Carlson Gracie (August 13, 1932 – February 1, 2006) was a practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. A member of the Gracie family, he was the eldest son of Carlos Gracie, and nephew to Hélio Gracie, founders of Gracie jiu-jitsu. Carlson Gracie is considered one of the most important and influential Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners. He and his students created various innovative techniques and strategies which revolutionized Jiu-Jitsu. He is also a mixed martial arts pioneer, having participated in multiple vale tudo matches in the 1950s and 1960s. His academy had one of the first programs for specific training for MMA, and many of his students would become world champions and go on to establish their own academies. Career Carlson was an early pioneer in mixed martial arts, founding one of the most successful teams of the era, which spawned many champions. In 2000, following a financial dispute, many of Carlson Gracie's students would split from him to form another MMA team, the Brazilian Top Team. These students were called creontes by Carlson Gracie because of perceived lack of loyalty. Carlson fought a total of eighteen vale tudo fights, with only one loss to Luta Livre fighter Euclides Pereira in a fight that was held in Bahia. His first fight was on March 17, 1953 against capoeira practitioner Luiz "Cirandinha" Aguiar, apprentice of Mestre Sinhozinho. Carlson won by submission due to mounted strikes after a tough fight. His second match was a draw against another capoeirista, Wilson "Passarito" Oliveira, in May 1953. Carlson had a rematch with Passarito in March 1954 in the longest fight of his career, which he won in the fifth 30 minute round. Most notable are his four matches with Valdemar Santana, who had defeated his uncle Hélio Gracie in a fabled match in May 1955. He beat Santana in the first fight avenging his family. In October 1955 Carlson fought Santana to a draw in a jiu-jitsu match. In 1956 and 1957 Carlson won two fights and in 1959 they fought to a draw. Carlson Gracie trained many top competitors, including, among many others, Ricardo De La Riva, Allan Goes, Murilo Bustamante, Mário Sperry, Wallid Ismail, Pablo Popovitch, Vauvenargues "Marinho" Vicentini, André Pederneiras, and Ricardo Liborio. He was also responsible for introducing Vitor Belfort to Gracie jiu-jitsu. Carlson Gracie trained Stephan Bonnar, a finalist in the UFC reality show The Ultimate Fighter 1. He was in Bonnar's corner