He is, for some time now, a Soldiers’ Angel.

The SA is a non-profit group that provides emotional and material support to US soldiers around the world.

The organization’s website even published a story about Chad’s contribution to the group.

You can read it here.

Chad is a former Marine himself.

For more info, go to mmathewoodlands.com

Vinícius Draculino in fight with Rocky Long, at Strikeforce: Houston. Photo: Mike Colón

Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes, who proudly wears the GB flag, fought Rocky Long, and worked him over during their three rounds. Draculino says that Long was favored to win by TKO. Clearly he was underestimated, and he says it’s because people think he’s strictly a Jiu-Jitsu guy with no standup skills.

“People don’t know it, but I’ve been training standup for a long time,” Draculino says, “I’ve been boxing and doing muay thai since the early nineties. I haven’t done it regularly like Jiu-Jitsu, but I’ve always trained in it. I have a pretty decent standup game, although MMA guys like to stereotype me as a pure grappler.”

Draculino says although the crowd was behind him, he surprised people with his win. “They said the grappler out-struck the striker,” he laughs, “It was a good victory. It could have been better if I’d finished it, but I was glad to win.”

By “finishing it” Draculino means submitting Long in the third round. By the time it rolled around, Draculino had already worn the fighter down. In the first round, Draculino hurt Long with a heel hook from a clinch. “It was deep,” he says, “He got stuck in the cage and his ankle popped.” After that, Long wouldn’t come towards Draculino because he didn’t want to get taken to the ground again. So, “The second round was boring,“ he says, “We even got some boos.”

In the third round, Draculino’s corner coach and friend, Roberto “Gordo” Correa, told him, “He’s losing and he knows it. He’s going to come forward this round. Finish him now.” Gordo was right. After Draculino’s first kick, Long came forward, and Draculino took him down in the middle of the cage.

Vinícius Draculino in last fight, at Strikeforce. Photo: Mike Colón

“He tried to stand up and gave me his back,” he says, “I was sinking in the choke, but he started to stand up again. I landed a punch near his jaw. It must have been right on the spot because he collapsed and made this really weird noise. I think it was like a flash knockout. He didn’t defend his neck, so I went for the choke, but the fight ended.” Long was saved by the bell.

Draculino didn’t get his submission, but he got the win. He says the night was unforgettable. “It feels good to work so hard and have that reward,” he says, “Mission accomplished. I was really happy. I appreciate all the support I got from my training team and the Jiu-Jitsu community.”

Draculino says that although Master Carlos Gracie, Jr. is not involved in MMA, he’s thankful to him for providing GB students the philosophy and spiritual support to do what they want to do. As for the future, Draculino says he has a lot of work ahead. “I want to open another GB school, and I’m working with Marcio Feitosa on a number of GB projects in Texas. I don’t think there’s going to be anymore fights this year, but who knows. I never say never anymore.”

Chad “Robo” Robichaux is an ex military man, and current GB black black belt who owns multiple schools, including GB The Woodlands. He’s always looking for a good MMA war and he got one fighting Humberto DeLeon. “I looked in his eyes and he was completely game to fight,” Robo says, “It was like another day at the gym for him. I’ve been wanting that.”

Robo’s finished every fight he’s had, but he was unable to close the deal in this one. He won the fight, but like Draculino, he won by decision after three full rounds. Robo wasn’t happy with what the critics had to say. “I never underestimated Humberto,” he says, “I knew how good he was, but I think others did. The local Houston media pumped me up so much and expected me to run through him, and I got judged harshly for not finishing him in the first round. It was frustrating.”

It’s hard to take criticism after winning a fight, especially when you think you did a good job. “I wasn’t at all disappointed in my performance and I’m hard on myself,” he says, “Humberto took the first round because he dropped me at the end of the round. I dominated in the second and outscored him in the third.”

Robo says he had Humberto in the first round, but got caught during the last thirty seconds. “I went for a kick and he caught it,” he says, “He threw an overhand right and hit me twice. He knocked me down the second time.” Robo says he getting caught angered him. “During the break, I was like, ‘Get me off this fricking stool!’ I wanted to get back out there so bad.”

In the second, Robo had a big take down and a lot of ground-and-pound. In the third, Robo felt strong in his standup. He had corrected his mistakes with counterpunching after the first round. “I landed push kicks to his face and leg kicks,” he says, “One time I fell down. He went to jump on me and then stopped and backed up. I opened my guard and he took his mouth guard out, shook his finger at me and said, ‘No, I have too much respect for you to do that.’ We both started laughing in the middle of the ring. Later on, a Strikeforce official said, ‘You know you guys train too damned hard if you can sit in the third round of a war laughing at each other!’”

