Rickson Gracie Expands Infidelity Secrets and techniques Carried out To “Type A Clan Of Fighters”

Last August, Rickson Gracie’s autobiography Breathe: A Life in Flow was published and reviewed by Bloody Elbow. Now the MMA legend has expanded the secret he shared in this book – the true identity of his birth mother – on the Portuguese-language podcast Trocação Franca.

“My uncle and father intended to start a clan of fighters and they couldn’t limit themselves to one relationship and two or three children,” said Rickson. Carlos Gracie is known to have 21 children with seven different wives. Helio Gracie, less well known, had nine children with his wife Margarida. Except not really.

As it turned out, Margarida was unable to have children and was complicit in public perception that Helios children were hers, to the point of fake pillows-to-be pregnancies.

Rickson felt it was time to share his story. “I think that’s a truth that needs to be told at some point. I didn’t know the reality when I was born. I always saw Margarida entirely as my mother and saw it no differently. I believed that until I was 16. After I started connecting the dots and making things more meaningful, I really understood that my real mom was a nanny that my dad had for a long time. With [Margarida’s] Agreement, they had a plan that they had three children. “

The nanny, a woman named Isabel, was also the birth mother of Rorion and Relson Gracie. In addition to the agreed situation with Isabel, Helio also had a secret family that Margarida knew nothing about. While Rickson points out how much this harmed Margarida, Rickson has never been able to understand Isabel’s side of the story.

“After it was revealed … we always treated her differently as a unique nanny who later turned into Mother # 2, you know? We treated her nicely, but she never spoke about that fact, never about being our mother. We never talked about it openly, ”Gracie said. “The only time I tried to talk to her about it, I was already married, I think it was 2006 or 2008, and she said no one in her family knew about it. She kept it a secret. Since she wanted it that way, I didn’t want to force anything by coming as a new son. “

Helio’s other partner was a woman named Vera who worked at the Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro. One day, Helio introduced Rickson to his four half-brothers, Rolker, Royler, Royce and Rerika. Later on, Vera would have Ricci and Robin.

When Margarida found out about this secret family, she fell into depression. “I saw in my mother that even though she did everything out of love, it got to a point where her depression, her sadness at not being able to satisfy him with her own strength, felt that she wasn’t succeeded end. As she got older, I began to feel a lack of joy and that influenced me a lot. Thinking about seeing this relationship is not something I wanted in my life. Even though I admired my father as a role model, as a general … on the relationship side, I had the feeling that he was missing something. “

When asked how he kept a secret for so long, Rickson Gracie said, “I’m just a victim of the product.”