Photo: IBJJF/Facebook

Yago Souza, 27, is back on the competition scene. After a long hiatus where he had to overcome injuries and make personal decisions, the black-belt started competing masterfully again in 2021, and has already racked up four gold medals, won at the Orleans Open, Orlando Open, Memphis Open and Houston Open – and, just this month, the IBJJF’s Orlando Summer Open.

“I was absent because of my period of adaptation to the U.S. and also the various injuries suffered, which was very difficult for me to adapt to,” he explained in a recent interview. “I also had a period of adaptation to the food and routine from here, which is all very different from what I used to have in Brazil. But now it’s all normal, and I know the path to achieving great titles again. I’m very happy about having won four straight opens, and now my goal is to sign up for the absolutes to test myself more, just like I did at the Memphis Open.”

A Pan and European champion in the black belt, Yago is thirsty to repeat the feats he accomplished in big events in 2016 and 2017, when he won most of the tournaments he took part in, notching wins against Otávio Sousa, Vitor Oliveira, Josh Hinger, Marcos Tinoco and AJ, for example.

“My biggest goal in 2021 is to keep myself competing and 100% healthy to reach the greatest version of myself in the big competitions and get a good result,” he said. “I’m practicing plenty of jiu-jitsu and lifting weights to strengthen my body, all done truly with great care. I train five times a week. I’m happy with the moment I’m living.”

Yago likes fighting on top and on the bottom, which often greatly hinders the strategies of opponents, who don’t know where to attack during the fight.

“I’ve always liked being versatile,” he said. “I’ve always tried to learn about everything and never limit myself to just one type of technique. My biggest goal in jiu-jitsu is to reach a high technical level. I really like working with the basics, because I see that the basics are getting lost as the years go by. People want to skip the basics and learn complicated things; that’s why I insist on the basics. The basics are the base for everything.”

Yago has gold medals from the World Championship and Brazilian Nationals, events also held by the IBJJF.

Virna Jandiroba wearing her Invicta FC belt. Invicta

There’s a change of opponent for Brazil’s Virna Jandiroba at UFC Washington, which is set to take place on December 7th in the American capital. Graciemag has learned from sources close to the situation that Cortney Casey suffered an injury a few days ago. With the American fighter sidelined, the UFC has called upon a fellow Brazilian to challenge Virna.

Livinha Renata is her new opponent in this strawweight duel. The two were in talks to face each other at UFC São Paulo, on November 16th. But Lívia had to bow out due to family problems. Now, for the December event, they have agreed to fight again and should be signing their contracts soon.

Virna (14w, 1l) came over from Invicta FC with the status of champion and had a perfect record until arriving in the UFC and being defeated by Carla Esparza in her debut, by unanimous decision, in April. Lívia (13w, 2l) was also a strawweight Invicta champion, in 2016. After signing with the UFC, Lívia won two fights and then was beaten by Brianna Van Buren in July, also by unanimous decision.

UFC Washington will be headlined by Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris. Check out the card!

UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Harris
Washington, U.S.
December 7th, 2019

Alistair Overeem vs. Walt Harris
Marina Rodriguez vs. Cynthia Calvillo
Stefan Struve vs. Ben Rothwell
Aspen Ladd vs. Yana Kunitskaya
Thiago Alves vs. Tim Means
Carlos Condit vs. Mickey Gall
Cody Stamann vs. Song Yadong
Billy Quarantillo vs. Chris Fishgold
Matt Wiman vs. Joe Solecki
Trevor Smith vs. Alonzo Menifield
Bryce Mitchell vs. Matt Sayles
Virna Jandiroba vs. Lívia Renata

Roberto Satoshi sparing his left arm at the Tokyo Grand Slam. Ane Nunes/Gentle Art Media

A Brazilian black-belt raised in Japan, Roberto Satoshi moved his fans in June during the BJJ Worlds when he lost his final to Lucas Lepri without fighting. With a dislocated left shoulder and in tears, the lightweight had to abandon the contest and the dream of a first world title.

But in July 15 — just a month and ten days later –Satoshi triumphed at the Tokyo Grand Slam before his students. What lessons did he get out of such trajectory?, you might ask. Lucky for you, Graciemag talked to Satoshi to find out.

