Five-time winner of Pride, one of the most important martial arts tournaments in the world, Ryan Grace was considered by the Japanese as “the best street fighter in the Gracie family”, says Jorge Macaco, world jiu-jitsu champion. In Japan, Ryan competed in the tournament seven times, losing only two duels. Of the five victories, two were by knockout.
The profile of a “bad boy” with a straight face, the confusion on the streets, the short and aggressive responses to rivals and the surname Gracie, led Ryan to become one of the idols of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Japan. “The Japanese admired him for his his bold style of life, his violent way of fighting and his surname Gracie”, explains the editor of Tatame magazine, Marcelo Alonso.
For Macaco, “even though he was not a top fighter, Ryan had a great desire to win, he was not afraid and did not accept challenge, requirements admired by the Japanese”, he says.
The Brazilian fighter also highlights that “the respect and fanaticism for Ryan's style in Japan were so remarkable that, even though his five Pride victories were against Japanese fighters, his popularity always grew”.
First Pride Victory
Ryan's first fight in the competition was on August 20, 2000, at Pride 10. Wearing a black hat and to the sound of the song “Be alive”, “Fera” – as he was known in Japan – entered the mat and defeated the home fighter Tokimitsu Ishizawa in front of more than 30 thousand people. The Brazilian's style made him an idol and the song was the most played on Japanese radio during the same year.
On his official website, Ryan defined the fight as the most memorable moment of his career. “I grabbed his head, threw a knee, he staggered, I threw a sequence of right and left punches and that was it, it was over!”, he explains about the sequence of blows that knocked out his opponent.
However, the victory most desired by the Grace family did not occur. In the duel against Kazushi Sakuraba, at Pride 12, in 2000, Ryan Grace was defeated by points. Sakuraba, one of the main Japanese fighters, had already defeated Renzo Gracie and Royce gracie. “It was a kind of revenge, but Ryan couldn't do it and that was a big blow for him,” explains Alonso.
In recent years, Ryan has shared the Japanese spotlight with fighters Wanderley Silva, Rodrigo Minotauro, Jorge Maçado and Vitor Belford.
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