Gracie Barra has publicly responded to reports of an altercation between Flavio Almeida, A Gracie Family member, and an unidentified student at this weekend’s IBJJF World’s No-Gi Championships. Anecdotal reports this weekend detailed a verbal disagreement which turned violent, with Gracie allegedly hip throwing Almeida before kicking him while downed, then slapping him again as GB students helped Almeida to his feet. Similar reports suggested Almeida lost teeth in the fight, and witnesses reported Gracie was seen been questioned by police outside the event.
Today Ricardo Almeida posted the following to social media:
“Thank you for your concern. As you may know, while coaching at the World No-Gi Championships, Flavio was viciously attacked by Ralph Gracie and one of Ralph’s students. The attack was completely by surprise, was unprovoked and did not allow Flavio a chance to protect himself. It was clear that the attack was meant to hurt Flavio personally, and also to intimidate Gracie Barra. The police are involved and are investigating. Flavio’s doctors have advised him to take time to rest with this family and recover from his injuries under their care, and to resume work when he is able. We very much appreciate your concern. We will address this situation further when the time is right.”
Almeida was allegedly on crutches at the time of the attack, which has been suggested as part of an ongoing feud about gym territories in the San Francisco area.
Marcio Feitosa posted:
