EXCLUSIVE: Martial arts turf war erupts as video shows savage moment Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master 'elbows rival in the face and kicks him in the head, leaving him with missing teeth and a concussion'
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE
Flavio Almeida and Ralph Gracie, two of the most senior figures in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, feature in an explosive video obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com
Almeida, 39, was elbowed square in the face by Gracie - knocking out his two front teeth and leaving him concussed from kicks to the head last December
The fight stems from Gracie not wanting Almeida to set up a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team Gracie Barra franchise 20 miles from his school in San Jose, California
Almeida claims Gracie first threatened him about setting up the franchise and then attacked him while they were both at a Jiu-Jitsu tournament
Later Gracie wrote on social media: 'Because one day somebody gonna try to take something from you and you gonna hafta choke that muthaf**ker'
Almeida has since filed a civil and criminal suit against Almeida after the vicious and allegedly unprovoked attack
By RYAN PARRY WEST COAST EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM AND JOSH BOSWELL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 14:59 EST, 12 November 2019 | UPDATED: 17:10 EST, 12 November 2019
A martial arts turf war has erupted in violence in California, threatening a rift in a sport popular with millions of people around the world, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Two of America's most senior figures in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - a popular variant of the classic Japanese martial art - came to blows at a nasty incident on the side-lines at a Jiu-Jitsu tournament last December.
Flavio Almeida, a main director of the leading Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team, Gracie Barra, told DailyMail.com how he was brutally attacked by Jiu-Jitsu master Ralph 'The Pitbull' Gracie while coaching at the event.
The argument allegedly erupted over Almeida setting up a Gracie Barra franchise 20 miles from Ralph's own Jiu-Jitsu school in San Jose, California.
Almeida, 39, claims his 48-year-old rival first threatened him over the phone before the attack, which was caught on camera.
The video, obtained by DailyMail.com, shows the bone-crunching moment Almeida, 39, was elbowed square in the face by Ralph - knocking out his two front teeth and leaving him concussed from kicks to the head.
Flavio Almeida and Ralph Gracie, two of the most senior figures in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu came to blows in an explosive video obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. The video shows the bone-crunching moment Almeida, 39, was elbowed square in the face by Ralph - knocking out his two front teeth and leaving him concussed from kicks to the head
The fight stems from Gracie (right) not wanting Almeida (left) to set up a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team Gracie Barra franchise so near to his own school in San Jose, California
BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU AND HOW IT DIFFERS FROM THE TRADITIONAL FORM
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a derivation from the classical Japanese martial art form.
It departs by traditional Jiu-Jitsu by focusing on the element of grappling with emphasis on fighting on the ground, with no striking.
It's also seen as being more relaxed with less formality.
BJJ was founded on the idea that a smaller and weaker person could successfully defend themselves against someone bigger and stronger by focusing on technique, leverage and taking the fight to the ground.
Once the opponent is on the ground, the goal is to control the person before applying chokeholds or joint locks, to get the opponent to tap out.
Almeida, Gracie Barra's North America Executive Director, has launched a criminal claim against his alleged attacker and the case is due in court later this month.
Meanwhile Ralph is the grandson of legendary fighter Carlos Gracie, who founded Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with brother Helio in the early 1900s and whose son Carlos Jr. is credited with turning the sport into a global success story.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has become a multi-million dollar industry with founding team Gracie Barra turning the sport into a global phenomenon.
Gracie Barra has 823 schools across six continents and is one of the most dominant teams in the sport, earning senior members of the Gracie family tens of millions of dollars.
Now the shocking attack which was caught on camera, threatens to tarnish the Gracie Barra global brand.
Almeida - who is not a member of the Gracie family but the family members on his side - claims he was first threatened and then attacked by the Jiu-Jitsu master after setting up a Gracie Barra franchise 20 miles from Ralph's own Jiu-Jitsu school in San Jose, California.
Professional fighter Ralph - brother of MMA legend Renzo Gracie - fled to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil after the incident, missing his first court hearing, but returned and was forced to surrender his passport after a grand jury indicted him for felony assault, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Almeida has also filed a civil suit against his boss' nephew over the alleged beating, in which he claims that two weeks after the vicious and allegedly unprovoked attack, Gracie gloated on social media, writing: 'Because one day somebody gonna try to take something from you and you gonna hafta choke that muthaf**ker.'
In an interview at the Gracie Barra headquarters in Irvine, California, Almeida told DailyMail.com that Ralph's threats began in 2017 when he discovered the company was seeking to open a new school in northern California.
The video, obtained by DailyMail.com, shows the bone-crunching moment Almeida, 39, was elbowed square in the face by Ralph - knocking out his two front teeth and leaving him concussed from kicks to the head. Pictured: Almeida missing his two front teeth
Almeida had to shell out more than $1,000 in dentist's fees for temporary replacements so his daughters wouldn't see the jagged gap the assault had left in his mouth.
'He sent threats through mutual friends that ''if you open a school here, bad things will happen'',' Almeida said.
'I decided to call Ralph Gracie out of respect, the conversation didn't go well. He interrupted me and said, ''If you guys come to Northern California, bad things will happen.'' I said ''What do you mean by bad?'', and he said ''You know exactly what I'm talking about.''
Almeida was undeterred, and by August 2018, he had found a franchise owner and arranged the opening of a new school in Morgan Hills, 20 miles from the nearest Ralph Gracie school in San Jose.
'Our franchisee, not knowing about Ralph's concerns, went to Ralph's academy to invite him to the grand opening,' Almeida said. 'Of course he received threats, and he got out of there really scared and concerned.'
Despite the alleged threats, the school opened without incident – until December 15 last year, when Almeida found himself standing next to Gracie on the sidelines of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation world championship at the Anaheim Convention Center.
'I went there as a coach, because I had five of my athletes competing,' said Almeida. 'While coaching one of them, I looked to my right and I saw Ralph just a couple of inches away from me. This athlete I was coaching happened to be a mutual friend of ours, so Ralph was giving him instructions as well.
'I shook his hand and said ''Master Ralph, how are you?'' I wanted to de-escalate. He turned to me and said ''We need to talk''. I said ''Well, I'm available to talk.'' He said, ''You opened a school in my area'' and I replied ''You need to talk about it with your uncle, Carlos Gracie Jr. This is above my pay grade.''
'Those were the last words I uttered. At that point he unleashed the first of three attacks,' Almeida told DailyMail.com. 'It was an elbow to my face, that knocked me out. Then as I was falling to the floor he grabbed behind my head with his left hand and with his right hand he threw two uppercuts to my face. I'm pretty sure those were the strikes that knocked my teeth out.'