Graduação de Cavaca na Flórida. Foto: Arquivo Pessoal.

Termina a temporada de competições e, tradicionalmente, o mês de dezembro é de festa nas academias, que aproveitam para graduar seus alunos.

Faixa-preta da CheckMat e professor da The Armory, campeão mundial neste ano, Rodrigo Cavaca promoveu diversos atletas.

“Foram 100 alunos só em Santos, entre eles oito faixas-pretas. Fiz o mesmo na Flórida, em Jupiter e Wellington, onde tenho academias. Lá foram 72 atletas graduados”, conta.

Graduação em Santos.

E Cavaca não para por aí.

“Em janeiro vou à Lituânia, onde graduo mais 20 alunos. Estou amarradão com esse trabalho da equipe, que só vem crescendo a cada ano. Tudo isso devo a todos do grupo e também aos patrocinadores. Gostaria de agradecer especialmente ao Joe Mullings, Fulvio Saba, Julio e Victor Costa, além de toda a família, alunos e, lógico, ao GRACIEMAG.com, que sempre divulga o nosso trabalho. Feliz Natal é um novo ano repleto de conquistas para todos!”, encerra o casca-grossa.

Cavaca's promotion party in Flórida. Photo: Personal archives.

The competition year is over and the month of December is traditionally one of festivities at Jiu-Jitsu academies, when they take the opportunity to promote students.

CheckMat black belt and teacher at The Armory, as well as current world champion, Rodrigo Cavaca promoted a number of athletes.

“There were one hundred students promoted in Santos alone, eight of them to black belt. I did the same in Florida, both in Jupiter and Wellington, where I have academies. There, seventy-two athletes were promoted,” he says.

Promotion in Santos.

And Cavaca doesn’t stop at that.

“January I’m heading to Lithuania, where I’ll promote another twenty students. I’m stoked about the work with the team, which is growing with every year. I owe it all to everyone in the group and also the sponsors. I’d like to end out special thanks to Joe Mullings, Fulvio Saba, Julio, and Victor Costa, as well as my whole family, students, and of course, to GRACIEMAG.com, which always gets word about our work out there. Merry Christmas and may the new year be full of conquests for all!” says the submission wizard.

Cavaca sinks a footlock in photo byGustavo Aragão

Jiu-Jitsu super-heavyweight world champion Rodrigo Cavaca is getting ready for a new endeavor. Besides making a definitive move to Florida, the black belt is getting ready for his MMA debut.

“I’m moving to Jupter, Florida, where I’ve had an affiliate academy for the last four years. I have two big academies over there; our team is called The Armory. Some more news is that I’m going to start training for MMA and should be ready for my debut soon!” says Cavaca, who is taking some of his top students with him.

“Two of my best students are coming with: Marcus Bochecha (Pan champion at weight and absolute, Brazilian absolute champion and 2010 world absolute champion at brown belt, now a black belt) and Thiago Baiano, another who was recently promoted to black belt (No-Gi world champion at weight and open weight in 2009). There we’re going to train with big names like Raphael Chaves, Eduardo Guedes and Edson Junior, who was recently signed by the UFC. All of them are under the command of Joe Mullings, the team owner.”

The CheckMat representative is excited, especially because he is well on his way to recovering from a recent injury.

“I’m recovering from surgery on my anterior cruciate ligament on my left knee last month. I’m having a better-than-average recovery, thanks to my doctor, Dr. Caio D’Elia, and my physiotherapist, Bruno Brito. I’ll return to training three months from now and early next year I’ll be ready to return to competition,” he says in closing.