Ralph Gracie sentenced to six months in prison for assaulting Flavio Almeida

Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend and former PRIDE fighter Ralph Gracie was sentenced to six months in prison for assaulting Flavio Almeida.

Globo first reported that a United States court sentenced Gracie to six months in prison for the assault, along with three years of probation. According to Almeida’s lawyers, Gracie was also fined $50,000, will have to attend anger-management classes, and is prohibited from leaving the United States.

The assault allegedly took place at the IBJJF 2018 World No-Gi Championship. According to BJJHeroes, Almedia was watching a BJJ match when Gracie walked up beside him and smashed him in the head with an elbow he never saw coming. The cheat shot resulted in Almeida suffering injuries, including seizures and three broken teeth. You can watch a video of the incident below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06wqRvN0Kdo

The motive for the assault allegedly had to do with Almeida opening up Gracie Barra gyms in San Francisco, which was the Ralph Gracie Academy’s territory. Gracie was reportedly not happy that Almeida was opening up his own gym in the area and so he took matters into his own hands. The problem was what he did was illegal, and the vicious assault was even caught on camera. This case has been in the courts for two years before Gracie was finally sentenced.

Ralph Gracie is the son of Robson Gracie and he is the brother of Renzo Gracie, Ryan Gracie, and Charles Gracie. Ralph is a fifth-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and he was also a successful mixed martial artist. A pioneer of the sport, Gracie’s first MMA fight came in 1992 — before the UFC even held its first event — and he went 6-1 overall in MMA. His most notable win was a decision over Dokonjonosuke Mishima at PRIDE Bushido 1, while his most notable loss in mixed martial arts was a six-second KO against Takanori Gomi.