Black belt Rafael Mendes (Atos JJ) after conquering the Worlds in California went to war in Japan, at the Rickson Cup – a championship organized by the Jiu-Jitsu Federation of Japan, held last weekend, in Hamamatsu.
And the youth from Rio Claro, Sao Paulo, who just turned 20, won the featherweight category. Happy as can be, direct from Japan, Rafael Mendes spoke of his victory to GRACIEMAG.com.
“I had three matches. In the first, I took his back and finished with an armbar from the back; in the second, I took his back, mounted, and finished with a choke from the mount; and in the third I scored 28 to 0 and finished with an armbar from the back,” celebrated the athlete. “I’m going to stay here in Japan till the 13th, do four seminars and fight at Deep-X, in Tokyo,” he said.
Mendes concentrates moments before going to action / Personal archives
“It was a pleasure to have been in this event, I was well received by the organization and everyone who was at the championship. I’m really so many people could recognize my work,” remarked Mendes.
Beyond Mendes there were other well-known Brazilian black belts standing out in the Land of the Rising Sun: Robson Moura (Nova Uniao), at super featherweight; Gustavo Dantas (Nova Uniao) at lightweight; and Abmar Barbosa (Drysdale JJ).
Mendes was thankful to brother Guilherme Mendes, who even from afar helped the black belt. “Guilherme helped me a lot. He gave me pointers, because Ramon Lemos was in the USA and it’s hard to speak to him there. Gui backed me up a lot. He always backs me up psychologically before a championship,” he said.
Check out the winners’ list below:
BLACK / ADULT / SUPER FEATHER
ROBSON MOURA (NOVA UNIAO)
BLACK / ADULT / FEATHER
RAFAEL MENDES (ATOS JIU-JITSU)
BLACK / ADULT / LIGHTWEIGHT
GUSTAVO DANTAS (NOVA UNIAO)
BLACK / ADULT / MEDIUM
ABMAR BARBOSA (DRYSDALE JJ)
BLACK / ADULT / MEDIUM HEAVYWEIGHT
JOÃO YOSHIMURA (BLACK BELT JIU-JITSU CLUB)
BLACK / ADULT / ABSOLUTE
JÚNIOR CALVACANTE (JAWS)