“I’m still feeling the shoulder,” said the Bonsai JJ representative, “but soon I’ll be recovered. The lesson that remains is that injury in high-performance sports is normal — it’s part of our life on the mats. I’ve trained BJJ since I was five, and often I’ve felt something. But I never let that shake me, much less thought about quitting training.”

He added: “In reality, in the long term the injuries have only helped me not have a limited game. Every time I got injured, I was forced to change up the technique or switch the side I was going to make a move on. Don’t forget: got a bad knee? Do a half-guard session. Got a bad left arm, like I had? Play guard to the right. What’s important is not to stay out of the gym too long, which will undermine body and mind.”

You can watch Satoshi’s final versus Tiago Bravo right here.

Tanquinho fighting at Legacy FC. Photo: Mike Calimbas

The thrill of making his debut in the UFC lasted less than a week for Augusto Mendes.

The black belt Jiu-Jitsu world champion suffered a rib injury and was forced out of the UFC Fight Night 81 fight against Charles Rosa just days after agreeing to replace also injured Jimy Hettes on a week’s notice.

He will be replaced by Kyle Bochniak.

Tanquinho will probably be booked to fight on another date.

UFC Fight Night 81 goes down this Sunday, Jan. 16, with the bantamweight title fight between TJ Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz as its main event.

The specific training of a fighter is already stressful enough and water training can complement and develop various physical qualities. In the water, you may use devices that can increase the intensity of the exercises through resistance, what works better because there are no impacts on the joints. It’s important to understand that exhausting workout routines and competition training can often overwhelm your body and change an outcome. This water training method was developed by Prof. Alvaro Romano who has for many years since the 1980s started to train athletes from various sports.

In the 1990s, Romano had the opportunity to work with the Physiotherapist Nilton Petrone, a reference in the area of physiotherapy in Brazil and many other countries, who developed a method of rehabilitation and prevention of injuries that is used and recognized by various areas of the human wellness movement. Along with the Physiotherapist, Alvaro Romano introduced the “Ginastica Natural” to the rehabilitation of several athletes with the most varied types of injuries resulting from sports. With this opportunity he could observe the importance of working in the water to the recovery of these athletes, so he incorporated and adapted the water training for the physical preparation of athletes and fighters of different modalities.

The preparation of a fighter is totally different from an American football, soccer, or tennis player. Therefore, knowledge and experience within the martial arts is very important to make this adaptation of training. This water training was created for athletes but can be used by anyone who wants to exercise, have a healthy lifestyle and stay fit, but at the same time far away from injuries.

Ideally, you should pick out an outfit that will offer resistance to your legs and arms.  For part of the training you may be using a palmar or surf gloves. You can also use something like a device that you can ” put in your hand ” like boxing gloves to increase resistance in the water.

Here is a basic water training that can be used once a week if you want to change a little bit your workout routine to recover:

Recovery exercises

1 – Walking with water at chest level, going forward, sideways, and finally flexing the knee at your chest. Then after, extending the legs forward, one leg at the time, and also stretching the back of your legs. Do these movements for approximately 10 minutes.

2 – Swimming Front Strokes for 250m

3 – With the surf glove, try to swim for 25m (or as far as you can) with your head in the water, and then come back breathing slowly. Go like this, back and forth, for 250m.

4 – Swim as far as you can under water and then swim back, Front Strokes, slowly. Do this until you complete 200m.

5 – Using resistance devices on your hands and legs (if you do not have the equipment you can do without it) reproduce the movements and sequences of punches with water up to your neck. Complete sets of 50 repetitions, then reproduce the movements of “Knee ups” alternating on average 10 times on each side.

6 – Immediately plunge and try to stay emerged under water holding your breath for as long as you can, coming back up when you feel you can’t hold it any longer. (Make sure you do this under supervision; it can be dangerous trying this alone).

7 – Repeat everything again for 3-4 rounds of 3-5 minutes total with a break of about 30 seconds to a minute between the sets.

Alex Trans

Another big name in Jiu-Jitsu went through a knee surgery recently.

The 2014 European black belt open class champion Alex Trans posted this Wednesday on his Facebook page that he had a procedure to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee.

