As soon as the dust had settled at the 2008 Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, GRACIEMAG.com went after one of the greatest specialists when it comes to the gentle art, Marcio Feitosa, experienced black belt, many times world champion, and one of the most significant figures in Gracie Barra history present in the famous pyramid in California.
Despite having had some beautiful victories, his team, accustomed to routine victories in recent years, they finished the competition in third, after champion Alliance and Gracie Humaita. To find out more and get technical commentary, we had a chat with the fighter, who despite the less than stellar results, showed confidence in his teammates and guarantees they will come back.
GRACIEMAG.com: What were Gracie Barra's preparations like for this World Championship? Was it any different from previous years?
Marcinho: Preparations went really well, we managed to get together here in Irvine with a lot of people from the team who are teaching around the world. All of them were stoked. There was really good motivation this year. I think all this energy had to do with the promotion of our master (Carlos Gracie Jr), which was set for the Thursday before the Worlds. It was too much. To me, the best part was seeing Renzo, nearly 20 years after receiving his black belt from Carlinhos's hands, put everything aside to fly over here and deliver the red and black belt to his Master. Renzo and Carlinhos gave us all a lesson of how family goes well beyond blood.
GRACIEMAG.com: Do you believe there was a drop in performance or the championship was decided in details, since Gracie Barra ended up coming in third?
Marcinho: I noticed a good chunk of our competitors are putting a lot of time and energy into their careers as teachers and academy owners. This had an impact on the performance of some of them and was, to others, the reason for not showing up to compete. Lots of organization and discipline is needed to carry on a life of both teacher and athlete, or academy owner. Not everyone manages. But it's that old adage: you have to look at the moon to at least be among the stars. They have all my support, I think this is the best way for a Jiu-Jitsu athlete to prepare for their future.
GRACIEMAG.com: Alliance won this year. What do you think is the difference and how can you guys bet them next year?
Marcinho: I'm going to do an analysis, it was an impression I had, I don't know if it corresponds with reality. I noticed Alliance brought a lot of athletes from Brazil, if I'm not mistaken. They organized well and managed to get the support of a big company to help bring these athletes. I think that made a big difference. Next year we'll go head to head with Alliance, we have to bring a lot of athletes from Brazil to compete, mainly in the blue, purple and brown belts. The difference in the Brazilian competitors at these belts is competition miles that they have. The guys in Brazil compete starting early.
GRACIEMAG.com: What did you think of CObrinha's wins at featherweight and Xande's in the absolute?
Cobrinha kicked ass. That fight in the final with Bruno Frazatto was awesome. He was really precise when he got the finish at the end with the foot lock. Xande has a lot of credit for beating Roger. His strategy was perfect and the two takedowns he applied were very technical. But to me Roger still has the best Jiu-Jitsu at the moment.It's impressive how from the moment the fight hit the grund, he totally dominated the situation. If you look back on Roger's losses at black belt, you'll notice they were all by takedown. To me, it seems he doesn't feel challenged enough if he starts the fight pulling guard. It seems that to Roger it's not enough to win, he has to win getting a takedown. We who are in the crowd nearly die of heart attacks every time.
