: Career chronology section beginning with Shields's 2002 move to San Francisco.

      Accessed:

  • Sherdog, “Cesar Gracie” fighter record (publication date not shown).(opens in a new tab)

    • Sherdog records one professional mixed martial arts bout for Cesar Gracie: a first-round loss to Frank Shamrock at Strikeforce on 10 March 2006.

      Where in the source: Fight History — Pro table on the Cesar Gracie fighter page.

      Accessed:

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