A film depicting the rise of the UFC through the Gracie family is in production.

The film entitled ‘Gracie’ will be written by Robert Specland and will tell the story of the Gracie family and how Rorion Gracie co-founded the UFC, changing the face of martial arts forever.

Producers of the film will be Mike Tollin, Mason Gordon, Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray.

Chuck Norris and the Gracie brothers in the late 80’s

The story will cover the arrival of the first members of the Gracie family in the US, growing their notoriety through dojo storms and the Gracie challenge, to Royce Gracie’s start at UFC 1.

The film will also focus heavily on Rorion Gracie.

Rorion Gracie created the UFC way back in 1993 in order to introduce the general public to jiu-jitsu. Royce Gracie wins over bigger opponents did just that and quickly turned the no holds barred competition into a sensation. The lack of rules and time limits ultimately became an issue and Rorion decided to sell his share to Bob Meyrowitz after UFC 4 when Royce Gracie vs Dan Severn ran so long the fans couldn’t watch the ending live causing one of the biggest gaffes in pay-per-view.

Rorion seems to harbor no ill will toward the sale but took the time to provide a cheeky metaphor for the MMA empire:

“The feeling I have is that I had a son, and they adopted it, sent him to study at Harvard, and now my son controls Wall Street,” Gracie added. “It’s great to have an idea, and see it come to fruition.”

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