When the fight ended, Humberto turned to him and said, “I survived Chad!” He was the first fighter to not be submitted by him. “It’s great to submit a guy in a minute, but it was fun to actually get to do everything I trained for,” he says.

Robo says thinking on your feet and having the ability to fix your mistakes on the spot in the midst of war is the key to success. “I think mental composure is everything in this sport,” he says, “You need to have a clear mind and be able to think during the chaos. You can’t perform at your very best otherwise.”

Adam Schindler of GB Woodlands is Robo’s student. His record is now 8-1. Like Robo, Schindler believes in closing his fights out with a submission. Six out of his eight wins were from chokes except for one, which was by Americana.

Schindler just received his brown belt last month. He’s been training in Jiu-Jitsu for about 3 years. He teaches at GB Woodlands and GB Champions Forest. To add to his resume, he’s wrestled since he was six years old. He was a national champion and All-American growing up. Recently, he spent a couple of months in Thailand training in muay thai and boxing. He’s been training both disciplines for three years.

Schindler fought Kier Gooch. In the first round, Schindler says, “I knew he was going to throw bombs. I came in like I was going to trade, but took him in a double-leg and got side-control.” He tried some submissions and then went to ground and pound. “I was throwing punches,” he says, “I trapped his near arm with my leg to crucifix him and he bucked and rolled. I took his back. We’re on the floor and I hit him. He was in tripod position and tried to stand. He exposed his neck. I reached under with my left. I had the rear naked completely in. He stood up and I had it really deep. I knew it was going to finish him.”

Schindler says he waited for Gooch to tap. “I was thinking he better tap or we’re both going to fall,” he says, “He tapped on the way down, but I couldn’t let go until the ref grabbed me.” When they pulled Schindler off, Gooch was semi-conscious. Schindler finished the match in 1:58 minutes of the first round.

He says he was happy with his win and excited to fight on the same card with Robo and Draculino. MMA is his career and he wants to excel. “It’s a competition,” he says, “I just want to win and put in my best performance. Like Jiu-Jitsu, it’s a chess game. Who can outperform the other. It’s not who’s meaner, it’s who’s smarter.”

The outcome of this Saturday’s Strikeforce: Houston was two new champions: For the vacant middleweight title, Ronaldo Jacaré got the better of Tim Kennedy, and the light heavyweight belt switched hands after Rafael Feijão overcame King Mo.

From the outset Rafael Feijão took the lead in the standup department against King Mo, which opened the way to his triumph. In the first round Mo managed to land a well-placed takedown, but Feijão responded with solid strikes. After an evenly-matched first round, Feijão managed a knockdown in the third stanza. King Mo tried to recover, but was knocked out by a string of knees and elbows. Thus Feijão secured the organization’s light heavyweight belt, as well as his ninth knockout in ten wins.

Known for his skill on the ground, Ronaldo Jacaré didn’t use much of his Jiu-Jitsu against Tim Kennedy. In the middleweight title deciding fight the black belt took the upper hand through his standup. Jacaré did try for the takedown, but Kennedy’s wrestling prevailed. The Brazilian’s boxing came on strong, though. A cross in the third round opened a deep gash on his opponent, and at the end of the bout the judges deemed Souza the victor by unanimous decision.

In the preliminary matchups, André Galvão’s win over also-black belt in Jiu-Jitsu Jorge “Macaco” Patino stood out. Galvão went to his ground work and ground and pound, while Macaco landed some solid strikes in the standup action. The bout went to the third round, when Galvão landed punches for the knockout at 2:45 min, with Macaco on all fours.

Veteran Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhães debut in the organization on the right foot with his unanimous-decision win over Rocky Long. Another black belt Chad “Robo” Robichaux beat Humberto DeLeon and remains unbeaten in MMA with nine wins.