Trans also had some fixing done to his meniscus.

He commented on his recovery: “I’m going to be out for a few months but I’ll be back competing next year, can’t wait to be back!”

Trans sustained the injury at the quarterfinals of the ultra-heavyweight division at the 2015 Worlds.

At the beginning of the match against Rodrigo Cavaca, the Dane twisted his knee on a set up to the 50/50 guard.

The injury prevented Trans from competing in the open class final against Bernardo Faria and later on sidelined him from the 2015 ADCC, to which he earned a spot after winning one of the European trials.

The moment Buchecha got injured at the 2015 Worlds

Three-time black belt open class world champion Marcus Buchecha had surgery this Friday, in Brazil.

The procedure was to reconstruct the ACL ligament on his left knee, injured during the quarterfinal match against Ricardo Evangelista, at the 2015 Worlds.

The surgery went well and Doctors gave Buchecha a five-month minimum recovery period until he can perform at 100% again.

“I’ll be back soon,” said Buchecha

He also told GRACIEMAG that he intends to work his way to a full recovery in Brazil before returning to California, where he has been living for the past years.

Fans will have to wait a bit longer to see Renzo Gracie fight Matt Hughes once again.

The Gracie had to go under knee surgery to replace a ligament.

“I already did the surgery and put a brand new ligament. The thing is I won’t be able to train or compete for a while,” said Renzo to GRACIEMAG.com

The 2015 ADCC is scheduled August 29-30, in São Paulo, Brazil.

The organizers are yet to confirm if another super-match will replace Gracie vs. Hughes.

The other super-match, José Mário Sperry vs. Ricardo Libório, is good to go.

Jared Weiner with his daughter, Ellie. Photo: Personal archive

Jared Weiner, head instructor of GMA BJJ United in Philadelphia, PA, has become a spokesperson for attending to injuries in Jiu-Jitsu. Through his own personal story, he has advocated for those who get injured to not ignore them like he did. At the 2014 IBJJF NY Summer Open, a head injury led to a concussion that he tried to pass off as the flu. The injury, compounded with past concussions kept him off the mat until now. You can read about the initial story here.

GRACIEMAG: How long has it been since the first concussion?

JARED WEINER: My first documented one I can recall was in 1998, and that was also Jiu-Jitsu related. Who knows how many I’ve had through out years, but the ones that started this recent cycle happened back in July 2014.

Describe to me your training since getting onto the mat and how strict you’ve been to your doctor’s orders. What setbacks have you encountered?

I’ve followed my team of doctors orders really closely. I’ve been able to get back on the mats and teach again and roll with guys I really trust. The problem has been once the sweat starts to pour I start going full force and it’s only a matter of time before I bounce my head off of something and then I feel a bit off for a few hours or days. That’s been the main set back. I have to remember to take baby steps with this one. It’s just my personality and wanting to be back to the old me is what sets me back!

Do you miss competition?

It kills me watching all the tournaments and my division without me in it! I feel so bad I can’t go back to the Pan this year and try to defend my title! I’m not that guy to sit on the gold and not go back and try to win it again! It’s eating me up alive! But until I can go a month straight of feeling like me again I cannot compete or train super hard.

Have you been playing more top or bottom? Anything specific you stay away from?

I prefer the top game. I trained judo throughout the years so I love the takedown game. My game is a pressure game and I often lead with my head so I’m gonna have to just be careful. I’ve taken this down time though to drill a lot of new positions from my guard so maybe I’ll throw some people off a little when I come back haha.

But I have a feeling as soon as I’m back to me I’ll get right back to my grinding style game. I was joking with my good friend Yemaso [Marcos Torregrosa] that it took me almost 20 years of training to finally learn to get technical.

Do you take coaching more serious now that you’ve been out? Have you found new ways to be a better teacher?

I’ve always taken coaching very serious and I still do, but not being able to come into the academy for a few months really made me appreciate everything so much more. I never want to be away from my students and the school for that long again. I’m so thankful I have a great loyal team. I never felt stress that anyone would leave the school because I wasn’t in so I was able to focus on recovery that much more. I love my team, staff, and students tremendously.

When do you think you’ll compete again?

