Xande Ribeiro is already feeling the magnitude of the Japanese MMA world. At a press conference, the current absolute Jiu-Jitsu world champion spoke about his expectations for his debut in the style, set for September 28, at Sengoku 5. “We worked on my stand-up, take downs, making sharp moves on the ground, and overall physical strength so it was very satisfactory. I have seen many Jiu-Jitsu fighters who rushed into MMA and failed but I've prepared well for this. My brother, who is a fantastic individual, is guiding my way and also I am learning alot from top fighters like Diego Sanchez and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza,” said Xande as quoted on website adcombat.com.
The rivalry between him and Roger Gracie, another Sengoku fighter with whom he has won two finals in the most prestigious category in competition Jiu-Jitsu, was a subject of the interview. Xande, however, did not respond to the journalists’ provocations: “I respect him. In his fight against (Yuki) Kondo, he simply he showed the strength of a Jiu-Jitsu fighter. I haven't even finished with my debut fight yet so I am not looking ahead. I am just concentrating on my first fight now.”
If in relation to Roger his words were carefully measured, the same cannot be said about when the subject turned to Josh Barnett. “Everyone has a mouth and can comment on anything. He’s been working on catch wrestling and I have been dedicating myself to Jiu-Jitsu. If he is going to say this and that about Jiu-Jitsu then he should fight the strongest Jiu-Jitsu fighter," declared Xande, in response to statements made by Barnett deriding Jiu-Jitsu fighters.
Besides Xande, the other fighters confirmed for the card of Sengoku 5 can be found below.
Roger Gracie
AXande Ribeiro
Jorge Masvidal
Middleweight GP
Kazuhiro Nakamura
Evangelista Cyborg
Siyar Bahadurzada
Jorge Santiago
Yuki Sasaki
