Gracie: In jiu-jitsu, I think the world championships in 1997 will always be remembered. I had seven fights -- in my weight category and in the absolute division. In my category, I defeated Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, in the final. He was a 17-year-old boy who came in hungry, and I was 35 years old. Actually, I could have been his father and that was a landmark moment for me. I got the third place in absolute, even though I weighed 65 kilograms. I remember that I was on the same podium with Fabio Gurgel, Amaury Bitetti and Mario Sperry. Right after that, I was champion in Abu Dhabi, so 1997 was a very important year for me.
Gracie: The fight against Kazushi Sakuraba. He was much heavier than I was and was also in the prime of his career, beating a lot of top guys. Actually, I didn’t go in presuming I’d beat him. I just wanted to know how he could beat me; that’s all I wanted to know. I was the sniper. I thought if he made some mistakes, I would catch him. He had the right game plan; he avoided the ground. I have no doubt that he was clearly superior in both the first and second rounds, but I never ran from the fight. He wanted to fight standing up, and I stood up and fought with him, but what affected me was the referee’s attitude of stopping the fight. In the contract, they said unless there was a knockout or submission, the fight would be declared draw, but the Japanese fans wanted to see him fight against Rickson Gracie. Nobody knows how our fight would have ended, if he would have broken my arm, if I would have tapped or if it would have finished in a draw.
Sherdog: Your fans can see you fighting again. Is there any possibility of it happening?
Gracie: I don’t know; I’m not worried about that. In jiu-jitsu, I’m more focused on being a coach. I’m not planning to compete anymore, unless there is a good proposal in ADCC. As far as MMA goes, I would like to have a retirement fight. My last fight against Hideo Tokoro was very nice, but, unfortunately, the referees judged him the winner. I thought it was a really even fight. If it had been in Brazil, I probably would have won, but since it happened in Japan, I can’t complain.
Sherdog: Have you put together a video in which you teach your best techniques?
Gracie: That’s true, and I’m very happy with the result. In this video, I teach some important techniques that I used in competitions. The video shows the fights, and after each one, I teach exactly the same position in a studio.
Sherdog: What’s the secret to your staying young?
Gracie: I keep following the Gracie diet. Even when I travel, I try to eat fruits and keep doing the right things. The secret to everything is what my father used to say: “If you put old gasoline in your car, it will break down.” The human body is just like a car. My father always said, “You are what you eat.”
Sherdog: How do you feel about the recognition of the Gracie name in the US?
Gracie: In Brazil, everybody knows me, but here in America, I have to say I’m impressed by how many times people stop me on the street. Even though my face is not shown anywhere on TV or the Internet, when it appears in MMA or jiu-jitsu magazines, I’m really impressed by that. I think when people recognize me it’s because of the years of hard work from my dad, my uncle, my brothers and all the practitioners of jiu-jitsu.
Sherdog: How do you view the importance of your father and uncle in the history of MMA?
Gracie: Without them, we wouldn’t be here in China doing an interview. The world wouldn’t be practicing jiu-jitsu and MMA. We have to thank that skinny man who must be over there looking down on us, the great master Helio Gracie and his brother, Carlos. They planted the seeds that we are all reaping nowadays.