Daniel Simoes Gracie - Sixth Degree BJJ Black Belt

Daniel Simoes was born in Rio Janeiro, Brazil on June 28th, 1972. He is a 6th-degree black belt and one of the top heavyweight fighters. He appeared in both BJJ and MMA competitions and made some prestigious wins. In BJJ, Daniel won various major championships, such as the  IBJJF World Championship, Pan Championship, and Brazilian National Championship. Now he is the owner of Daniel Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy.

Daniel Gracie started BJJ training under the influence of his father named, Carlos Alberto Vieira. Though Daniel did not receive his black belt from Helio Gracie, but he got a chance to train under him. Daniel Simoes is the cousin of Renzo, Ryan, and Ralph Gracie so he was associated with BJJ from his childhood. When he turned 10 in 1982, he started BJJ training regularly.

He is honored to be one of the first students of Gracie Barra. He started his BJJ career under senior Gracies and pioneers of BJJ, including Helio Gracie, Rolls Gracie, Carlson Gracie, and Carlos Gracie Jr in Gracie Barra. In the first place, he was a student of Rolls Gracie, but after the accidental death of Rolls, Gracie Barra went under the supervision of Carlos Gracie Jr. and Carlson Gracie. Resultantly, Daniel Gracie trained with Carlos and Carlson and made an unbreakable bond with BJJ under the tutelage of Carlos Gracie Jr. 

As Daniel lived with other Gracies in the same house, he and his cousins continued their BJJ training even after their school. Their senior family members were their teachers. So their home became a school in which all the students and teachers lived together.

In 1996, Daniel won a gold medal in the IBJJF World Championship as a brown belt. After his extraordinary win in the World Championship, he was promoted to black belt by his cousin Ryan Gracie. On a casual day after a workout, he tied the belt around his waist. It was a surprise for Daniel. Later this belt promotion was approved by Carlos Gracie Jr. In the same year after the belt promotion, Daniel proved that he was eligible for the belt by winning two medals in the Brazilian Nationals.   

Daniel Simoes Gracie is not a Gracie by blood but he is the cousin of Ryan, Ralph, and Renzo Gracie. His mother is the sister of Renzo Gracie’s mother. He spent all his childhood with the Gracies and learned BJJ with them. Therefore his professional name is Daniel Simoes Gracie. 

Daniel Gracie debuted in MMA in 2002. He fought for some major championships like Pride Fights, Bellator, and IFL. In his first six fights, he won four fights, two with submission, and one fight was a draw. Until 2006, his MMA record was 4-1-1. In 2006, he lost a fight by knockout against Allan Goes. After this loss, he decided to leave MMA.

It was Daniel’s dream to appear in the Pride Fighting Championship. He asked his cousin Renzo Gracie to train at Renzo Gracie’s Jiu-Jitsu Academy in the 2000s. He was surprised when his cousin told him that his fight will be in one month in the Pride Fighting Championship. After a great premiere, Daniel faced Takashi Sugiura in a crowd of six thousand people and defeated his opponent with a split decision.

In 2003, Daniel faced Shinsuke in Japan and submitted him by armbar. In 2003, he fought again in the Pride Championship. He lost one of his fights with the decision but got the submission in the second bout with an armbar.

Even though Daniel quit MMA after 2006, he returned to MMA in 2010 and fought in Israel FCGenesis. In this fight, he earned a quick win in his first round by submission. He debuted in the Bellator Fighting Championship season 4, but he could not win his first two fights. After that, he did not appear in any MMA fights. Now his present MMA record is 5-4-1.

Daniel Gracie and Rolls Gracie Jr. debuted in professional wrestling in 2014. Both of them attended a promotion of professional wrestling in Japan in which they challenged openly for an event, Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome held on January 4, 2014. Their challenge was accepted by two Japanese professional wrestlers, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Yuji Nagata.

Kazushi Sakuraba is now famous as the ‘Gracie Hunter’. Rolls Gracie Jr. was disqualified against Nagata because he tried to choke him with his Gi. Later a rematch was conducted. Rolls Gracie Jr. submitted both wrestlers in later fights. Both Gracies faced Yokohama Arena but could not succeed to defeat him. 

Daniel started his coaching career when his coach and mentor, Carlos Gracie Jr. wanted his students to learn coaching techniques. At that time, Daniel was in Sao Paulo along with Marcelo Behring. He learned a lot from his iconic personality. After Behring relocated to Rio de Janeiro, Daniel decided to start a team with his cousins, Ralph, Ryan, and Russo with the name Gracie Sao Paulo.

This team gave rise to multiple champions. The affiliated  fighters defeated some of the most-skilled BJJ athletes  from Rio de Janeiro. In 1990, a rivalry appeared on the surface between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro due to this academy.  

Soon after, Daniel started another campus of the academy in ABC Paulista. This branch became famous as it produced various MMA champions. The progress was cut-short because Daniel had to move to the USA to teach at his cousin’s academy, the Renzo Gracie Academy.

In 2013, Daniel relocated to Philadelphia and started his own academy, Daniel Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Now his academy has 15 branches across America where students train BJJ and MMA. The branches of his academies are:

Daniel Gracie is now married and has a son.

Daniel Gracie faced Abmar Barbosa in the Ultimate Absolute NYC. Both fighters started the fight in a standing position and tried to pull down each other. After one and a half minutes, Daniel took down Barbosa and took the top position. Barbosa tried to escape but Daniel was in the dominating position. He strangled the wrist of Barbosa, put him completely on the ground, and then mounted him. Then he lifted Barbosa’s arm and tried to apply an armlock but could not succeed as Barbosa used his legs and escaped. However, a few seconds later, Daniel again mounted him. He put all his weight on his opponent to exhaust him. After a few minutes, Daniel successfully applied an armbar and submitted Abmar Barbosa.

Daniel Gracie faced Wataru Sakata in the Pride Fighting Championship 2003. Before this fight, Daniel just lost to Kazuhiro Nakamura one month ago in the Pride Fighting Championship and had a record of 2-1-0. Both fighters started the fight with strikes. Daniel attacked Sakata several times with high kicks. After a few minutes, Daniel strangled Sakata’s head to attempt a guillotine. Then he threw him down and took the top position; however, Sakata quickly escaped. Daniel Gracie once again took side control and then transitioned into the guillotine. During all these, he continuously hit Sakata. He left Sakata for a minute and hit his face with his knee.

At the same time, Sakata used this opportunity to grab Daniel’s leg, pull him down, and successfully secure the dominant position. Daniel still managed to strangle both of his hands to avoid strikes. Sakata got his hand free but Gracie covered his face with his hand and leg to avoid strikes. To move his leg away, Sakata had to stand up, and this move created the opportunity Daniel was looking for. He stood up quickly to apply the guillotine yet again and took the top position. After heavily striking Sakata’s face, Daniel abruptly applied for an armbar. Sakata resisted the armbar and tried to hit Daniel's face with his leg but eventually submitted.

Wataru Sakata vs Daniel Gracie - Pride Shockwave 2003

The Ultimate Absolute: Abmar Barbosa X Daniel Gracie

Photo Credit: @danielgracie