No. I introduced my best friend at the time Graig Kukuk to Rorian. Craig was the best fighter I ever met at the time. We used to get into some scraps when we went out and his punching power is second to no one. Then he decided to take the JJ from Rorian and he became the first Amercian Black Belt in gracie Jiu-Jitsu. He later became partners with another Gracie and sold instructional videos which ended up making him millions and the Gracies nothing. They had a big falling out from what I understand. Craig could have easily became a UFC champion but his wife refused to let him fight.
Is that really what happened? From what I remember Craig went behind Rorian's back and put out a series of tapes with Renzo Gracie. They were watered down crap, but they made a shit ton of money until other better BJJ fighters came out with their tapes. The Machado Bjj fighters were already established in america before the gracies showed up here... Pedro Carvalho's tapes came out about a year later and Kukuk was grasping at straws, trying to sqeak out some money out of a booming growth of BJJ when he was really more of a Vale Tudo style fighter(no gi). Then came rumors of money disputes so Renzo did a very good set of videos without Craig. This of course was an indication that things may not be going so well between them. Finally, Renzo and Craig would split and sever affiliation with each other and Craig's original series disappeared from the market.
He came out with another monster series of tapes but failed terribly. I bet theres a lot of nobodys who watch UFC and other cagefights and MMA at home that might surf the internet and be like WOW this guy has a BJJ black belt and these tapes are only $99 wow what a deal the other guys tapes are twice that much for only 2 lessons....
I'm from Long Island...Matt Serra and his brothers Nick and Damien were both going to Craig and Renzo's school on 27th street. Being around those people during that time I have a little more than a clue what was happening. When Craig and Renzo split, Matt Serra and Nick went with Renzo. Craig tucked his tail between his legs and moved to Idaho.
Kukuk maybe used to be someone in the game, but he was only in it for the money and never got his props as a fighter.