Family Feud: Wallid Ismail leaves Royce Gracie Unconscious in a Packed Arena in Copacabana

The rivalry between the two main lineages of the Gracie family always marked the big jiu-jitsu competitions in the 80s and 90s in Rio de Janeiro. After avenging his uncle Helio by beating Waldemar Santana in a historic vale tudo bout in 1956, Carlos Gracie’s eldest son Carlson became the main representative of the family in the rings. Interestingly, however, when he retired in 1970, Carlson left the Gracie headquarters and opened his own academy, where he started to produce champions to beat the Gracie disciples in jiu-jitsu competition.

After 20 years of success in the rings, Carlson’s upstart team threatened to surpass the “original.” It is no coincidence that during the 80s and 90s his students completely dominated competition, winning almost all divisions (from the lightest blue belt category to black belt). With the exception of the featherweight and absolute categories, which were normally won by Hélio Gracie's sons Rickson and Royler, all other categories were won by Carlson's students.

It was this rivalry that set jiu-jitsu on fire and boosted the technical development of the sport, so much so that the main tournament organizers in Rio realized this and, besides normal competitions, started promoting one-hour challenges between icons from both schools. It was like this in the two clashes between Marcelo Behring (Rickson's best student) and Cassio Cardoso (Carlson's best student) in 1986 and ’87 and in the challenge between Renzo Gracie and Wallid Ismail in 1993. And in this historic challenge between Royce and Wallid on Dec. 17, 1998, carried out by Rio's sports secretary, Jose Moraes (a student of Helio Gracie) among the activities of the Summer Olympic festival, an event sponsored by the City Hall to promote competitions between various Olympic disciplines. Besides the special rules main event with Royce and Wallid, there were 12 opening fights among other big icons but under BJJ official rules (10 minutes with points).

Why Did Royce Compete Under BJJ Rules?

To accommodate jiu-jitsu, which was demonized by the media at the time, Moraes had the idea of running a campaign disassociating the sport from violence, where all 24 athletes who took part in the event had to enter wearing a shirt which read “Sport is not violence, believe me!” and greeting the public before their fights. Curiously, booking the headlining attraction between Royce and Wallid ended up being more difficult than getting jiu-jitsu into the Olympics.

It all started with a proposal from Rorion Gracie, creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, to Rio de Janeiro's sports secretary. The eldest son of Helio Gracie wanted to promote the return of his brother Royce to Brazil, holding a jiu-jitsu match with no time limit and no points against any jiu-jitsu or vale tudo world champion. In this way, Rorion, with his undisputed commercial vision, intended to achieve several goals. It would bring Royce’s name in the media again, after almost four years away from the Octagon; it would increase his bank account by US$60,000; it would prove the theory that without a time limit the Gracie were still unbeatable; he would start training Royce, who hadn't fought since his draw with Shamrock at UFC 5 in 95, for the much talked-about fight with Mark Kerr at Pride 6 and, as a bonus, he would launch his clothing brand (Gracie Gear) in Brazil.

The first opponent considered was Vítor Belfort, but his commitments to Ultimate soon took him out of the running. That's when the controversy began. With Vítor's departure, Mario Sperry, who had just submitted Royler Gracie, in BJJ, became the most frequently mentioned name, followed by Amaury Bitetti, Murilo Bustamante and Wallid Ismail. But while the three joined together to lobby Moraes to raise the purse ($10,000) and try to impose some rules for the fight, Wallid, the last on the list, scooped them, accepting the initial proposal and taking the spot.

Despite not having a good moment in MMA, having lost by TKO to Akira Shoji two months earlier at Pride 4, Wallid had in his favor an excellent CV in sport jiu-jitsu and the fact that he had already beaten two other family members in competitions, the brothers Renzo Gracie and Ralph Gracie. But Ismail's attitude was rejected by his teammates, who began to refuse to help him train. Faced with this situation, Ismail—who hadn't put on a kimono in a long time—ended up training with the academy's least qualified students. "Wallid is at 70% of his potential. Even so, I'm confident in his victory," Carlson told me the day before the event.

Royce: Competing Without His Brother’s Support

On Royce's side, the problem ran in the family. Royler Gracie, who was launching the Gracie Brothers brand in partnership with his brother Relson, tried, together with Jose Moraes, to enter the event, participating in one of the preliminaries. The sports secretary liked the idea, but at Rorion's request, he blocked Royler. "There can only be one Gracie at this event," Rorion was quoted as saying. After all, if Rorion was using the event to launch his brand in Brazil, the presence of another Gracie brand would not be welcome. The decision by the UFC’s creator led to a huge family disagreement and it was Royce who paid the price. Upon arriving in Brazil, he was not permitted to train at Royler's gym, where some of the biggest names in jiu-jitsu were certainly to be found. The three-time UFC champion ended up going to Itaipava farm (a quiet place two hours from Rio, where Helio lived) to train with his father and his brothers Rorion and Rolker.

The Fight

The confrontation between one of the best competitors from the Carlson Gracie school and the biggest jiu-jitsu idol in the world attracted fans even from outside Rio de Janeiro and filled the arena set up on Copacabana beach. Since the event was free, the arena was packed before all the fans could get in.

It was clear that Royce and Wallid did not arrive at the arena in their best physical and technical condition, and judging by the well-known tendencies of the protagonists and the other one-hour fights that had taken place in previous challenges, the expectation was for a very long fight, which could even go into the early hours of Dec. 17 at the Copacabana Olympic Arena. So much so that Wallid himself declared it at the press conference the night before. "I advise you to take a book to read in the stands," said the Amazon native, who was never known for being a finishing athlete, but rather a great scorer. Royce, on the other hand, never stood out in gi competitions before going to the USA more than 10 years before. In addition to being outdated, it would clash with the drive and determination of the Amazonian. But some opinions began to change as soon as the fighters entered the arena. Wallid was the picture of confidence, seemingly assured of victory. Royce, on the other hand, looked haggard, unfocused, nothing like the determined UFC champion we were used to seeing.

”Now Rickson Is the Only One Left”

Gracie started strong, taking Ismail down and and putting him in a beautiful crucifix, which Ismail defended. Afterwards, the Carlson Gracie athlete managed to put Royce down and started attacking his guard. A few moments passed and Wallid managed to force his opponent to turn onto all fours. Royce strangely showed no impetus to defend himself when Wallid started to enter with his hand on his collar looking for the clock choke. It was the end.

Shortly afterward, Gracie blacked out in front of an audience of approximately 7,000 people. He remained unconscious for a long time because, when he fainted, he remained in the same position in which he had blacked out: on all fours. Referee Helio Vígio only realized what was happening when Rorion and Relson invaded the mat, worried about their brother's condition.

Faced with the sight of jiu-jitsu's greatest idol unconscious, the audience remained silent. After being hoisted onto the shoulders of top disciples Carlos Barreto and Ricardo Liborio, even the sometimes-confrontational Carlson showed respect on the microphone. “Anyone who won would be the same, Wallid is my student, Royce is my nephew. It’s all Gracie.” On the other hand, Wallid, known for his sharp trash talk, didn't miss the opportunity to praise his achievement in an interview with the press after the fight. “I already beat Renzo, Ralph and Royce. Now Rickson is the only one left,” said the Amazonian, ensuring himself the headlines of the several combat sports publications present.

The surprise defeat by submission of the man who showed the world the effectiveness of Brailian jiu-jitsu was covered in the world's main publications, from Black Belt in the USA to Japan's Kakutougi Tsushin, which featured an impressive photo of Royce unconscious on the cover. In Brazil, Gracie and Tatame magazines also featured Wallid on their covers.