BJJ Worlds' History - Interview: Comprido

“I was never a phenomenon, but I beat some phenomenal guys”

There were lots of famous fighters like Zé Mario, Roleta, Nino and Margarida, the two-time champion recalls victories, admits he has gone through a rough patch in recent years and still dreams of becoming the first three-time open class champion in History.


Comprido bombs Nino’s guard. For the Alliance athlete, this was the best fight of his career.

What did it feel like win your first open class title shortly after your first year as a black belt, in ’99?
That year I lost the weight division to Paulão in my second fight and spent the rest of the night bugging the guys to let me fight in the open class. At the time Alliance had several options – Fabio Gurgel, Traven, Leo Leite, Claudio Moreno - , and, in the midst of this dilemma I was there: “If no one wants to fight I will." I still got along well with Fabio and he told me he’d give me the opening.

My loss to Paulão was a non-fight: I pulled guard, he got to half-guard and stayed there for seven minutes. It was my first year at black belt, I was full of piss and vinegar, and, as I trained the whole year for that event, I was dying to get that opening. Cláudio Moreno and I ended up getting in. And it seemed like I had become wiser from the defeat. I fought Renato Ferro, who had already won once, I got Zé Mario, someone who commands a lot of respect and had only lost three fights in his life: to Roleta the previous year, once in MMA, and to Leo Leite, on that same day, in the final fight of his weight group.

That was where the support from the team made the difference: I entered the fight knowing that he was more worn out and I felt like I controlled him the whole time, despite the seven kilo weight difference. It was more of a standing fight, he would push the action, there was a moment when he screamed that I got scared, thought about running, but decided not to [laughs]. I kept attacking, got an advantage from throwing him off balance or getting to his side, I don’t remember, and he pulled guard trying to find a way to win.

What impressed me was Zé Mario’s determination, who showed the desire to win the whole time. But his exhaustion from fighting Leo Leite in the final certainly helped me.

And Roleta on the other end, almost gave Gracie Barra the title...
Having had an extremely tough fight against Minotauro, in which Roleta fell behind on the score card, who almost won…, I was super-focused and commented to Fernando Gurgel that I would go for Roleta’s foot, and he asked me to only do so at the end, to not risk giving up an advantageous position.

I had already used the standing americana as a brown belt, on Carlos Chermont, Chuchu, but nobody notices these things in the brown belt division. I knew Roleta would pull guard, so I decided to start the fight winning, by pulling guard too and going after the advantage, except that his leg was in such a position that I realized he wasn’t even thinking about the foot. When I looked at his foot, I smiled.

Someone watching it again on TV will notice. I thought: “I can’t believe it." At the moment I noticed the foot stretched, and then folded over a lot more, which was when he quit. The moment I tightened the hold I already knew that it would yield the team title. It was definitely the most moving championship I had ever participated in. I went running to celebrate. The gang threw me up into the air... It was a feeling I will go after again; these last three years I haven't trained enough and that is why I haven't fought in the open class division.

But let it be known that I will try to be the first three-time champion in history. I lost to Roger, to Xande, but I want to get that title back. I am 28 years old and still have a lot of tough fights to dispute.

Did you become motivated after the losses in your weight division? How did you see your losses to Carlson's athletes at the time of the double in 1999/2000?
At that time I fought more frequently, so I crossed paths with Paulão thrice. There were a lot of tough fighters and we met more often. That was the case in 99; I lost to him and that motivated me. With Arona, in 2000, it was the opposite: I fought him in the semifinal of the weight division the day after the double, in which I submitted Nino and beat Margarida.

I came in with high hopes, but Arona was strategic, managed to get two points, putting me on the bottom in a way I hadn’t expected: He pulled me into his guard, I hopped his leg, got to his side and he flipped over on all fours, grabbed my leg and put me under him. Two points, there was nothing left to do. It was horrible losing, nobody goes into a fight to lose, but I lost to very tough guys who were highly strategic.

2000 ended up being your true consecration. What do you remember from that World Championship, set apart by your wins over Nino Schembri and Margarida?
There was an odd moment, sad, in fact, which was the death of that young fellow during the championship, Jean. I had fought several times, was in the warm-up area and the moment the guy fell down I thought, from afar, it was Erik Wanderley from Belo Horizonte, who I was friends with. I ran over there nervously, say it wasn’t him and helped carry the stretcher out of the Tijuca Tennis Club.

