Born a Champion: Renzo Gracie Cameo Explained

Mixed martial arts legend Renzo Gracie makes a cameo in Born a Champion, so what’s the context for his appearance? The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master has trained numerous fighters over the years while also boosting his legacy in the octagon. Now that MMA is more popular than ever, fans of the sport may be curious about Gracie’s depiction in Born a Champion, one of 2021’s anticipated movies promoted during the UFC 257 pay-per-view broadcast.

In Born a Champion, American fighter Mickey Kelley (Sean Patrick Flanery) begins a professional mixed martial arts career after serving in the Gulf War. He meets his future wife, Layla (Katrina Bowden), on a flight to Dubai, but then suffers a career-ending injury while competing against an up-and-comer named Marco Blaine (real-life UFC fighter Edson Barboza). Years later, Mickey returns to the ring after clips of his past matches go viral. Born a Champion highlights the protagonist’s perseverance during difficult times, and focuses heavily on the concept of legacy, which is the premise for Gracie’s cameo.

Gracie is referenced by name during Born a Champion’s opening act. In Dubai, Mickey is hired by Sheik Bin Khalid (Ali Afshar) to train local kids, and reveals that he studied Jiu-Jitsu from none other than Gracie. The moment may not mean much to the students, but MMA fans will immediately understand the significance, as the Gracie family developed Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, a style that dates back to the 1910s. In real life, the Gracie family was partially responsible for the rise of professional mixed martial arts during the early ’90s, and so Born a Champion’s legacy theme sets the stage for a Gracie cameo. When Renzo appears at a climactic fight, Mickey is visibly shaken, albeit in a positive way. The professor’s appearance gives his aging student some extra motivation in the 2021 movie, even though the odds are heavily stacked against him.

Gracie has trained prominent UFC fighters such as Frankie Edgar, Georges St-Pierre, and Chris Weidman, to name a few. In the octagon, his real-life story somewhat parallels that of Born a Champion’s Mickey, as Gracie’s career seemingly ended when he was defeated by Matt Hughes at UFC 112, the result of a TKO. Eight years later, in 2018, 51-year-old Gracie competed against Yuki Kondo at ONE Championship: Reign of Kings, and won by submission in the second round. Just over a decade earlier, his younger brother Ryan passed away at age 33, a tragedy that also thematically links to Mickey’s storyline in Born a Champion.

The Born a Champion lead actor is currently 55 years old, so he’s just slightly younger than Gracie. Flanery co-wrote the film with director Alex Ranarivelo, and his impressive lead performance marks his own industry comeback in a way. Flanery is best known for starring as Connor MacManus in the 1999 classic The Boondock Saints, but his career has slowed down in recent years. With Born a Champion, both Flanery and Gracie remind viewers of their respective legacies, which are now forever linked by the mixed martial arts movie.

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Q.V. Hough
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Q.V. Hough is a senior writer at Screen Rant. He’s also the founding editor at Vague Visages, and has contributed to RogerEbert.com and Fandor.

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