I’m not 100% sure and I won’t come back until I know I’m ready. So when you see me back out there and you will eventually know that I’m 100% ready and not playing games. I can’t wait to get back out there. It’s one of my main goals.

Now that you have a daughter, have you been able to introduce her to the Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle?

Recently I’ve been bringing my daughter Ellie to the gym during kids class and she has really been showing interest in what’s been going on! It’s the best thing ever. I can’t wait to see her with a little gi on actually participating. She is the best thing in my life and she is my main motivation to get better and 100% healthy. She is my world.

Big thanks to the companies that stood by me during this injury and have had my back the whole time. Fokai Industries, Shoyoroll, Pitchfork, Casa De Roc, Dukes Barber Company, and Glenside Tattoo I can’t wait to rep for them when I get back on the mats.

Learn more about Jared and his academy at www.bjjunited.com and follow Bjj_united on Instagram.

After the greatest scare of his career, black belt Alan “Finfou” Nascimento is closer to being able to train Jiu-Jitsu again.

Last week, the Brazilian who lives and teaches in Stockholm, Sweden, paid another visit to his Doctor and got some good news.

“Got some tests results and the Doc has released me for fitness conditioning and weightlifting,” Finfou told GRACIEMAG.com.

Finfou explains how severe the injury sustained at the middleweight semifinal match against Otavio Sousa at the 2014 Worlds was: “I had a neck injury and a nerve got pinched, which made me lose the feeling both on my arms and legs.”

Five months later, Finfou still experiences some symptoms: “They’re not as bad as before. I feel much better now. I have almost no pain and don’t have to take pills. I still feel tired from time to time,” explained Alan.

Already being cleared to teach a few months ago and now being able to work out more intensely, the last stage of the comeback should come soon: “The doc also said I should be able to go back to training in two to three months.”

Alan do Nascimento being treated at the 2014 Worlds

Alan “Finfou” do Nascimento was the protagonist of the most scary moment of the 2014 World jiu-Jitsu Championship.

After tapping to an armbar in the middleweight semifinal match against Otavio Sousa, the black belt could not get up from the ground.

A hit in the head at the moment Otavio swept him caused an injury to Finfou’s neck that made him unable to move his legs.

Carried to a local hospital, Alan was released a few days later and back on his feet, but the comeback to training and teaching would take a while.

Today, the MMA Viking website posted that it finally happened and Finfou is again teaching Jiu-Jitsu.

“Being back teaching for me is one more blessing in my life . Since I got my injury, I was looking forward for that day, and when I less expect I was able to be back. Can’t describe my happiness now.”

Training is still not allowed by doctors, as Finfou told MMA Viking.

If was up to me I would be back long time a go. That’s a question that comes to my head everyday, but the answer will come from the doctors. I just have Faith that God will give them knowledge enough to help me fast and right so I can be back. Until then I’m happy by spend time with my Family now and able to teach and focus on getting better.”

Ana Laura vs Charlene Coats. Photo: Ivan Trindade

This past weekend at the 2014 IBJJF Las Vegas Spring Open, the female black belt division welcomed the return of Ana Laura Cordeiro. After being out of competition for many years due to a back injury, she came back to the competition mats and earned gold. The Gracie Barra Upland instructor is undefeated in her Jiu-Jitsu tournament career and now the streak continues.

We talked to Ana Laura about her return, if she had any anxiety about it and what it felt to remain undefeated.

GRACIEMAG: Were you worried about stepping on the competition mat after so many years?

ANA LAURA: I wasn’t worried at all. The tournament is the easy part for me now. The hard part is to be able to train hard every day. My body is not used to it anymore, but I’m getting there.

How was your match with Charlene?

That was awesome. I could enjoy every single minute of the fight. I was very calm and focused, and Charlene is a pretty good and active competitor, so I could get a good warmup to get even stronger to compete at the Worlds 2014. Can’t wait!

How did it feel to be back and with the gold medal once again undefeated?

For me now, after overcoming my injury I’m already a gold medalist every time I step on the mat. Of course winning on the mat and stepping up to the highest spot on the podium makes me very happy, but winning and losing are part of the competition. Even though I’m still undefeated in competition, I’m not worried about it. Nobody is invincible.