• Facebook
  • Google Plus
  • Instagram
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
Header image

MyNewsLA.comLogo

Breaking news for greater Los Angeles and Orange County

Menu

Skip to content
  • Crime
  • Government
  • Business
  • Education
  • Hollywood
  • Life
  • OC
  • Riverside
  • Weather
  • LAPD Motor Officer Taken to Hospital Following South Los Angeles Crash
  • Two Men Killed in Rowland Heights Shooting
  • Two Men Killed in Rowland Heights Shooting
  • Judge Cancels Hearing on Motion to Dismiss Suit Against Congresswoman
  • Orange Councilman Loses Seat in Challenge To Term Limits Law

Home » Uncategorized » This Article

MMA Fighter Gets 180 Days in Jail for Anaheim Fight

Posted by Contributing Editor on January 22, 2021 in Crime | Leave a response
Share this article:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

A 49-year-old mixed-martial arts fighter was sentenced Friday to six months in jail for assaulting another MMA competitor at a gathering at the Anaheim Convention Center two years ago.

Ralph Gracie of Danville was also ordered to take part in an anger management program and was placed on three years of formal probation.

Gracie accepted a plea deal from Orange County Superior Court Judge Andre Manssourian, in which the defendant pleaded guilty to a felony count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury with a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury.

Orange County prosecutors objected to the plea deal, according to court records, which indicate that Gracie had been poised to enter into another plea deal in 2019 in which defense attorney Harley Breite asked Orange County Superior Court Judge Roger B. Robbins to sentence his client to no jail time in exchange for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor.

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Plunkett argued for a felony conviction for Gracie and a year in jail, court records show.

A fugitive warrant was issued for Gracie in August 2019 when he failed to show for a court hearing, but his attorney said his client was in Rio De Janeiro at the time caring for his 84-year-old father, who had lapsed into a coma after falling and striking his head.

Gracie was indicted on Sept. 18, 2019, two days after he appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and denied a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury.

Co-defendant Lincoln Pereira, a student of Gracie’s, accepted a plea deal from Robbins in July 2019 over the objections of prosecutors. Robbins reduced a felony assault count to a misdemeanor and sentenced Pereira to the time he had credit for serving in jail — 80 days.

Gracie and Pereira attacked Flavio Almeida, a five-time world champion in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, while they were at an industry event at the Anaheim Convention Center on Dec. 15, 2018.

Like this story? Don’t miss any breaking news from MyNewsLA.com. Sign up here for your free newsletter.

 

“It is undisputed that my client, without lawful excuse or justification, struck the victim, knocking him to the ground and causing him injury,” Breite wrote in the 2019 memorandum to Robbins. “My client fully acknowledges that he should never have struck Mr. Almeida and he accepts full responsibility for doing so.”

He said then that Gracie felt “tremendous remorse” for attacking Almeida, a longtime friend, adding that the conflict had become a source of “great embarrassment” to Gracie within his industry and within his extended family and friends.

Gracie, who has been indefinitely suspended by the federation, lives in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife and three children and has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Brazil.

He’s the half-brother of Renzo Gracie, another renowned Jiu-Jitsu fighter. Renzo Gracie mentored Almeida’s brother since he was 16, according to Breite. He also trained Flavio Almeida when he was 12.

Tension between Gracie and Almeida stemmed from Almeida’s decision to open a training academy near one operated by Gracie in Northern California, Breite said earlier.

Almeida did not respond to Gracie’s messages, and when Gracie attempted to discuss it with him at the federation’s world championship fights in Anaheim, Almeida rebuffed him, Breite said.

An infuriated Gracie elbowed Almeida in the face, and as he fell unconscious, kicked the victim in the head, prosecutors said. Pereira then joined the fight.

At a 2019 hearing, the victim told the judge that he declined to retaliate and trusted the justice system instead.

“I resolved to trust the justice system to hold these individuals accountable for their premeditated and coordinated act of terrorism,” he said. “Qualifying this vicious attack as a misdemeanor means the bad guys win. They will once again get away with their threats and violent behavior, pounding on their chests for being above the law.”

Almeida said it would send a “very confusing message” to Jiu-Jitsu students.

MMA Fighter Gets 180 Days in Jail for Anaheim Fight was last modified: January 22nd, 2021 by Contributing Editor

>> Want to read more stories like this? Get our Free Daily Newsletters Here!

Follow us:
Facebooktwitterrss
Posted in Crime | Tagged Anaheim, days, fight, fighter, Gets, jail

Advertisement

Get The Latest News by Email!

Sign up here for our free newsletters. We’ll send you the latest headlines every morning and every weekday afternoon.

 
FORECAST FOR LOS ANGELES
54°
Partly Cloudy
Feels like: 54°F
Wind: 2mph ESE
Humidity: 77%
Pressure: 30.08"Hg
UV index: 0
ThuFriSat
73/48°F
73/48°F
75/48°F
Weather forecast Los Angeles, California ▸

Most Popular Today

  • Homeless Woman Raped, Then Found Dead On Pomona Street: Homeless Suspect Says ‘Not Guilty’ 5,800 views
  • Young Teen Girl’s Fun Trip Turns To Terror: She’s Male Relative’s Victim Of Booze And Child Abuse 2,400 views
  • Little Girl Rape ‘Seven To 15 Times A Night’: Fully Fund War On Human Trafficking 2,200 views
  • Teacher Repeatedly Sodomized Boy Under 16? Statutory Rape, Porn Among Charges Against Male Perris High Teacher 2,000 views
  • Helpless Little Girl Molested Repeatedly For 18 Months? Woman Suspect Allegedly Assisted Palm Springs Rapist 1,600 views

©2021 CalNews Inc.

Menu

  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service