Check out the complete results:

Strikeforce
Houston, Texas
August 21, 2010

Rafael Feijão defeated Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal by TKO at 1:14 min of R3

Ronaldo “Jacaré” de Souza defeated Tim Kennedy via unanimous decision
K.J. Noons  defeated Jorge Gurgel via KO at 0.19 min of R2
Chad Griggs defeated Bobby Lashley via TKO at 5min of R2
Daniel Cormier submitted Jason Riley (strikes) at 1:01 min of R1
André Galvão defeated Jorge Patino via TKO at 2:45 min of R3
Vinicius Magalhães defeated Rocky Long via unanimous decision
Adam Schindler submitted Kier Gooch via rear-naked choke in R1
Reynaldo Trujillo defeated Jose Santibanez via TKO (strikes) R1
Chad Robichaux defeated Humberto DeLeon via split decision
Arteneus Young defeated Chad Cook via unanimous decision

Photos: Personal archives

Successful MMA fighters today are not just street brawlers looking for a fight. The guys you see in the cage are elite athletes, exceptionally trained in a variety of martial arts and sports. Robo’s martial arts and MMA background is so stacked, it’s no surprise he’s been so successful in his fight career. This over-achiever’s been in martial arts for 30 years, since he was 5 years old.

Robo’s a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu under Master Carlos Gracie Jr and Professor David Viera da Silva of GB Rio. “I’m really lucky with my Jiu-Jitsu,” Robo says, “Draculino is my professor now and he helps me prepare my Jiu-Jitsu for all my bouts. I also have Professor Alex Gotay to train with, along with some very solid students.”

Robo with Master Carlos Gracie Jr

Robo is also a black belt in karate and in muay thai. He trains in muay thai with Daniel Kim, who is the current USMF and IKF Champion, and is on the USA National Team.

Along with the above accolades, Robo studies judo and kickboxing. As far as his standup goes, in Robo’s opinion, he has the best boxing coach in the world for coaching MMA fighters, Lewis Wood. Wood is a 33-1 pro boxer and, like Robo, is also a bantamweight, which helps considerably. He’s also a wrestling fanatic, and studies under coach Jody Trantham, who is a two-time NCAA wrestler.

That’s part of the training: to know how to keep going when you experience failure” Chad Robo

Robo believes it’s important to study each discipline independently, but it’s equally important to then be able to bring them all together into one well thought out, powerful game plan. The man who does this for Robo is Todd Moore. Moore is a two-time WEC and Dream veteran. He is a GB brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu under Robo and a long-time friend and coach at his GB Magnolia school.

“Todd is one of the most complete MMA fighters out there,” Robo says, “He understands how to put it all together, so I really trust him. He’s with me everyday and knows what I need. We really care about each other, and understand each other’s games and work ethics, so we work well together.”

Although Robo is a highly trained athlete in many arts and skills, he relies on his bread and butter – his Jiu-Jitsu – to help him close the deal during a fight. All 13 of his wins have been by submission. “I have to admit that a few of my submission wins were me intentionally trying to keep the streak going,” Robo says, “Being a Jiu-Jitsu loyalist, it feels great to win by submission and to be able to show my technical side. It also doesn’t hurt to have a 13 submission-win streak.”

Robo says when he was younger he was chastised by his Jiu-Jitsu coaches for not holding positions long enough to score points. “I’m not a points person,” he says, “I’m not too conservative. I think your personality reflects on the mats and I’m just one of those people – if I want something, I go after it.”

Robo doesn’t have a favorite submission, although he admits he likes armbars from the mount. “During a fight, I don’t push for any particular thing,” he says, I don’t even try to push for a submission. I do pressure my opponent for a fast pace and try to force them to make a mistake. Then I will capitalize on it. I’m very fundamentally sound. And I drill about 100 arm bars from the mount during my training everyday!”

If Robo does have a signature move, it’s “slamming” people to the mats with his wrestling, Judo and Japanese Jiu-Jitsu skills. “I know the fans like to see it,” he says, “I like to see my competitor’s feet over his head.” Although he may not push for a submission, Robo will definitely push for a throw because “I know it’ll get me in the next show.” He has a “give the fans what they want” kind of attitude. “Being successful to me means being able to dictate where the fight takes place,” he says, “The area between stand up and the ground is the take down, so I spend a lot of my time training them.”

Robo also spends a lot of time and care on his fitness and diet. “I’m always in shape and am always training and teaching at my schools. I do it full-time, so I’m always in the gym living my life. If I’m not in a fight, I’m getting someone else ready for one.”

He turns 35 this month, but he says he feels stronger now than at any other time in his life. “I don’t know if it’s old man strength,” he laughs, “But even if I’m training ten five-minute sparring sessions with ten seconds rest in between, I don’t get tired. I physically feel fine. The only time I feel it is if I get injured. I don’t recover as quickly as I used to, so I’ve learned to train smarter.”

Robo doesn’t think his age holds him back in any way. “In the Worlds I compete with the young black belts and it’s the older and wiser who tend to win,” he says, “To me, a good diet, good life habits, and hard work are way more important than the year you were born.”

