The Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship (ADXC) arrives with an impressive card for its debut edition, on October 20th at the Mubadala Arena. The most prominent grappling athletes in the world will step into the cage set up in the center of the gym, with the main fight of the evening featuring two MMA stars who have Jiu-Jitsu as a strong foundation in their careers. In the last bout of the event, black belts Neiman Gracie and Ben Henderson will face each other.

Kaio wants to be the best. Photo: IBJJF/Facebook

Kaio Cesar does a notorious job as a competitor in the US. The athlete, that represents the big Gracie Barra team, already held five medals in the IBJJF circuit in the beginning of this season. Two gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze at Santa Cruz Open No Gi, Denver Open No Gi, Dallas Open No Gi, Houston Open No Gi, respectively.

The black belt set Master Worlds, No Gi Pans and No Gi Worlds as main goals, also going for his second champion title at American Nationals, one of the most traditional events on the season.

” Kaio from 2023 comes more focused, hunger than ever. This year my mind is armored and as always, I’m fighting forward, to seek submissions and I’m not gonna relax.
Even being in the light-feather weight, I’m also challenging myself in the Open Class, which has given me a lot of experience as a competitor “, reflects Kaio, who holds the position of third place in the IBJJF ranking in the light-feather division.

More experienced, Kaio gives us details about his training schedule in order to have a better performance at each tournament he competes at, gi or no gi.

” I’ve been focusing a lot on my training, mostly in the gi. I am always working my agility, positiion timing, also looking for a surprise to try to finish the matches. At the academy I’m always studying techniques, my favorite ones and my opponent’s ones. I also do Strength and Conditioning, ar least 4 times a week, to keep the muscles active and the body prepared for the intensity of Jiu-Jitsu training sessions”, tells us Kaio.

Assiduous competitor since young age, Kaio also took the opportunity and defined what the competitions means in his life as an athlete, and which lessons he can take for his life outside the mats.

” I try to always stay active in the competitions. Today I try at least two tournaments per month. I think that the athlete needs to be always testing himself and getting out of the comfort zone. Fighting, for me, is a physical work, of preparation in the training sessions and at the gym, besides the mental part, of not knowing who I’m gonna fight against, what’s gonna happen e trying to be always ready. Fighting motivates me even more in the training and I can also motivate my teammates to evolve with me”, finishes the champion.

Photo: Personal Archive

Bibiano Fernandes, 41, has an appointment under One Championship for December 5. The bantamweight champion will be defending his belt against John Lineker, who has only fought three times in the organization, between 2019 and 2021. The announcement was made by One’s CEO, Chatri Sityodtong.

Throughout his career, which began in 2004, Bibiano has achieved 24 wins and suffered four losses. In One Championship, which has employed him since 2012, he has 11 wins and just one loss.

“I’m happy to be able to defend my belt again,” the Brazilian said in a recent interview. “I’ve been on this journey for a long time. I’m happy, healthy, well trained. I want to show younger people that with discipline and hard work, you can get to where you want. Bibiano is the result of a lot of effort, lots of faith and dedication.”

In his native state of Amazonas, where he was staying several days ago, Bibiano got in touch with his roots before returning to Canada to resume his training.

“I’m in Manaus to visit my family and friends and have contact with nature,” he said. “I always come to Brazil before I have an important appointment in my life. Out here, the other day, I did a lecture at a military school for more than 200 students, where I spoke about the importance of being confident, having discipline and courage.” He added: “I’m quite happy to be here.”

Bibiano also revealed that he’s not done evolving in Jiu-Jitsu, as was recently recognized by his teacher, Prof. Osvaldo Alves.

“I’ve received another degree on the black belt,” said Bibiano, who is a three-time BJJ world champion. “I’m happy to conquer another step in the black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, the sport that gave me everything I have. I lost my mom very early, and my dad had no means to raise us; I went to the interior of Amazonas, but if today I am someone, it was the sport that saved me and because I believed I could be someone.”

