Three-time world featherweight champion Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles (Alliance) confirmed he will participate in this year's No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, which is set to take place on the 9th and 10th of August in the California State University Dominguez Hills gymnasium, in the city of Carson, and told GRACIEMAG.com of the news: he will be fighting one weight group above, at lightweight.
"I'm training hard, going up in weight, going to lightweight. When you go up in weight there are several difficulties, but I'm training well every day without the gi and I hope to put in a good performance. As I always say, looking for the submission to get out there and let my game go and show artful Jiu-Jitsu, showman's Jiu-Jitsu," said Cobrinha.
And only in its second year of existance, the No-Gi Worlds really seem to be a success among participating athletes. Cobrinha, as with the others interviewed, showed he is happy to participate once again in the competition, which takes place in California. He hopes the No-Gi will gain fame and that more fighters will sign up to participate.
"Last year's event was awesome, I put in an excellent performance. This year I hope to be much better than last year. The more athletes participating, the more it will catapult the event. And for us who are fighting and training every day and who want to get out there and to three, four bouts, that is very gratifying. One tend to just get better," said the black belt.
Between fighting in or out of the gi, Cobrinha said he currently prefers to fight without it. "These days I prefer to fight without the gi, because the adversary can't latch on to you, tying you up, stalling the fight, since you are too slippery. The fight flows more and you manage to reach positions much more quickly than you would in the gi. In the gi, the guy trues to hold you down; now without the gi there is no way to. That makes it a bit harder," said Cobrinha, who is thrice world champion at featherweight and will now fight at lightweight.
Sign-ups for the No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Worlds are open and will remain so till August 2nd. The sign-up fee is US$ 102. It's worth noting that each athlete will receive a t-shirt from the event, to be worn in the competition.
Going on at the same time as the Worlds will be the International Master and Senior No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championship. The points will be counted separately from the Worlds, and the event is open to athletes from blue to black belt, aged over 30 years.
Click here for greater information on the events and stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com, soon we will return with more news regarding the greatest Jiu-Jitsu party in the world.
