Herbert Burns (white trunks), Alexander Gustafsson (in red) and team in Stockholm preparing for UFC on Fox 5 / Publicity photo

The one sending the warning is Brazilian national Jiu-Jitsu champion Herbert Burns.

Of course, Burns, after reading about it on GRACIEMAG.com, is aware of how Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is well-trained on the ground, thanks to the help he’s getting from Team Alliance aces Leo Nogueira, Antonio Peinado and Sergio Moraes.

But Burns bets the house on Shogun’s rival, Alexander Gustafsson, a purple belt in jiu-jitsu, for their showdown at UFC on FOX 5 on Dec. 8.

“I taught Gustafsson for two weeks in Stockholm,” Burns told the GRACIEMAG.com reporter Vitor Freitas. “I can assure you he’s really tough on the ground. If it goes to the ground, he can surprise Shogun with his jiu-jitsu,

Curiously, the only loss on Gustafsson’s ledger came by way of submission — choked out by Phil Davis in 2010. Gustafsson, however, has three tapout wins to his name.

Shogun has only won by tapout once, against Kevin Randleman in Pride FC, and he himself has been tapped out twice.

The brother of Gilbert “Durinho” only took part in the early part of the training of the Swede, who is now going through his final stretch in preparation in the U.S. at Alliance MMA, home to UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.

“I participated in the early stage of Gustafsson’s training for Shogun. What impressed me was his takedown defense,” remarked the black belt featherweight.

“He’s really awesome in the standup, with powerful boxing and kickboxing. He has excellent octagon presence and is stoked about the fight. He’s the way the fans see him. The guy has a bunch of knockouts in the UFC, and that explains his style. Gustafsson will have a strategy and will go for it. He’s really strong and has great endurance, so it’ll be a great fight. Despite Shogun being Brazilian, I’m betting on Gustafsson for this one,” Burns said, before praising the Swede as a student.

“He paid a lot of attention to the jiu-jitsu techniques I taught him. He’d repeat them until I’d tell him it was enough. He’s really tough on the ground.”

The one saying so is a Brazilian national champion.

Do you think Gustafsson can beat Shogun, GRACIEMAG.com reader? How does this fight end? Comment below.

UFC on Fox 5
KeyArena, Seattle, Washington
December 8, 2012

Main Card

• Benson Henderson vs Nathan Diaz
• Mauricio Shogun vs Alexander Gustafsson
• BJ Penn vs Rory MacDonald
• Mike Swick vs Matt Brown

Preliminary Card (FX)

• Michael Chiesa vs Marcus LeVesseur
• Raphael Assunção vs Mike Easton
• Dennis Siver vs Nam Phan
• Ramsey Nijem vs Joe Proctor
• Yves Edwards vs Jeremy Stephens
• Brendan Schaub vs. Lavar Johnson (canceled due to Johnson injury)

Preliminary Card (Facebook)

• Daron Cruickshank vs Henry Martinez
• Scott Jorgensen vs John Albert
• Tim Means vs Abel Trujillo

Herbert Burns in action in Brazilian No-Gi Nationals final / Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com

Some red tape holding back his US visa may have kept the featherweight out of a dream match with four-time world champion Rubens Cobrinha at the No-Gi World Championship.

But Herbert Burns, 24, the increasingly famous brother of Gilbert Durinho, isn’t looking to issue challenges to anybody. All he wants is to show that he’s got Jiu-Jitsu too.

That’s what he set about proving at the MMA event Only FC, in March of this year. Herbert used a triangle from mount to put away Saulo Eduardo. In making it to mount, though, he showed that the knee-on-belly comes in handy.

Jackson Santos passes guard: the heavyweight broke into tears upon winning the absolute, showing how friendship is one of the pillars of Jiu-Jitsu. Photo by  Gustavo Aragão.

It wasn’t just in the elite, adult black belt, division that the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals delivered euphoria and excitement at the Tijuca Tennis Club last Saturday.

At purple belt, for example, the swarm of Lucas Daniel’s backers could hardly contain themselves when the young man, nicknamed “Hulk” by his matmates at Marcio Rodrigues Academy, managed to get past pint-sized Cicero Costha-representative João Miyao’s guard.

So great was their excitement that a friend of Lucas’s, thinking the match had ended, chucked him a banner, but the refereeing commission tolerated the slip up.

“He was better than me today, and I congratulate him. What else can I do?” said a disappointed João Miyao, as he packed up his things to head straight back to São Paulo. After turning down a friend’s invitation to stick around and hit up some Rio de Janeiro beaches on Sunday, the light-featherweight purple belt champion put his and his brother’s performance under the microscope. “I feel there’s a big difference when we compete in No-Gi. Without the gi, we can’t trap our opponents in our games like we usually do. We’re going to train more for the next absolutes,” he shrugged, having referred to his brother Paulo, who himself left defeated, but in the brown belt division.