When Robo first started out in MMA, he was young, confident and eager. “In 1997, I fought three times at a hole-in-the-wall called the “Chop Shop,” he says, “I think back on it now as kind of a foolish thing to do. There were no doctors, no match-ups, no weight-class, or even gloves. I showed up and the promoter asked who the fighters were and he matched us up by looking at us right there. I fought a Karate guy who must have outweighed me by 50 lbs! I submitted him after about 10 minutes of fighting and it was a great first experience, but I was quickly derailed when I went to Florida and fought a very seasoned Din Thomas, who submitted me in the first round. Just after that, I lost my 3^rd match and decided to get back to training hard and focusing on the basics of Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling.”

So, Robo went back to the gym and perfected his skills. He fought again a year later in 1998, and hasn’t lost a fight since. “I submitted my next five amateur matches and six pro fights until like many others, 9-11 changed my life.” Prior to fighting, Robo was in the US Marine Corps and served as a Force Recon Marine.

For six years he was focused on serving the country through several efforts, some of which had him living in the Middle East and South East Asia for three months at a time. “Although, I trained the entire time, including about three years with Nate “The Great” Marquardt in Colorado when I was with the Marshall’s service,” he says, “the pro fight game really evolved while I was out. My 6-0 pro record seemed to have an expiration date on it, so I had to fight in a small show to get a current fight under my belt. I won that fight and then Legacy called me. They made me the main event and the title fight, which I also won over 10-3 Lewis McKwensi.”

Robo and team

That win earned Robo the Legacy FC bantamweight title. “The title bumped me up to the #1 ranked pound for pound fighter in my region as well as the #1 bantamweight contender, and now has me booked for Strikeforce on August 21^st against #2 ranked bantamweight, Humberto Deleon,” he says.

Robo believes, along with all the mental, physical, and spiritual lessons he’s learned through Jiu-Jitsu, his drive, dedication to training, and intensity come from his Force Recon training in the Marines. “In recon training you are definitely exposed to your fail points,” he says, “You know what it feels like for your body and mind to quit on you. That’s part of the training: to know how to keep going when you experience failure. One of the worst things I think an opponent could do is tire me out, because then he’ll have a much more tuned-in and focused combatant to deal with for the next 30 or so seconds of the match.”

He says his combat experience has mentally prepared him for anything he faces in the ring. To him, MMA is just a sport with rules, not a fight. “You have rules you have to follow and a referee in the cage,” Robo says, “In combat, there are no rules in a fight, no ref and you’re usually fighting more than one guy, so when I’m in the cage, I’m not flustered or stressed out. I’m very composed. I respect the fight, but I don’t fear it.” Robo feels this experience gives him an edge over his opponents and has helped him secure his 8-0 professional record.

Whatever happens at Strikeforce Houston on August 21^st, Robo says he looks at MMA as a battle ground between two martial artists to test their arts and skills. “Win or lose I think it’s an amazing test of yourself and your life’s work of training.”

Chad Robo. Photo: personal archives

Chad “Robo” Robichaux (8w, 0l) is eager to have his Strikeforce fight. He has a number of different reasons for being so, but one of them is that the showdown will prove once and for all who is the king of the skinny guys in the state of Texas. What’s the other? “Draculino’s  MMA return, in the Strikeforce cage, is unbelievable to me. We’re going to work hard so we’ll be ready,” says Chad, a Gracie Barra black belt and instructor at Gracie Barra North Houston.

The athlete fights August 21 on the same evening Ronaldo Jacaré and Tim Kennedy dispute the vacant middleweight title and Rafael Feijão challenges King Mo for the light heavyweight belt.

“Right now, I’m the best MMA fighter in Texas in all weight groups, and number one in the 135-lb ranking,” remarked Chad to GRACIEMAG.com. “My opponent Humberto Deleon is number two, with 18 of his 21 wins coming by armbar, while I’ve finished off all 13 of my opponents, in amateur and professional MMA. Strikeforce: Houston will be the perfect place to determine who is the real number one,” he says.

http://www.vimeo.com/13328830

Check out the still unconfirmed card:

Strikeforce: Houston
Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
August 21, 2010

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante

Tim Kennedy vs Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

Bobby Lashley vs Yet to be determined

K.J. Noons vs Jorge Gurgel

Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhães vs Rocky Long

Artenas Young vs Chad Cook

Kierre Gooch vs Adam Schindler

Chad “Robo” Robichaux vs Humberto Deleon

Draculino submission grappling against Gabriel Cardozo. Photo: Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG archives

The card for the August 21 Strikeforce show in Houston just received three reinforcements from Gracie Barra. The undefeated Chad “Robo” Robichaux (8w, 0l) returns to the cage, but the biggest surprise is the promotional debut of the master at GB Houston, Vinicius, “Draculino” Magalhães. Rounding out the GB delegation is Adam Schindler (7w, 1l), a student of Robo’s.

