12.12.2006 BJJ Worlds' History - Interview: RoletaIn chapter two of the Almanac, GRACIEMAG.com tells the story of the competitions held from 1998 to 2000
Photos by Gustavo Aragao, Levy Ribeiro, Lia Caldas, Luca Atalla and Ricardo Azoury
“Jiu-Jitsu demands professional dedication and gives amateur returns” Roleta carries a bull, or better yet, a Minotaur on his shoulders, in one of his six most notable fights, in 1999.Four-time champion (three at medium heavy and one at super heavy), how does Roberto Magalhães “Roleta” looks back on the defeat, by standing americana, to Rodrigo Comprido?I meet up with Comprido at the World championships and we get along fine, we talk about the fight. It didn’t bring me down, no. It was my eighth fight that day; I was worn out from having come from a tough fight with Minotauro, in which we moved a lot. It was midnight already, I even said: “I won’t fight, I’m beat."
To fight from 9 in the morning till after midnight is cool to look back on, but it is too exhausting. It was actually the first time that I was submitted while standing. No one had ever seen that before. Comprido started it. We both pulled guard, he came out on top. I took the chance to hold onto his pants and relax: I lay my head down and breathed twice. He saw my foot and tightened his grip, and my foot stretched to where he wanted it.
For it to go back to its normal position is hell... When I looked, since I wasn’t familiar with the position, I didn’t know what he wanted, only that he would not pass my guard. But he had already yanked on my foot, I tried to escape, pushed, pushed, he let go. Then he grabbed it again and applied more force, it cracked and I ended up tapping out, since I couldn’t carry on anyways. I was hurt.
From 1996 to 2001, the year you stopped, who were your most notable opponents?I fought a lot of people, from Wallid to Minotauro, but in the end the fight against Minotauro stands out because of the name he made for himself in MMA. Of all the Worlds, without a doubt, one of the coolest was the first [1996], when I beat Wallid, a member of a generation of Carlson’s fighters that won everything.
We, from Gracie Barra, were only starting out, there were few of us and we were much lighter than that whole team of Carlson's. I was 78kg and went in as a medium heavyweight after working on putting on weight, while Wallid was 86kg. I came up from middleweight.
Other victories that stand out were against Zé Mario [1998] and Amaury Bitetti [1999]. Amaury, another great icon, who dominated the weight groups and open weight for ten years, was the man in Jiu-Jitsu, an athlete nobody questioned and nobody had ever swept. I fought him in '99 and I think the only one that really believed in me was Soca. I ended up sweeping him twice. I swept, he hit the ground, and I pulled guard and swept again.
Zé Mario was another one nobody imagined would get beaten; he became even more respected after Abu Dhabi and was very strong. He would squash everybody, and we had two lively fights. In the end, each one took one for posterity, that’s fine. But I keep the fact that I won two fights against Zé Mario in the same day for myself.
What is your view on this loss to Sperry?At the World Championship in ’98 I fought him for the first time, in the weight group, and, on the same day, we fought again in the open weight division. That is something rare: generally the ones that win their weight division don’t show up in the open class division. In this final he caused a controversy about having gotten my neck [in a clock], but it didn't happen, we had both gone out and the ref stopped it. The difference in the score was of an advantage, I think.
In the beginning I almost passed, he turned; I went for his back and grabbed my pants till they ripped. The fight went back to standing, but I should have gotten an advantage. From outside pressure, he ended up getting an advantage earlier that didn’t exist. But the fighting in the open weight in ’98 was worth it for other reasons: it was my only chance to fight Murilo Bustamante, another great name I never faced afterwards. I remember I swept him three times.
What stopped you from competing to pursue your career as an industrial and environmental safety engineer?In life we always have two desires. If they had called me to compete in Abu Dhabi I would have gone. I’m toying with the idea of fighting in the gi in Japan, but I’ve lost the desire to fight in tournaments. I always fought for the personal challenge, I wanted to be there. When there is no desire, you need something else to stimulate you, money, or whatever.
I don’t feel the desire to go to Japan on vacation. After six medals in the World Championship [two silver] I thought, even at my peak, it was time to stop and develop something else in life. When I fought Margarida in 2000 I wasn’t really feeling up to fighting, but Carlinhos and the guys from the gym asked me to.
Until I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t keep on going after every tough kid that pops up! Stopping is the most difficult moment for an athlete, but the guy that stops at his peak doesn’t pass the baton on to anyone. He always remains the best in history, like Pele. But I maintain my sporting activities, I teach.
What has changed in the tournaments from your day until now?It was a time when we footed the cost of all of our preparation, and we got a medal in return. Even still, everyone trained a lot. You had to have gas, explosiveness, flexibility, technique, a set of qualities that demanded you train twice a day, workout, do yoga, runs up the mountain, swimming, boxing… Jiu-Jitsu demanded the dedication of a professional and gave amateur returns. The elders couldn’t believe it when I told them I didn’t make money out of being a fighter.
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