Weeping, camaraderie and diverse paths

Involuntarily, Paulo Miyao’s loss in the absolute played a part in the most sublime moment of the championship.

In the first semifinal of the brown belt absolute, Paulo took on the big-bodied Jackson Santos, who had earlier secured the heavyweight title. Miyao did his all to sweep, nearly making it to the giant’s back, but Jackson held the fort through determination and technical wherewithal. As the match drew to a close, his strategy paid off: Jackson launched a foot assault that scored him the winning advantage point.

He entered the final opposite Rodrigo “Aquiles” Conceição of Alliance, and the embrace shared by the pair betrayed the fact that it was not their first encounter.

“Aquiles has been my friend since I was a kid growing up on Cantagalo Hill, where we both began training under [Fernando] Tererê. When Tererê had to stop, I chose to carry on training with Ricardinho [Vieira], and Aquiles went to Alliance,” Jackson would explain to GRACIEMAG.com a short while later.

In the battle they waged, the last of the Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro event, Jackson scored a quick takedown and safely controlled the action, scoring a second time towards the end: 4-0. With the final whistle, the joy gave way to an outpouring of tears after the friendly hug between the pair of stalwart competitors, still kneeling on the mat.

“I never imagined we could one day be opponents. That’s why I broke out in tears. We always trained together, and he’s a warrior like I am. We always fought hard to make it to where we did today,” said Jackson.

Ricardo Vieira wants return at ADCC 2013

That wasn’t team CheckMat’s only cause for joy on the day. Black belt Ricardo Vieira made his competition return after years dedicated to his family, and two wins paid out in gold in the light featherweight master division.

“I won my first one by a good margin on points, and I won the final by 2-0, in a cool match against Anderson Pereira. It felt too good. I’m already thinking of upping the load in training to put in an appearance in the ADCC under-66 kg division. I think I have a good chance, since my brother Leo should be in the under-77 kg division,” remarked Ricardo.

Think the excitement’s over? Today is the Worlds No-Gi. The California competition will go from today to Sunday. Do you imagine there will be moments of emotion and joy like these, gentle reader?

Stay tuned to GRACIEMAG and our Twitter and Facebook to not miss a beat!

Vinicius Marinho on top of Murilo Santana in the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals middleweight final / Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com

Starting with the very first training session, Jiu-Jitsu teaches us to pursue the inner calm needed to assess the best exit route. The black belt Vinicius Marinho, an experienced athlete, is living proof of how emotional balance and collectedness are integral parts of any practitioner’s journey.

According to the GFTeam athlete, self-control was, once again, the main ingredient involved in his winning the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals last weekend in Rio de Janeiro.

“This time I was less impatient during the matches. I tried attacking without leaving openings, always thinking about what my opponent would do and seeking to defend with a quick attack,” the middleweight champion told GRACIEMAG.com, referring to the final against the stalwart Murilo Santana. “The trick to becoming champion is the same as always: do your repetitions. Is doing the same position a hundred times boring? Yes, but it’s necessary if you want to get better at it and use it in variations.”

Vinicius stated that the victory makes up for any tiresome training:

“It’s an excellent feeling to win the Brazilian No-Gi National Championship. Though I am quite an optimist, this time I was surprised by my own performance. I had three matches against really tough athletes, and the final was against the monster Murilo Santana. I went into all my matches focused, managed to push the pace, and made as few mistakes as possible,” added the black belt, who laid out what he did to get the finish in his first match.

“In my first match, I managed a good submission. I shot for a single-leg on my opponent, he tried kicking his leg free, and I capitalized by body-clinching him from behind. I took him down, passed a hand across his neck and secured the lock. Lastly I stuck in my hooks and squeezed out the traditional rear-naked choke,” he explained.

Douglas Rufino wins Brazilian No-Gi Nationals. Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com.

Douglas Rufino, a black belt in the masters age group, didn’t want to hear about what his competitor ID has as his year of birth, and locked horns with the young bucks at the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals. How’d he come out? With a gold medal in the adult light featherweight division.

“I was surprised by my performance because I’d never competed in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu before. I’d never even trained without the gi! I did one week of training for this competition,” said the CheckMat black belt. “Truth is, I didn’t do anything different. All I did was push the pace and go on the attack,” said the half-guard specialist.

“My game is bottom based, but I’ve been becoming more confident in my top, pass game lately. My tip for improving in half-guard is to do a lot of repetitions and work the grips on the opponent’s gi,” he said, before demonstrating a position for us.

“Lie down with your shoulder on the ground and hug your opponent’s leg. With the hand wrapped around the leg, grab his lapel and knee him in the butt to put him off balance. Post with your other hand and sweep.”

What do you think of the position?

Herbert Burns attacks in the featherweight final of the 2012 Brazilian No-Gi Nationals. Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com.