The Strikeforce event is to take place at Houston’s Toyota Center, and is headlined by two title bouts: Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal (7w, 0l) defending his light heavyweight title against Rafael “Feijão” Cavalcante (9w, 2l), and Ronaldo “Jacaré” (12w, 2l) versus Tim Kennedy (12w, 2l) for the vacant middleweight title.

Tickets go on sale this Friday on the www.ToyotaCenterTix.com website. Check out the provisory card that’s turning out to be more and more exciting as the matchups come in:

Strikeforce Houston
Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
August 21, 2010

King Mo Lawal vs Rafael Feijão
Ronaldo Jacaré vs Tim Kennedy
KJ Noons vs Jorge Gurgel
Bobby Lashley vs Opponent yet to be announced
Sergei Kharitonov vs Antonio Pezão (not confirmed)
Erin Toughill vs Opponent yet to be announced (not confirmed)
Vinícius Draculino vs Opponent yet to be announced (not confirmed)
Chad Robô vs Opponent yet to be announced (not confirmed)
Adam Schindler vs Opponent yet to be announced (not confirmed)

Check out what he offers to his students.

For more info, go to mmathewoodlands.com

Gracie Barra North Houston from FighterPortraits on Vimeo.

Now could it be that the fans who flew into the African nation and also love Jiu-Jitsu will be able to make the most of the trip to do some training with the South Africans? Obviously, the answer is yes!

In the land of elephants, rhinoceros and lions – and now soccer -, like anywhere else in the world, there exists the option of donning a gi and sweating it up on the mats. Our GMAs Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Cape Town and Renzo Gracie Cape Town are two of these options.

Both are in the city of Cape Town. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is headed by James and Gary, who learned the gently are from Rorion, Ryrion, Rener and Ralek Gracie, as well as world champion Carlos Lemos. The Renzo affiliate is led by Kurdt George.

Kurdt George and Renzo Gracie. Photo: Publicity

Another option is in the city of Pretoria, Gracie Barra Centurion, also led by Chad “Robot” Robichaux and Fayçal Cherigui.

At the Cup and want to roll? Here’s the contact info:

Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Cape Town
70 Regent Road
Parklands, Cape Town 7441
# 0861 472243
www.graciejj.co.za

Renzo Gracie Cape Town
Instructors: Kurdt George & Jacques Portelli
301 Tulbagh Center 3rd floor, Hans Strydom Ave
Fore Shore, Cape Town 8001
Phone: +27 21 4250603
E-mail: info@renzogracie.co.za
www.renzogracie.co.za

Gracie Barra Centurion – South Africa
Coach Nicky Stapelberg
(+27)-83-283-1200
Web Link : http://www.gbcenturion.co.za/

What’s the secret to such success? Training the way Robot trains.

Check it out!

Chad Robo Pro MMA Fighter from FighterPortraits on Vimeo.

Levi becomes the champion

Black belt Chad Robichaux, leader of GB The Woodlands, is proud of one of his students.
On March 20th, his pupil Levi zForrest won the 170lb title of the Legacy MMA event.
The victory came in a unanimous decision against Mike Bronzoulis.
Levi is 7-0 in MMA.
Three other GB Texas students fought in the same event and all of them came out victorious.

GB Texas team: Draculino (far left) Robichaux (left of Levi, with the belt)

Greg Bellomy won by anaconda choke, Brian Lightfoot won by split decision and Marcelo Azevedo submitted by rear naked choke.
GMA member Vinicius Draculino was very proud of the three.
For more info, go to mmathewoodlands.com, graciebarratx.com

Our GMA member Chad “Robo” Robichaux  has a new MMA fight scheduled.

The leader of Gracie Barra The Woodlands, in Texas, will be facing Japanese Takafumi Otsuka.

Otsuka is the current 145lb Deep champion in Japan. This will be his first fight in the USA.

The combat is scheduled next march and the exact date has yet to be confirmed. Robichaux talked about this new challenge:

“ I actually choose this fight out of 5 possible opponents, because he was the toughest and that is why I wanted it;  I think it will be a war and very very exciting.”

For more info, go to www.mmathewoodlands.com