When you see the words fighter and Parkinson’s, the first image that comes to your mind might be an old and weathered Muhammad Ali. The legendary boxer died at 74 after a losing battle against the degenerative brain disease. This is a battle, which we learned last year, BJJ Legend Rickson Gracie is now fighting.

The 63-year-old from the most famous family in the history of MMA revealed some shocking health updates later on in his life. Rickson Gracie who is the son of the legend Helio Gracie disclosed that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 2 years ago.

What happened to Rickson Gracie?

In 2023 Rickson Gracie revealed that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease around two years ago which would be 2021. He was 62 when he was diagnosed and while this is not exceptionally old it is a time of life when neurological conditions can significantly affect especially if you are a combat sports athlete. Surprisingly when he spoke about the same he was at peace with his condition.

In an interview, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and Vale Tudo legend Rickson Gracie revealed, “I’m ready for anything in my life… I accept life, and what I’ve done, so I’m happy today. But this neurologic condition opened my eyes to my age and reality… I have some hand tremors, a certain movement deficiency, things I didn’t have before.”

Sharing a piece of his experience and wisdom, he said, “If I give you a lot of money and you do bad things, money hasn’t served for anything. But if I give you a lot of money and you do good things, then I’m proud I’ve given you so much money.” He still wants to continue working in the sports that has made him who he is.

Rickson Gracie’s MMA and combat sports career

“I’m not scared of death,” Gracie said in a Rolling Stone interview. “Everybody is going to die. But quitting is not an acceptable option.” He has had an incredible undefeated record of 11 wins in the open weight category. Just like his father Kron Gracie who is the youngest son of the legend; is making a record of his own in the MMA world. He has won five fights till now and is getting ready for UFC 310.

However, his father declared that he would not be in his corner. Sadly even though Gracie Senior was his coach for a long time the two have been less involved recently. They have had disagreements on the best way to approach the sport and it is not surprising given the fact that they are from different generations.

Regardless of whether he’s in his corner or not, Rickson Gracie only had good things to say about his youngest son ahead of UFC 310: “I am very hopeful that he does a good fight, I want him to win but now I am giving him space and we had a certain understanding and now he has the space to decide his life in the best way. I pray for him, but now I am going to stay at home watching.”

Rickson Gracie has created a legendary career for himself which might be hard to replicate. His life is shown beautifully in the documentary called ‘Choke’ as well. What do you think about his approach to life and his condition?