A night on the town has landed the Gracie clan in some serious trouble.
First reported by the New York Post, MMA legend Renzo Gracie is facing charges of gang assault in the second degree after he and his party allegedly sent a nightclub doorman to the hospital with a broken arm. The group, which included fellow fighter Igor Gracie, had just arrived at 1 OAK, an exclusive club located a mile west of The Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan. Sherdog was able to acquire an eyewitness statement detailing the incident.
According to the witness, Gracie arrived at the club in a group of approximately seven men and immediately went to the front of the line.
Gracie then became involved in a confrontation with what the witness described as the doorman. Things escalated from there, as Gracie’s group allegedly squared off with a group of 1-Oak bouncers. According to the witness, Gracie at one point had the doorman in full mount, while another one of his group hit a different bouncer with a construction cone.
The fracas spilled into the street, with more punches being thrown. Eventually the police arrived and arrested everyone in Gracie’s party, while an ambulance came for the bouncer who had been mounted by Gracie, according to the witness. It was unclear as to why Gracie and his group were originally upset.
After Gracie was arrested by responding officers of the New York Police Department’s 10th Precinct, FOX Sports’ Marc Raimondi reported the Jiu Jitsu master could face a 15-year sentence in state prison. A source close to the situation confirmed with MMA Fighting that Gracie was originally set to be released by 2 p.m. ET on Monday, but that the arraignment had been delayed to later that evening.
Largely removed from competition, Renzo Gracie has spent much of the past decade mentoring former and current UFC champions like Frankie Edgar, Georges St-Pierre and Chris Weidman. In 2012 Gracie was involved in another incident in New York City when he dispatched a pair of would-be muggers, live-tweeting the action while dolling out some street justice.
Courtesy of Sherdog, the below video captures the scene prior to Gracie being arrested. (NSFW language)
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Expensive shoving. Quinton Jackson was fined $10K and was nearly removed from the card by the Mississippi Athletic Commission for pushing Muhammed Lawal at the weigh-ins for Bellator 120. ‘[Rampage] got very irate and at this point was f-bombing me pretty bad.’
‘Black Superman.’ King Mo feels disrespected by Bellator and Bjorn Rebney in how they chose to promote his bout with Rampage Jackson. “Everything positive was about Rampage, and then he was like, ‘oh yeah, we have Mo right here.’ So I felt disrespected a little bit.”
‘There was nothing we could have done.’ Mauricio Rua says his recent highway robbery is just one example of how Brazil isn’t doing enough to protect its citizens. ‘In a country like Brazil, when you have major issues to solve as violence and health care, the government spends money with sports.’
PPV talk. Dave Melzter breaks down Bellator 120 and offers potential matchups if the company moves forward with a second pay-per-view event.
Hendo’s days numbered. At 43, Dan Henderson says he isn’t interested in fighting as long as Randy Couture.
It’s Tuesday, so make sure to check out The MMA Hour featuring Urijah Faber, Muhammed Lawal, Alex Caceres, Luke Barnatt, Sarah Kaufman, Ben Askren and Luke Thomas.
MEDIA STEW
HBO Real Sports feature on the Buffers.
Dana White talking boxing and Ronda Rousey.
Demian Maia moving on from back-to-back losses.
Nice look at character design for EA Sports UFC.
Johny Hendricks rocking some major hardware on that injured elbow.
Countdown to UFC 173: Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson.
Long watches.
Co-Main Event Podcast Episode 104 (5/19/2014)
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Knuckle Up #417 Bellator 120 + the Good, Bad + Ugly Breakdown
TWEETS
Will Brooks went HAM Monday night.
I honestly couldn’t careless about what Bellator does next. I’ll be here getting better and ready to fight anyone anytime. #anyonecangetit
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 19, 2014
Like it or not I won the belt. I don’t care what Bjorn or Bellator does next, go do Chandler/Alvarez III I don’t care #nofucksaregiven
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
Bjorn’s not going to send 1 of Bellator’s poster boys to the back of the line and back in the tournament. Let’s stop playing games
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
I honestly don’t need the Bellator belt to be champion I just want to get better as a fighter and change the way things work now.
