Ryan Gracie was a controversial BJJ black belt and MMA fighter, but to his only son, Rayron, he was simply “Dad.”
Rayron was just a week past his sixth birthday when his father was found dead in a jail cell, having been arrested for stealing and crashing a car and trying to steal a motorcycle to flee from police. The psychiatrist who tended to him in jail, Dr. Sabino Ferreira de Faria, was accused of medical negligence for over-prescribing medication, which was ruled as the cause of Ryan’s death. Ferreira had to serve two years of community service, and Rayron had to grow up without his dad.
In a new short film, “Letters To My Father,” the purple belt and 2020 Pans champion shares his journey as a jiu-jitsu athlete, a teen, and a boy who lost his dad. Directed by Allen Alcantara and produced by New Noise Productions, the film is named for Rayron’s decision to write letters to his late father over the years, sharing his life with his dad as best as he can.
You can watch the emotional film below:
