Ronny Markes walks out to the octagon at UFC on Fuel TV in 2012 (photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images).

Ronny Markes had his work cut out for him last January at UFC São Paulo. His opponent was the undefeated middleweight Andrew Craig. And although his confidence was a bit shaken, as he explained to GRACIEMAG, he managed to win via unanimous decision.

“I’d been training to fight better standing and on the ground. But unfortunately on the 30th of December I suffered a lower-back injury. Between the 30th and the fight I didn’t train at all. I think that shook my confidence some. And I was almost a year sidelined before that. But now I need to look ahead to the future. I won, so on to the next one,” said Ronnys.

The Kimura/Nova União fighter spent the week in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza, where he taught a seminar at Nova União Ceará.

The fighter from the State of Rio Grande do Norte taught a position exclusively for GRACIEMAG.com readers: a guillotine that can be used effectively both in MMA and in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu.

Check it out and let us know what you think.

Herbert Burns (grey sleeves) with his buddies in Sweden, where he even helped train UFC light heavyweight Alexander Gusfasson (Personal archive photo)

One of the most hotly disputed qualifiers for the April main event in Abu Dhabi, the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil leg of the WPJJC Trials will be held Jan. 19 and 20 at Caio Martins Gymnasium in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State.

The tournament is sure to go off, as world champions Rodolfo Vieira and Gabi Garcia are set to hit the mats there.

Another big name confirmed for combat is Herbert Burns, brother to Gilbert “Durinho”, who is traveling Europe and will return home raring to win an all-expenses-paid trip to the United Arab Emirates.

What do you expect at the Trials in Niterói?

I expect the best. I always go in it to win it, and this time will be no different. With six-minute matches the action becomes more dynamic, much more explosive, but that’s how I fight. Anyone who wants to win has to stay ahead on the scoreboard the whole time.

How’s your training been going, with this tour of Europe and all?

I arrive in Brazil on the 10th because I’ve got a series of seminars to teach in Sweden. Truth is, here I’ve been training more MMA and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu, but as soon as I return I’m going to tune up my gi game with my teacher Casquinha at Top Brother and Oriente academies in Niteroi. Here in Sweden I managed to keep in shape, and I even competed at and won a grappling tournament. Check out one of the matches.

You’re coming off a blemishless campaign at the 2012 Brazilian National No-Gi Championship. Do you consider yourself to be a firm favorite to win at the Trials?

I never enter a competition for competing’s sake; if I don’t think I have what it takes to win I don’t even sign up. I feel this business of there being favorites only exists before the match begins. I’m going to give it my all and gun for my objective, which is to make it to top spot on the podium. I always work on everything and try to be prepared for any situation I might encounter, so my game is always free-flowing and attacking, with lots of movement. I’m going to fight like I always do—going for the finish, which is Jiu-Jitsu’s essence.

What about you, gentle reader, how about competing in the United Arab Emirates with all expenses paid? Click here to get in on the WPJJC Trials in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State.

Before an exciting roll, Rashad Evans shoots the breeze with his black belt friend Danillo Índio. (Photo by Ryan Loco)

With a battle coming up Feb. 2 at UFC 156 in Las Vegas, former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, 33, has been doing some extra special training with his teammates at the Florida-based Blackzilians team.

All because of the respect Evans has for the seasoned Rogério “Minotouro” Nogueira (20-5), who he considers to be one of the most complete and experienced fighters in the UFC today.

Following a no-gi Jiu-Jitsu session, Evans had a chat with GRACIEMAG.com. Check out what he had to say:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrUKGduDP-s

UFC 156
Las Vegas, Nevada
February 2, 2013

• José Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar
• Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio Silva
• Rashad Evans vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira
• Jon Fitch vs. Demian Maia
• Gleison Tibau vs. Evan Dunham
• Jacob Volkmann vs. Bobby Green
• Edwin Figueroa vs. Francisco Rivera

For more UFC and MMA coverage,

visit GRACIEMAG.com’s Choke MMA section

Luxury training session at Alliance’s Rio de Janeiro chapter: Victinho Paiva, Gurgel, Gigi, Léo Leite and Roger Gracie among others (Publicity photo)

Roger Gracie, who is tabbed to face Anthony Smith this coming January 12 at Strikeforce, made sure to get in some first-rate training during his stay in Rio de Janeiro.

Besides the MMA sparring he’s been getting in at Team Nogueira, Gracie (5-1) made the most of the weekend before Christmas to stop by Alliance Rio, an academy in the city’s upscale Leblon neighborhood run by Alexandre “Gigi” Paiva, an old buddy of his father Maurição Gomes’.

On the 23rd of this month, for example, practice turned into a great big study session on Jiu-Jitsu as applied to MMA, thanks to the presence of Fabio Gurgel, who spent Christmas in Rio, and Léo Leite and others of the team’s young talent.

“Gigi knows a great deal about No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu. And as Roger’s opponent is good on the ground too, they went over some things the guy likes to do, moves the American is frequently seen doing, things like that,” Fabio Gurgel told GRACIEMAG.com over the phone.

“The session was focused on the clinch. We did some clinch technique training as well as some work on Roger keeping us from getting up. Léo Leite and I went bouncing around on the ground and Roger had to keep the pressure on so we wouldn’t get up. It was good for getting his game tighter. It was another cool exchange between Roger and our team, which is always good for the gentle art and a pleasure for us,” Gurgel added.

Roger will be taking on Anthony Smith at the Strikeforce event in Oklahoma City, Okla., on the 12th of next month. Check out the complete card for the event:

Strikeforce: Marquardt vs Saffiedine
Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
January 12, 2013

Nate Marquardt vs. Tarec Saffiedine
Daniel Cormier vs. Dion Staring
Josh Barnett vs. Nandor Guelmino
Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle
Ronaldo Jacaré vs. Ed Herman

Under card (broadcast on Showtime Extreme)

Roger Gracie vs. Anthony Smith
Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Smith
Ryan Couture vs. KJ Noons

Non-TV-broadcast preliminaries

Jorge Gurgel vs. Adriano Martins
Michael Bravo vs. Estevan Payan

For more UFC and MMA coverage,

visit GRACIEMAG.com’s Choke MMA section

MMA coach Gilbert Durinho wins a NAGA belt for the first time. Personal archive photo.

A Jiu-Jitsu world champion and MMA coach, Gilbert Durinho (4w, 0l) decided to get back to competing last weekend in Dallas, Texas.

The grappling coach to Vitor Belfort held a seminar in the US city, but when he found out there was a NAGA no-gi event going on, he just had to get in on it.

“The Jiu-Jitsu spirit overcame me, and I couldn’t just watch from the sidelines, so I went and signed up and ended up winning the No-Gi competition. I got tapouts in both the matches I was in and took the belt,” he told GRACIEMAG.com.

In the first match, I managed to get a good points lead with two takedowns, a guard pass and a Kimura attempt. I made the most of the opening to go for mount. The opponent bridged, but I held on to the Kimura. I finished him from closed guard,” Durinho explained. “In the final I got the takedown and took his back—my favorite. But what I actually did was a “monkey jump” (laughs). I managed to keep the pressure on the hold, stuck in my hooks and finished via rear-naked choke,” he added.

“The position comes up a lot in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu and MMA. The trick is to get a good hold from behind—one hand over the shoulder and the other under the arm. The important part is to not give him room to escape. I like putting my chin on his shoulder, which helps make the hold tighter. Vitor [Belfort] is way slick; he never loses back control anymore. If you mess up against our team, we’ll end up on your back,” he said jokingly.

In honor of the fighter, o GRACIEMAG.com hereby reposts an article written by Luca Atalla and originally printed in the January 2008 GRACIEMAG, issue 131.

***

Ryan Gracie (August 14, 1974 – December 15, 2007) / Photo taken by Tiago Molinos/GRACIEMAG

I am the legend

Ever since he was a kid, he’d tell friends he was going to die at the age of 33.

He lived at maximum intensity, relishing extreme pleasures, provoking outrageous emotions, walking a tightrope of the utmost danger.

Still, we were all caught by surprise when the news hit: Ryan Gracie died in his sleep, alone in a jail cell at the 91st Police Department in São Paulo early in the morning of Saturday, December 15.

The world will be different without him.

After all, the “Beast” was omnipresent.

One needed only say his name and, like magic, he was there. It didn’t matter if we was in Japan, Rio, NY, or Hawaii.

And he’d arrive with a bang.

I remember 1997, at the Jiu-Jitsu Pan-American in Honolulu. It was well before his Pride FC debut, but he was Ryan long before that.

The island of Oahu was too small. So he went to the sea. He grabbed a surfboard and waded into the raging Waimea bay.

So what, surf aficionados will say. Surfing the giant waves of Waimea is by no means for just anyone, but there are still a lot of people who do it. Fine, I respond. Except that Ryan DIDN’T know how to surf.

