Robson Gracie Jr. is the youngest brother of Renzo Gracie. Renzo returned to MMA at the ripe old age of 51 – and managed to score a victory. For the 27 year old Gracie this was a tremendous source of inspiration.
Back in 2014, when he was still training under Murilo Bustamante at Brazilian Top Team, Gracie Jr. agreed to make his MMA debut in a new promotion in Rio de Janeiro. The event got postponed three times and his opponent was changed four times!
In the end Robson opted to listen to Renzo. He told mmafighting:
“I talked to Renzo and he said, ‘Get out of that, they are not being professionals. Come to New York and I’ll get you a fight,’” Gracie Jr. explained.
”It’s great that I have many people here to help me, from all weight classes and styles,” Gracie Jr. said. “It was really cool at BTT, I thank Murilo, but I feel great here with my family, my cousins. Neiman helps me a lot, and he was one of the responsible for getting me this contract because he’s doing great there, so they believe in me because they believe in him.”
“Every kid in Brazil wants to become a soccer player, but watching Renzo fight made me went to become a fighter,” Gracie Jr. said. “I remember watching his fight with (Oleg) Taktarov 50 times on VHS. Watching my brothers Renzo, Ryan, Ralph, and Charles, and my cousins fight, motivated me. It was natural. It didn’t seem like I had another path to go — I had no other option besides becoming a fighter. I love doing this.”
”I think it’s a bit tough, and I think that’s one of the reasons why I ended up postponing my debut a little longer,” Gracie Jr. said. “When I was younger, my idea was to debut at 25, or even sooner, but that’s something I can’t escape. I try to shut that [pressure of the name] down, but it will always exist. I train harder because of that pressure. I’m 0-0 but there’s a lot of people waiting for it. ‘Will he take it to the ground? You have to submit him, you have to do this.’ And being Renzo’s brother, too, but I try to shut that down. I try to focus on the fight and doing my part.
”I’m a Gracie, but Renzo won’t be in the cage with me. I’ll be there by myself, and being a Gracie won’t make a difference in the fight. It might make a difference before or after the fight, Renzo and my father teach me a lot. It’s not about winning, it’s about going there and fighting. I look up to Renzo because he doesn’t pick opponents, he’s not scared, and that’s what I want to be. If I’m half of what he was, if I have half of his spirit of not being afraid and facing anyone, I’m already happy no matter the result.”
Robson’s debut is currently set for Bellator 208 – The Gracie family mma hopeful is set to meet Peter Nascimento in a welterweight bout on October 13th.
Nascimento has just one bout on his record. At Bellator 194, he suffered a first-round technical knockout against Kastriot Xhema on Feb. 16.
Bellator 208 takes place at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., and is headlined by a heavyweight grand prix semifinal matchup between Fedor Emelianenko and Chael Sonnen. Gracie vs. Nascimento is expected to be part of the preliminary card.
