Old school 6th degree BJJ black belt Richard Bresler started training with the Gracie family in the early 1980’s in LA when they first arrived and were teaching in garages. He was Rorion Gracie’s first student.
In this incredible interview, he shares old school stories about his close relationship with the Gracie since the 80’s.
He talks about learning directly from Helio, Rorion, Rickson, Royce, Fabio Santos etc.., he even lived with Rorion.
Interestingly, Bresler shared some stories about Rorion’s unscrupulous ways money of borrowing money. Richard actually lent Rorion many times since the 80’s and Rorion, either didn’t pay him back or tried not to. Bresler actually lent Rorion $60,000 to open up the first Gracie Academy in Torrance in 1990.
It was again Bresler who lent Rorion $20,000 when Rorion Gracie created the UFC way back in 1993 in order to introduce the general public to jiu-jitsu. 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.
According to Bresler, Rorion was paid half a million dollars when he sold the UFC, but he came to Bresler saying that according to this deal, he didn’t have any dividends to give him back. When Bresler complained, Rorion came back and said that he would give him back his $20,000 plus just 10%…
When the interviewer asked Bresler if he had regrets, he answered:
“If I had gotten what I was owed, I would be living in a beautiful house by the Ocean, instead of where I am now, in a one bedroom apartment in Santa Monica.’
Rorion Gracie is no stranger to savvy business decisions but not all of them were entirely successful. He famously tried to trademark the family name which was followed by a lawsuit with Carley Gracie. Rorion ultimately won his lawsuit and was awarded $108,000 in damages (along with $620,000 in attorney’s fees) from Carley for infringement of the triangle logo trademark. Both sides appealed, but Rorion’s appeal was dismissed. After Carley filed for bankruptcy protection so he would not have to pay the attorney’s fees and damages. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Carley’s favor, affirmed his victory over the Gracie name and ordered the District Court Judge to cancel Rorion’s federal trademark registration. You can read more about that here.
Rorion elaborated on his UFC metaphor:
“They did the right thing. They sold it and will continue making money. Their intention was to make money, and they did it. They enjoyed the ride for a long time, and made the decision to sell it. We have to respect their decision. If I were them, I may have done same thing.”
“They took my revolutionary concept for the UFC from a relatively small company, invested a lot of money, created this huge marketing wave around it, and are now collecting the benefits of a $4 billion sale.”
Rorion Gracie also commented on selling his shares:
“After the issues with UFC 4, my associates decided to implement time limit, rules, and weight classes, to plan the event for the TV. I understood that. Yet, I always saw the UFC as a real fight being televised, and they saw it as a TV show about fighting. I wasn’t interested in being part of the show if they modified the original concept of comparing styles, it became a comparison of athletes. The winner was no longer necessarily the better style, but often by judges outside. It was no longer the vision I had, so I do not regret walking way.”
Check out the interview:
