"Rickson is the name for a fictional son that I created in order to combat the Lion of The Gracie Family on Carlos' side - Carley Gracie, who claimed to be undefeated in life, and also claimed to be the most technical of the whole family. It is said that he could stop a fight between Gracie brothers or cousins merely by offering to join in the fray. (source: http://www.gracie.com/carley/index.shtml) So, I created my own Lion...Rickson! He doesn't really exist. I just decided to take him out of the limelight years ago because, let's face it, with a record of several thousand wins (counting school yard fights and fights with his brothers), what does he have left to prove? I decided it was best to retire my "son". Fortunately, Carley is no longer a factor, after that unfortunate incident where he attacked some police officers...awful, simply awful. That's all I have to say."
-Helio Gracie (rough translation, source of interview unknown)
lol I don't. Hey, I like Rickson a lot. But I read on here somewhere the other day where someone asked if Rickson even existed, and I thought it was funny. And I've always thought Carley Gracie was hilarious since I first found out about him, and from what I've heard, he's somewhat of a dirtbag, so I wanted to play on that. He may or may not be a dirtbag, but the police thing is for real. And his claims are even more fantastic than Rickson's. I'm not saying I doubt Rickson. But most other people seem to think his claims are ridiculous.
I've wondered the same thing fightnow. There is an interview of him with Combat Sports or something like that at the link I posted. It's kinda funny reading, and in it, he claims that he is in a lawsuit against Rorion over Rorion TMing the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu brand name. He claims that he offered to settle the dispute the Gracie way, by fighting right there in the court room, or in a neutral dojo, but Rorion made excuses saying that he was retired, his shoulder hurt, etc. He said the reason for this was that Rorion could never beat him. He was 8-0 against Rorion, winning every time, so he said Rorion wouldn't choose a losing venture, so decided to try his luck with the courts. True? Who knows. Read the interview though. It's funny stuff.
I found a link for the court files for Carley's lawsuit against Rorion. He filed it in 1994 and it wasn't resovled until around 2000!! At least I think that's what it says. I'm trying to read through all the legalese. Anyways, here's the link:
As it makes a good point, Jiu-Jitsu, specifically Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, was relatively unheard of in the mainstream until 1993, despite the fact that Carley came here to the US in the early 70's. Rorion had a better strategy than Carley, and really opened the door for Jiu-Jitsu and MMA to be what it is today. America was a huge open door for the Gracie's and other BJJ fighters to come to. I say more power to them. Carley though, he seems like a bum. He's been here for over 30 years and never did make a name for himself. I know it's not all about making a name for yourself all the time, I'm not saying that. But he took Rorion to court, not the other way around. He was upset by Rorion's success, and the fact that Rorion copyrighted the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu brand name, with good reason. It went a long way in preventing a wave of BJJ mcdojo's opening up around the country.
Love him or hate him, Rorion was/is a marketing genius.
"Carley's achievements are legendary in the Gracie family. He was Brazilian professional national champion from 1969 through 1972 in both competition jiu-jitsu and Vale Tudo ("everything goes"), and received his seventh degree black belt at the unprecedented age of twenty-two. His professional record is unparalleled within the Gracie family. Known in Brazil as O Indestruivel (" the indestructible one"..."