In winning the featherweight division at the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals last weekend in Rio, Herbert Burns had the perfect campaign.

The brother of world champion “Durinho”, Herbert tapped out both his opponents to win the title for the second year in a row. “I feel I’m managing to let my game flow, to show that Jiu-Jitsu the people who train with me know. This time I managed to put it to practice at the Brazilian Nationals,” Herbert told GRACIEMAG.com, showing he is maturing and gaining refinement as a competitor.

Burns stated that his success hinged on managing to impose his game in the two matches he was in.

“In the first one, my opponent attacked with a takedown right at the moment I pulled guard. He then landed in my omoplata. I switched to the triangle and finished with a Kimura from within the triangle,” he explained. “Now in the final, Richard Flood pulled guard on me, and I passed. I tried mounting; he defended. I stayed in half-mount, and that’s where I came up with the keylock. I switched to armbar and then to the triangle, but he held out. So I swept with a triangle in place and finally got the tapout,” he recalled.

According to Herbert, versatility is his path to finishing more efficiently.

“My Jiu-Jitsu is quite versatile, forward-moving. I get takedowns; play top position, bottom position; and I’m always gunning for the tapout, which is Jiu-Jitsu’s essence. The key is to keep in continuous motion, since that’s when you open up holes for the finish and scoring, too. To me, the main thing in a match is movement,” he asserted, before turning his thoughts to his other commitments.

“I had an MMA fight in Asia early this year. I finished with a triangle in just 27 seconds. I’ve been training MMA every day with Durinho, with Professor Casquinha overseeing us. If I don’t get another fight signed I’ll do the CBJJ Brasília Open and then the South American Championship in Florianopolis,” said the black belt, who only isn’t heading to the Worlds No-Gi because he’s waiting on his US visa. Next year he’ll be there, though.

Lo tops the podium again, this time for winning the absolute division at this Saturday’s No-Gi Brazilian Nationals. Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.

The current lightweight champion of the world in Gi Jiu-Jitsu, Leandro Lo has just shown that beating him without the gi is an even trickier task.

After a festival of sweeps, passes and mounts at lightweight, beating Kim Terra by 19 to 0 in the final, Leandro Lo tore into the absolute division this Saturday at the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals at Rio de Janeiro’s Tijuca Tennis Club.

First, he outpaced Rafael Costa, proving that his guard is indeed indecipherable. IN the semifinal he caught up with former training partner Filipe Meirelles, who let Leandro go through.

At the other end of the bracket, the only other weight group winner in the absolute showed just why he’d won the superheavyweight division. Mauro Celso of team Gracie Barra Belo Horizonte, first went past courageous light featherweight Leandro Luiz of CheckMat, before going on to beat Moisés Flores and then Manoel Fernandes.

The final started out with caution from both sides, with Leandro waiting for his opponent to attack and get caught in one of his traps, each more exciting than the last. So Mauro didn’t want to hear about being stuck between Lo’s legs, and leapt for a kneebar that brought the crowd to its feet. Although in pain, Leandro managed to unravel the submission hold after a few seconds.

Leandro then started racking up the points by sweeping and then passing guard and taking the back. Once it was all over: 12 to 2 for Brazil’s new absolute king of No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu.

Talita has a romp in the female division

Talita Treta didn’t encounter much resistance in the female division. The Ryan Gracie team black belt didn’t have any opponents in the heavyweight division, so she showed up fresh for the absolute. Her first match was an easy WO win. The final she won handily against the featherweight Elizângela Meireles, who also won her weight group without having to fight. Talita pressured her way past guard in style, finishing up with an armbar.

In the brown belt division, heavyweight champion Jackson Snatos steered clear of Paulo Miyao’s berimbolo in the semfinal, took down Rodrigo Aquiles in the final, and shed his fair share of joyful tears for winning two golds on the day.

In the purple belt absolute, the one of stunned everyone was Lucas Daniel “Hulk” of Marcio Rodrigues team, passing João Miyao’s guard in the final and winning by 3 to 0.

For the complete results, check out the CBJJ website here.

Leandro Lo, one of the favorites to win this Saturday’s Brazilian No-Gi Nationals: he should be moving up to middleweight in 2013. Publicity photo.

Current Jiu-Jitsu world champion Leandro Lo is one of the big names venturing into the lightweight division at this weekend’s Brazilian No-Gi Nationals 2012. And GRACIEMAG.com will be there at the Tijuca Tennis Club in Rio de Janeiro to bring you all the news.

