PROFESSOR Bridget Grace
Bridget Grace is thrilled to be joining Renzo Gracie East Side Martial Arts as an instructor. As the first female BJJ professor in the history of Renzo Gracie Academy, Bridget has distinguished herself as a teacher, leading kids’ classes and women’s classes, as well as both beginner and advanced classes. She earned her black belt from Renzo Gracie in 2020, and in 2023 she was recognized as a first degree black belt by Mike Jaramillo.
Bridget, who competes as Bridget McEliece, is known as an elite fighter whose name generates excitement for her dynamic, tenacious, and technical approach to every match. Over her decade-long career her competition-related accomplishments include winning gold in IBJJF No Gi Pans as a Brown Belt and being ranked #1 Women’s Adult No Gi Brown Belt by IBJFF by 2020. Recent wins include IBJJF Master 1 Gi Panams Gold in 2021, ADCC Las Vegas Open 70kg Gold in 2022, and, most recently, ADCC Costa Mesa Open Double Gold in 2023.
As the first girl to play football on her middle school team, Bridget found a passion for contact sports, including rugby, that would only grow as she got older. This passion brought her to MMA and after a few amateur fights, she started training under Daniel Gracie in Philadelphia, where she fell in love with BJJ. Although her path has been energized by her trailblazing spirit, she understands that people come to BJJ from a wide range of backgrounds, sometimes with no athletic experience at all. One of Bridget’s favorite things about teaching is being able to introduce people to the power – and fun – of starting BJJ.
Mike can be heard coaching Bridget in the background of her fights, so she is elated to join him and the rest of the Renzo Gracie East Side team to share the transformative magic of BJJ with even more people.