The people there tried an unsuccessful cardiac massage on him and the atmosphere was totally tense; I remember that we asked for the Sportv guy to turn off the camera but he didn’t, and we argued. So, the moment I stepped pack into the gymnasium, I heard those words: “Ring 1, Antonio Schembri and Rodrigo Medeiros!” I went in shaken, but it was a good strategy by the CBJJ, I don’t know if it was Siriema or Andre: put on a fight that will catch the attention of the crowd and erase that tragic image from everybody's head. And, even distracted, it was the best fight I fought in my whole life.
We fought and I realized something had changed with the cheering spectators, one time he was on my back - "OOH, he's gonna get it" -, shortly after I took him down and went after his arm, he reversed and went after mine, I got him back with a kimura… And it ended with a submission.

It is cool to fight against an idol, and it is thanks to Nino that the fight was, without a doubt, the best fight of my career. I think I was always a good fighter, but never a phenomenal one. I got results that count against phenomenal fighters, but I never was a Leozinho, a Nino, a Ricardinho Vieira. I had beautiful fights, but was never a phenomenon. So that year I ended up winning the quarter-final against Nino, who was a god, and in the final Margarida, who was also super-tough, even though I was already familiar with his style.

They say you had a formula for beating Margarida, what was that?
The trick with Margarida is to understand that his stamina increases progressively throughout the fight, so you have to be extremely sharp mentally, technically and strategically and with perfect positional timing. And I had figured out a way to pass his guard, the side it would be best to go for… Out of four fights, I beat Margarida thrice and he beat me once. But in 2000 Margarida had a really tough fight with Cachorrinho in the semi-final, while I got to the final more rested for having fought an “exhibition fight” with Esfiha – we only fought because we were on TV.

But before the final with Margarida I had really fought him in São Paulo, and it was a theoretically easy fight, not on the scorecards, but I won with relative ease, because my game matched up well with his. This second fight with him, I was confident I would defend my title. So I managed to control the fight, I got really close to passing, he re-placed the guard, and was a notable fight, the title fight, but it is overshadowed in my mind by the previous fight, against Nino Schembri.

At the end of it all, Brasa would supposedly have four open class titles, with you and Jacaré, against three guys from Carlson and two from Gracie Barra. Do you see it this way?
The team splitting into Alliance and Brasa was very difficult for me, since I had a lot of friends I don't even talk to anymore. Thank God even, because they are not people deserving of the dedication that I an others gave at the gym.

This got in the way of my career's progression. Now, Jacaré is a phenomenon, has exceptional fight rhythm and is a great friend, but he arrived at the team pretty much ready. He is the fruit of the work of Henrique Machado in Manaus. Beyond his strength and clarity, Jacare himself is tireless and goes through brutal preparation.

Of course, as Henrique doesn’t come down to Rio for the World Championship, we provide support for him, mainly in strategy, which Leozinho specializes in. This last World Championship he started off poorly, and talks with the team helped him to win. Overall, he is a person we adore, but the credit is all his.

And what happened between Jacaré and Brasa that year, was there any discord?
What happens is that Jacaré came to the team thanks to Terere, and he didn’t like that Terere and Telles left. As they still had tight bonds, Jacaré perhaps felt some inclination to represent TT. So he registered in the last World Cup under team ASLE, and not Brasa. If he was not with Brasa, he was against us, that is how we see things.

I think he felt a bit the lack of strategic support during the fights, since we had no way of supporting him, as he fought against Demian Maia, from our team, who beat him. But in the end I think it was all a misunderstanding, having to do with the rush at registration time. So by World Championship X he was already wearing our colors again.

In conclusion, what was your greatest joy and worst defeat?
The greatest joys were the open class championship in ’99 and the fight with Nino in 2000. The worst defeats were against Gabriel Napão in the open class division of the World Championship 2002, in which I couldn’t find my best game at any moment and took a horrible beating, and against Cacareco in ADCC 2003.

That was the one that most devastated me, I felt like the biggest cad in the world. I tapped in 20 seconds, it was horrible that folks think I threw the fight against him… But who knows, maybe we will fight again some day?

See also:
BJJ Worlds' History - 1st chapter

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