Renzo Gracie – Forty Two and Ready For Combat in the Octagon

Boasting a mixed martial arts career that officially began in 1992, Renzo Gracie has never competed for the promotional juggernaut that his family made famous, the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Until now, that is.

The 42-year-old Gracie has signed to make his promotional debut for the UFC in 2010.

Now that takes some serious stones.

Gracie went through a stretch where he lost six of seven bouts, a bad patch that included a K-1 loss to UFC lightweight champ B.J. Penn in 2005.

He did manage a first round submission of Pat Miletich in an IFL fight three years ago, and then he also pulled off wins over Carlos Newton and Frank Shamrock – the last of those on a controversial disqualification.

His UFC debut date and opponent are as yet unnamed, but both Matt Hughes and Matt Brown have been mentioned as likely opponents…