Renzo Gracie hails Sheikh Mohamed's 'unforgettable' support as Dubai academy launch nears

For Renzo Gracie, the UAE always made for an obvious choice to launch his first academy outside the United States.

There is the fact Rafael Haubert, his Brazilian compatriot and long-time friend, will oversee the project as owner and head coach. Haubert has lived in the Emirates for 14 years and is renown as one of the country’s foremost jiu-jitsu instructors.

“It’s a pleasure to be doing this with him,” Gracie tells The National inside his Abu Dhabi apartment, Haubert sitting alongside him. “Because Rafael was the first to open a [jiu-jitsu] school in Dubai. To have the chance to work with him now is insane.

“I know how good he is and how well he does his job. It’s special.”

Coming from someone of Gracie’s standing, the commendation is not lost on Haubert. Anything but.

“You see the hairs standing up, to hear that from him,” Haubert says, stretching out his arm. “The responsibility is amazing right now; you can see that.”

That it elicits such a reaction should not come as a surprise. Gracie, 56, is veritable martial arts royalty, the grandson of Gracie Jiu Jitsu founder Carlos Gracie.

Renzo’s dad, Robson Gracie, is a 9th Dan Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu [BJJ] black belt, who initiated his son’s life-long love affair with jiu-jitsu. It began when he was four years old.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu great Renzo Gracie during a workshop demonstration in Abu Dhabi on August 28, 2014. Delores Johnson / The National

A multiple-time BJJ champion in Brazil, Renzo would go on to become a repeat champion in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC), later inducted into its Hall of Fame.

He has competed also in Pride Fighting Championships, the UFC and a number of other prominent promotions.

His coaching, though, is famed. Having relocated to the US,