BJJ legend Renzo Gracie has reportedly been involved in a fight in a New York City subway station.
The Gracie family is like royalty in the world of mixed martial arts and in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The Gracie jiu-jitsu way of life changed the ground game in MMA forever. Fighters from all over the world learn this way of grappling and the Gracie family is to thank for the skills both fighters and everyday people utilize to keep themselves safe on a daily basis. Renzo Gracie is one of the family members who played a large role in making Gracie jiu-jitsu the worldwide phenomenon it is today.
Although Renzo did not have the level of success in the UFC as other members of the family, he is a legend in the sport of jiu-jitsu. He owns BJJ gyms all over the world, including in New York. There are actually 16 affiliates of the Renzo Gracie Acadamy in the state of New York including the headquarters in Manhattan.
Renzo himself lives in NYC and was seen recently involved in a fight in a subway station. There has been a video released that shows two men grappling on the ground, one is said to be Gracie.
Allegedly Renzo Gracie got into a fight on the NYC subway pic.twitter.com/D8WXO02hDD
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) September 7, 2022
Renzo Gracie was allegedly involved in a fight after being confronted by a man for speaking Portuguese
There has been no official statement made by Gracie or his representation but more details were released by Choke Lab on Instagram.
“Video footage of Martial Arts legend, Renzo Gracie in an altercation on the platform of a New York City subway station,” Choke Lab posted on Instagram h/t Low Kick MMA. “After coming back from an academy, Gracie was having a conversation with a fellow black belt and staff members when he was confronted for speaking Portuguese with his friends. Based off of information we retrieved from an audio recording on WhatsApp, Gracie stated the the aggressor was a black/dark skinned man who was yelling at him to “speak English here”. In the audio recording Gracie stated that the young man accused him of speaking bad about him in Portuguese.”
Choke Lab said they received an audio message from Gracie in which he explains that the man was begging to be let go but Gracie made him apologize first before releasing him. There is no information as to whether or not the authorities were called at the time.