Can sex get in the way of your performance in competition or training? Graciemag.

On a pleasant afternoon in Rio de Janeiro, while he had lunch, a black-belt was sharing with a white-belt friend the benefits of practicing BJJ: “To this day I am impressed with how our art helps the students — with coordination, with gaining physical power, with cardio, with relationships, with conquering things…” After chewing some sushi he added, “Man, BJJ even helps the awkward guy have better sex.”

And thus is BJJ — useful for nearly all problems, even of the sexual nature. But what about when sex threatens to get in the way of a BJJ fighter before a competition or an important training session? Graciemag decided to investigate.

According do Dr. Turíbio Barros, a specialist in the physiology of exercise, one of the most common questions from athletes is, “Does having sex the night before a tournament hinder performance?”

Dr. Barros says: “In fighting sports, like boxing and MMA, it is known that sexual abstinence for some time before a fight is considered a true paradigm. The specialists of those sports think that the athlete accumulates aggression that might enhance physical strength when they abstain from sex during a certain period prior to a competition.” However, he points out, no study has proven scientifically the hypothesis that sex is in fact harmful to the athlete on the verge of competing.

“In fact, from the physiological point of view, sexual activity can be considered even a benefit for a pre-exercise period. Some scientific studies show that the endorphin discharge associated with sex is a mechanism that even provides a period of more effective rest in the following hours. In other words, after sex, rest recovers the person better, and physical disposition the next day is enhanced.”

Like everything in life, the matter seems to be one of balance; the same way a certain dose of exercise improves sexual appetite, a moderate, alcohol-free night of love-making followed by eight hours of good sleep can do wonders for many fighters. It is an issue of self-knowledge: Get informed, get tested, and understand how your body reacts.

In the 20th century, however, the Gracie family had one clear rule about this. Grandmaster Helio, for one, was inflexible. Here is his opinion:

“Any great champion suffers the effects of a night of sex on the eve, because that represents a great expense of energy. If sex is used to create a human being, imagine how much energy is involved in that act.”

Props to IGN for the video. This clip is from Fast and Furious 6.

UFC president Dana White spoke to reporters following UFC 156 and said that, from what he understands, Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier would fight each other. He added that he’d be shocked if that was the case, but explains that guys take notice of what they can have once they have a champ in their camp.

Check out the GRACIEMAG.com video above.

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As teachers, we are responsible for educating about Jiu-Jitsu. We have been making a mistake for years in using the word “fight” instead of “match” when it comes to Jiu-Jitsu or grappling. This is probably one of those things that has gotten lost in translation. The Portuguese word “luta” directly translates into “fight.” Ask Google translator and you’ll see. The point is we Brazilians have been using this term so much that I’ve even been seeing Americans now calling a Jiu-Jitsu match a “fight.”

Jiu-Jitsu literally means “the gentle art.” It is the martial art where the physically weak can be matched against the physically strong and still prevail using leverage instead of brute strength. Using the word “fight” gives the impression that Jiu-Jitsu is violent, which is simply not the case. It’s not from today that people associate the UFC and MMA with Jiu-Jitsu. A lot of times when I invite someone to train, they say that it’s not for them and then I have to explain that we don’t punch each other in the face during class. So that general idea together with my wife’s point triggered a thought in my head.

Could this have something to do with the new sanctions to Jiu-Jitsu and grappling in the state of Illinois? Maybe these politicians were misinformed and perhaps they’ve heard the word “fight” being thrown around and now they are lumping Jiu-Jitsu in with MMA and treating it as a violent sport. Wouldn’t it be a shame if this were the case?

So, I think we, as teachers, need to be more careful in the language that we use and go deeper with our teaching about the history of Jiu-Jitsu. That history will be the theme of an entry on my blog coming soon.

* Rolles Gracie is our GMA and a Jiu-Jitsu professor in New Jersey.