Before the Ultimate Fighting Championship became the promotional juggernaut it is today, there were the Gracies.
They are the first family of mixed martial arts, at least partially credited with everything from the creation of jiu-jitsu to the UFC itself. But long before the UFC began running fight cards seemingly every weekend from every corner of the globe, there were the Gracies, staunchly defending their art against all comers.
They wanted to prove that jiu-jitsu was what they said it was: the perfect martial art, designed so that even the smallest among them would have a chance against a larger opponent in a real fight.
It was the Gracies against the world.
Today, a younger member of the Gracie clan is continuing her family’s legacy.
But in a strange twist, she is doing it in reverse.
Kyra Gracie, 30, is something of a legendary figure in jiu-jitsu circles. She is one of few Gracie women to attain vaunted black-belt status. But she’s no mere Gracie black belt; she is a black belt of the third degree.
By her early 20s, she was winning championships. Her list of accomplishments includes the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship (four times), the Pan American Championship (five times) and the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship (three times).
In 2014, Gracie turned her eyes towards mixed martial arts. She retired from jiu-jitsu competition and began training boxing and wrestling. The UFC was interested in bringing Gracie on board, and all signs pointed toward her making her Octagon debut sooner rather than later.
But then she became pregnant and decided to put her new career plans on hold. Motherhood came first. Today, Gracie says that while you can never say never, she has no current plans to finish her transition into mixed martial arts. Instead, she is focusing her attention on raising her child and on her role as a UFC analyst for Globo, the broadcast network that airs UFC events in Brazil.
But Gracie still trains in various aspects of mixed martial arts. In fact, she is embarking on a new journey that will see her travel to learn different martial arts from master teachers across the globe.
It is Third Degree, and it will air on Fight Pass, the UFC’s subscription streaming channel. Much like Netflix and Amazon, the UFC has realized that simply having a library of prior fight cards is not enough. There must be original content. They recently hired former Yahoo! and Rivals executive Eric Winter to oversee Fight Pass, and Third Degree is one of the first attempts at creating new, original content that does not involve mixed martial arts bouts but is still related to the sport.
The first episode of Third Degree sees Gracie in Brazi covering jiu-jitsu. This is familiar territory to her. But it is in the second episode where things begin to get interesting, and where she finds herself out of her comfort zone. She heads to Mexico City to train boxing under the tutelage of Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and one of the greatest trainers in the history of the sport.
Even in Mexico City, drifting among athletes training in a completely different sport, her last name was instantly recognized.
“They knew I was a world champion,” Gracie tells Bleacher Report. “They were like, ‘You’re a Gracie. I can’t believe you’re here.’ They were very respectful and open and willing to teach me. And there were those who still want to be world-champion boxers, but they also want to do MMA in the future.”
Boxing is not the end of Gracie’s trail for Third Degree. Future episodes have not filmed yet, according to UFC representative Anthony Evans. But plans are underway for Gracie to travel to Japan to learn karate and judo, to Thailand for muay thai, to South Korea for taekwondo, to Russia for sambo, and to the United States to learn folk-style wrestling.
It’s a dream scenario for Gracie, who says that she always wanted to travel around the world in search of mixed martial arts training. The difference here is that she’s on camera, and it is a perfect fit for her outgoing personality.
“It was something I always planned on doing,” she says. “I always wanted to go to Thailand to learn muay thai, to go other places and learn, even if it was just to help my jiu-jitsu. So when the UFC came up with this idea, I was like, ‘Wow. I can’t believe it.’ It’s just great for me to travel around and get the essence of each martial art, to learn from great masters and to see what it takes to be a champion in each of the martial arts.”
In one scene during the boxing episode, Gracie joins other students in lying on her back as others take turns walking on their flexed bellies.
“The main thing is that I was there to train, to feel what they feel,” she says. “I wasn’t there just to record. I wanted to see what they felt. But I also wanted to show the audience what it was like. To be a champion is not an easy thing. You have to suffer.”
Gracie says that there are striking similarities between the Mexican athletes who have traveled to Mexico City in search of the best training available and those who do the same in Brazil for mixed martial arts. The trainees live spartan lifestyles, which is evident when Gracie visits the tiny apartment of one of the fighters. She says it is not quite so different from the early career of many current Brazilian UFC stars.
“They give up a lot to train. They move countries to train boxing in Mexico. Here in Brazil, we have people who have moved from all over the world to train jiu-jitsu. Or Jose Aldo; he moved from Manaus to Rio de Janeiro. He was a poor guy with no money who dreamed of being a champion. The good thing for me is that I was able to see what it takes to be a champion.”
The first two episodes of Third Degree are currently available on Fight Pass. Gracie says she hopes that fans of the sport will watch, and she believes hardcore fans will find plenty to enjoy.
“The main thing about the show is that you’re going to get the essence of each martial art that makes MMA,” she says. “So if you love MMA, you’re going to love the show. You’re going to find great fighters and a lot of good history.
“But it’s not only about the training; it’s about their lives. What does it take to be a champion? You will find out.”
Jeremy Botter covers mixed martial arts for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
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