Lo took a moment out of his frenetic training schedule to have a quick chat with GRACIEMAG.com, revealing to us his plans for 2013, as well as the hard time he has been having in his battle with the scale. Check out what he had to say:

Gi vs. No-Gi

“I feel it’s really different fighting without the gi. I’m not as comfortable as when I do Jiu-Jitsu in the gi. So I got some major help in preparing for the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals, and the November No-Gi Worlds in California. I did a lot of training with Murilo Santana, who’s won the No-Gi absolute in Tijuca before, and he helped me a lot. We’ll see how I do now at the Brazilian Nationals and next month’s No-Gi Worlds.”

Battle with the scale

“It’s hard making it down to lightweight, but the good part is that I feel good fighting at middleweight. I like fighting at middleweight so much I even felt good at the Copa Pódio Middleweight GP. Still I feel I didn’t fight that well. Even so, I managed to win, thank God. For those reasons, I intend to fight at middleweight next year.”

Future challenges

“On December 8 there’s the IBJJ Pro in Long Beach, and that’s going to be a really cool championship. Only the top ranked in the IBJJF standings will get to compete, and there will be fewer weight divisions, so the lightweights and featherweights will compete against each other. That will be a challenge but also a pleasure, since there are some really tough guys at featherweight who I’d like to fight, like Rubens Cobrinha, Bruno Frazatto and Rafael Mendes, who is a really good and strategic fighter. I really want to compete against those guys.”

Copa Pódio

“After that, on January 13 there’s Copa Pódio, and I should be at middleweight once again. I’m going to do a supermatch with Felipe Preguiça, who’s really good. I’m going to have to be really well prepared for that match.”

Caio Magalhães during No-Gi training with gloves in Fortaleza / Photo by Junior Samurai/GRACIEMAG.com

A Jiu-Jitsu black belt who fights in the UFC middleweight division, Caio “Hellboy” Magalhães is one of the favorites to win gold at the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals, coming up next weekend at Rio de Janeiro’s Tijuca Tennis Club.

“I’m all set. The level is always really high. Anyone going to compete at a CBJJ competition can’t go in there any less than at their best,” Magalhães, who is signed up for the ultraheavyweight division, told GRACIEMAG.com.

“I hope to show everything I’ve been working on at training at Nova União in Rio. It’s been a really productive time for me, since every day I learn a lot from my training partners. Here I’m practically living Jiu-Jitsu and MMA 24 hours a day,” said Caio, who is also set to compete at the Copa Pódio Jiu-Jitsu tournament in 2013, where he intends to continue demonstrating his sightly and surprising sweep game.

“I like reversals. I think that because I train with a lot of lighter guys in Fortaleza and in Rio, I tend to rev things up and do a lot of positions I get from the lighter guys, who’re more flexible and quicker. When you’re doing well in training, the positions come out quicker and with the right timing,” explained Caio, before spilling the beans on his main trick.

“The trick to being good at sweeps is to have a nimble hip and do a lot of feints, sort of bluffing that you’re going to the right and then go left. That’s what works for me. But here’s one detail: being quick doesn’t mean you go lighter on the pressure. You’ve got to put pressure on like a heavyweight,” he said in closing.

What about to you, gentle reader, is Caio a candidate for the absolute title at black belt? Who’ll win the gold in the most hotly contested division this Saturday?

To check out who’s on the roster for the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals, click here.

Leandro Lo against Theodoro Canal last year / Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG

This 27th, a Saturday, Rio de Janeiro’s Tijuca Tennis Club will host the finest of No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu, as current and future stars take to the mats for the IBJJF Brazilian No-Gi Nationals.

Among the favorites to take top spot in the lighter weight classes are the likes of Cicero Costha product Leandro Lo, GFTeam’s Theodoro Canal and CheckMat’s Kim Terra.

At super heavyweight, the favorite is the UFC fighter Caio Magalhães, a team Nova União representative. Now at ultraheavyweight, Bruno Matias of CheckMat is the man to beat.

At middleweight, another candidate for absolute gold, Murilo Santana of Barbosa JJ, who’s always dangerous without the gi, will have to get past Vinicius Marinho at weight. At featherweight there’s Herbert Burns of Durinho Association, Leandro Escobar of Soul Fighters and Richard Flood of GFTeam.

At medium heavyweight there’s GFTeam’s Victor Bomfim and Alliance’s Rogel Monsalve, along with other solid names.

The female contest will feature stars like Talita Nogueira of Ryan Gracie academy, Elizangela Meireles of Gavião JJ and Maria do Carmo of De La Riva.

Now, the brown belt division will be serving up some truly promising talent, like light-featherweight Paulo Henrique Miyao of Cicero Costha’s team; Alliance’s lightweight duo Victor Genovesi and Rodrigo Aquiles; and UAE team’s Faisal Fahad Al Ketbi, a hero back in his native Abu Dhabi.

So, who do you feel will steal the show in Tijuca? Who will GRACIEMAG.com be talking most about this weekend?

Let us know who your favorites are in the comments field below.

To check the competitor list, visit the CBJJ website by clicking here.