Rener Gracie

Rener Gracie (born 10 November 1983) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt instructor, coach, and inventor.

One of the most recognisable figures in modern Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Gracie is a well-known and popular coach who has helped develop some top UFC competitors, such as Ronda Rousey, Brian Ortega, Brendan Schaub, Javier Vazquez and Lyoto Machida as well as WWE wrestler CM Punk and pro boxer Ryan Garcia.

Additionally, he has also trained celebrities including Vince Vaughn and Travis Barker.

As co-owner and head instructor at the Gracie University of jiu-jitsu headquartered in Torrance, California Gracie is known for his initiatives training Police officers in jiu-jitsu based self-defence and his advocacy calling for a nationwide police reform.

His Gracie Survival Tactics (GST) curriculum is the first to be recognized in California as approved for law enforcement.

Rener Gracie was born on 10 November 1983 in Torrance, California.

A member of the first generation of the Gracie family born outside of Brazil, Gracie is the second eldest son of Ultimate Fighting Championship co-creator and BJJ red belt Rorion Gracie, and a grandson of jiu-jitsu co-founder Hélio Gracie.

His introduction to jiu-jitsu came when he was still a child, learning from his father, grandfather and uncles Rickson and Royce Gracie.

Gracie's father and uncles opened Gracie Jiu-jitsu Academy in Torrance in 1989, a martial art school teaching Gracie Jiu Jitsu, Gracie started helping with the coaching at the age of thirteen, becoming one of the head instructors at nineteen.

As a brown belt, Gracie won the 2002 IBJJF American Nationals Championship.

After receiving his black belt from Hélio Gracie in 2002 at the age of 19, Gracie competed in the 2003 IBJJF Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championship winning bronze.

In May 2003 he won the Southern California Pro-Am Invitational, a no-gi, no time limit tournament featuring 16 competitors, after defeating Cassio Werneck, Joe Stevenson, Tyrone Glover and Jason Miller.

Even though the tournament was a no-gi grappling event, Gracie and his brother Ryron chose to fight in their gi.

The match with Werneck drew particular attention due to a controversial finish, where Werneck claimed that he did not submit and video footage was reviewed in order for the referee to determine otherwise.

In 2004 he retired from competition to focus on coaching and teaching.

Gracie and his brother spent time training MMA fighter Javier Vazquez after he married their sister Rose in 2005.

Gracie has also trained Lyoto Machida and his brother Chinzo Machida, as well as Carla Esparza while she was wrestling in college and Chris Holdsworth.

Gracie coached Olympic Judo medal winner Ronda Rousey in jiu-jitsu.

In 2009, Gracie and his brother Ryron launched Gracie University Online, a web BJJ learning platform.

In 2024, Gracie and his brother Ryron announced the release of Gracie Combatives 2.0, an update to the course they first released 13 years earlier.

In 2009 MMA fighter Brendan Schaub started to train Brazilian jiu-jitsu at Gracie University under Gracie and his brother, following The Ultimate Fighter: Season 10.

Even though he was already a BJJ brown belt, Schaub wore a beginner's white belt for a few weeks while training no-gi.

At Metamoris 2, Gracie commentated Brendan Schaub's controversial match against Roberto 'Cyborg' Abreu, alongside Ed O'Neill, while serving as one of Schaub's coaches.

In 2010 Gracie started training WWE superstar CM Punk in jiu-jitsu.

Rousey started training with Gracie and his brother for her last two competition camps prior to UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in December 2013.

Rousey won the fight crediting the Gracie brothers for her improvements.

In anticipation for UFC 170, and the defence of her bantamweight title, Rousey trained her jiu jitsu again with Gracie during camp.

For UFC 165 in 2013, Gracie coached Schaub for his heavyweight bout against Matt Mitrione.

In 2014 Gracie travelled to Vancouver to coach Schaub for his fight against Andrei Arlovski at UFC 174.

in 2014 he began preparing Punk to transition to MMA and make the jump from the WWE to the UFC.

With Gracie acting as his mentor, Punk stated that he couldn't see himself "walking out without Rener".

In 2015 Gracie was criticized by Cris Cyborg for saying that she was being given "more credit than she deserves".

Reflecting on his coaching of Rousey, Gracie said: "I've helped professional athletes of all different skills and sports and capabilities, certainly in martial arts and in jiu-jitsu in regards to combat sports, but I've never seen an athlete who hones her craft and is perfect for their sport like Ronda is for MMA."

In 2015 Schaub retired from MMA.

For Punk's professional debut at UFC 203 in 2016, Gracie prepared him for his fight against Mickey Gall.

Gracie has been training professional mixed martial artist Brian Ortega since his early years.

Ortega enlisted at the academy at the age of thirteen learning under Gracie throughout his teenage years, and receiving his BJJ black belt and his "T-City" nickname (short for Triangle City) from him.

Gracie has been cornering Ortega for most of his pro fights, only missing UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie due to a positive Covid result, ESPN called him "Brian Ortega's most-tenured coach".

Gracie joined Team Ortega on The Ultimate Fighter 29.

An inventor and entrepreneur, Gracie founded Quikflip, a garment converting into a backpack, which was featured on ABC's Shark Tank and named as one of Time Magazine 2019 best inventions.