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
My GF, family, friends, coach, teammates, and fans support me as if I’m a champion belt or no belt so I’m no tripping
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
It’s all BS and the people know it and the fighters. Like me or hate me I’m going to force change in this organization or be fired
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
I paid Chandler respect said “with or without a belt Chandler is a champion still” he can’t show the same respect fine lets do it again bro
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
Chandler/Alvarez are only worried about fighting each other and making their money and more power to them for that can’t hate them for it.
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
But I’m focused on changing things for the fighters in the organization because there’s talent in Bellator that’s getting over looked
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
We the fighters break our necks, grind, suffer, and sacrifice in the gym to battle and entertain. And for what? To be taken advantage of
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
Some people believe Chandler beat me and that’s fine your entitled to your opinions. But this fight I took wasn’t about a win or the belt
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
I took the fight against Chandler because I believe 100% that it’s time for a change in the organization so I put myself out there
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
I just want the best for the fighters of this sport not the organizations. The fighters and the sport should be first at all times
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
I’ve said what I have to say again agree or disagree with the judges I honestly don’t care. I 100% just want the best for the fighters/sport
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 20, 2014
Rampage trolling.
King Mo owe me some dough.. Winner takes all!! @BellatorMMA
— Quinton Jackson (@Rampage4real) May 19, 2014
I think u herd wrong fam.. @bellatormma #bellatorppv http://t.co/lwokliR7mp
— Quinton Jackson (@Rampage4real) May 19, 2014
Might be a good idea.
Hey @ShogunRua I heard you are having a rough time with some of your countrymen. If you ever need any PSD give me a call. I know people.
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) May 20, 2014
Why not?
Let’s see if@TitoOtiz can do that to me. He knows his only hope is to hold me down for dear life. #illwhoophisass #titoaintshit
— Stephan Bonnar (@StephanBonnar) May 19, 2014
Crazy.
What u are doing 19 years a go? I was fighting my first professional fight. So if u think I am about… http://t.co/vH0iGYNrkI
— Vitor Belfort (@vitorbelfort) May 20, 2014
Best thing in the world is celebrating fifteen years of career with a fight scheduled in the largest… http://t.co/ISfFOnCW78
— Gleison Tibau (@TibauATT) May 19, 2014
No thanks.
Giving Sammy the military dog some practice today! #militarydogs #AFETour http://t.co/TDBHEA5dSy
— Jessamyn Duke (@jessamynduke) May 18, 2014
Peace at last?
Dana White & Ken Shamrock — ‘We Have Squashed Our Beef’ http://t.co/wnyFeuqqWl
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) May 20, 2014
He’s gone too far.
Hold up, lemme take a #selvis http://t.co/XkSF3eSltr
— Mayhem (@mayhemmiller) May 19, 2014
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (May 19 2014)
cancelled Diego Brandao vs. Brian Ortega at The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale
Brett Cooper vs. Brandon Halsey at Bellator 122
Andrey Koreshkov vs. Adam McDonough at Bellator 122
Fabricio Camoes vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 176
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via innate23.
Why we can never like Bellator like Strikeforce, Pride, or Afflicition
When anticipating Bellator 120, I found myself caring more about whether or not this fight would bring Bellator to be a legitimate UFC competitor than whether or not King Mo or Rampage would win. Would we be able to reclaim the excitement and love of MMA everyone felt when one man defied the relevance of an entire organization.
But watching the weigh in’s, prefight shows, etc. to Bellator 120 made me realize that while Bellator may rise to the level of the UFC, it can never be a competitor like Strikeforce, Price, or Afflicition. Bellator copies EVERYTHING the UFC does, and does it worse. The weigh in’s we’re identicle to UFC’s – except with worse camera angles, the pre-fight shows were nearly identicle – except with worse production quality, even the CEO looks identicle – except he’s a ball-less replica. If we hate the UFC for being a unfair big company monopoly we would HATE Bellator even more if they were in UFC’s dominant market position. Bellator is owned by Viacom, one of the largest media conglomerates in the world, and thus can never be that underdog that we wanted to root for.
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Check out the rest of the post here.
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