Carlson Gracie, Sr. (August 13, 1932 – February 1, 2006) was the eldest son of Carlos Gracie, founder of BJJ.

Carlson fought a total of eighteen Vale Tudo fights, with only one loss, to Euclides Pereira in a fight that was held in the state of Bahia, in his native Brazil. His first fight was against Capoeira practitioner Luiz “Cirandinha” Aguiar in this March 17, 1953. Carlson won after over an hour of fighting. His second match was a draw against Wilson “Passarito” Oliveira in May 1953. Carlson had a rematch in March 1954 in the longest fight of his career, which he won in the fifth 30 minute round. Most notable are his four matches with Valdemar Santana, who had defeated his uncle Hélio Gracie in a fabled match in May 1955. He beat Santana in the first fight avenging his family. In October 1955 Carlson fought Santana to a draw in a Jiu-Jitsu match. In 1956 and 1957 Carlson won two fights and in 1959 they fought to a draw.

Carlson Gracie trained many top competitors including Allan Goes, Murilo Bustamante, Mario Sperry, Wallid Ismail, Pablo Popovitch, Kevin Christopher, Andre Pederneiras, Ricardo Liborio, Marcus Soares, Rodrigo Medeiros, Ricardo “Rey” Diogo, Marcelo Alonso and Vitor Belfort. Carlson Gracie also trained UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar, half the duo that saved the sport of mixed martial arts on The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale. Carlson was in Bonnar’s corner the contest with Forrest Griffin, the most important fight in the sport’s history.

Carlson Gracie died on February 1, 2006, in Chicago, Illinois, of heart failure, apparently the result of complications of kidney stones (and possibly his pre-existing diabetes), following a hospitalization of several days. At the time of his death he was a ninth degree red belt and was referred to as Grandmaster. Carlson considers his proudest achievement to be the scores of students that he has instilled with his love for the sport that changed his life.