He went in, tried to drop in on three waves, and obviously, he wiped out every time. He said he nearlydrowned, but he came out without a scratch. On the same trip, he flipped a car and knocked out two Hawaiians with a single elbow strike. But pertaining to both these habits of his (throwing elbow strikes and flipping cars), there are other memorable stories to recount.

Arriving in São Paulo

His first car, a black XR-3 Escort, lasted a single trip. It was one amazing trip, but just one.

Accompanied by friend Alexandre Soca, Ryan left Rio in the morning, heading for São Paulo. He was only 17 years old, but not having a driver’s license was a mere trifle to him.

It so happens that his tires went flat more than 20 times. It sounds like a lie, but so does everything else in his life. He started by paying for the repairs. When the money ran out, he used the clothes from sponsor High-Level to pay. Then the clothes were gone, and his tires went flat again. All that was left was to get them fixed and make a break for it before paying. Except, just ahead, they would go flat again, and they would have to go back to the same guy and convince him to fix the tires again. It was a task easy to accomplish for someone born with such charisma as he had.

At the speed he drove the trip would take three hours (four for normal people), but it was already dark and São Paulo still far away. He wanted to stop to rest, but the were“almost there,” insisted Soca.

“Okay, so here’s what you do, wake me at the curves,” Ryan said, to which Soca agreed.

This insane plan worked for awhile, until Soca too fell asleep.

They went down a hill, flipping several times, him crying out during the accident: “I told you so, little punk, I told you so.”

“I just wanted it to be over so I could kick his ass,” Ryan would recall when telling the story. “But I felt sorry for him, because he busted his knee in the accident.”

Their arrival in São Paulo – where Ryan would later settle, open a gym of his own, have legions of fans and enemies – was a triumphal one: trailing behind a tow truck.

Secret weapon

There are countless stories depicting the elbow strike, his favorite move, one he systematized through practice outside the lab. Or, scientific jargon aside, he perfected them in the real world, in street fights.

The black belt Jorge Pereira knows all about that.

Ryan was a good friend of my brother-in-law, Paulo Guillobel, and even lived at his house as a kid. But one day, in 1998, they had a falling out over a girl, and scheduled a fight, behind closed doors in the gym, to settle the matter.

It was going to be at Gracie Barra, but at that time Carlinhos [uncle and teacher to Ryan and to Guillobel’s teacher Jorge Pereira] was with me and Vitor Belfort scaling Gávea mountain.

We arrived there late, and their bout was already underway in the street in front of the academy. Them being friends, it didn’t look like a real fight, and nothing much happened–Ryan was on top in Guillobel’s guard. They fought because they had said publicly they would. The rhythm was so calm that, amid the fuss, Ryan was already arguing with Jorge.

Carlinhos stepped in to calm them down. So as to not interfere with the outcome, he suggested: “If you both stand up, it’s over, right?” They both agreed. So Guillobel pushed Ryan away and got up.

Jorge then went to talk to Ryan about what he’d said to him during the fight. There was no talk. He ate an elbow, and dropped to his knees, stunned.

An hour later, Ryan had gone and Jorge went back to talk to Carlinhos. He wanted to settle the score. Eventually, they came to terms and there would be no sequel to the episode. But, there, in the garage at his master’s house, and still angry, Jorge shrugged his shoulders, scratched his chin and admitted:

“Hats off to the kid for that elbow strike.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcL4Oc9IDu8

150,000-dollar debut

Two thousand was the year that would define Ryan’s life.

Involved in a scuffle at Ilha dos Pescadores, a nightclub in Rio de Janeiro, he spent 17 days in jail, accused of stabbing a tough guy who went by the moniker Chuck Norris.

In an interview published in GRACIE Magazine #39, he told me he didn’t get proper food and had to share a cell with 35 inmates. Nevertheless, he got along just fine:

“They didn’t bother me; I kept quietly to myself in a corner. They all treated me well; I gave out autographs and some T-shirts, both to prisoners and policemen alike.”

That did scare him, though:

“I never want to go back, and I have faith I’ll never go to a place like that again,” he said.

Hearing his response, I asked if he was going through a change in attitude:

“No, I won’t change my attitude, but I will stop responding to provocation, so I won’t end up in this kind of mess.”

Up until then, Ryan had some results in competition Jiu-Jitsu, hundreds of street fights, and was fairly well known in the milieu. But his professional career was nonexistent.

He then asked me to get him a fight in Pride. Koichi Kawasaki, Renzo’s agent, liked the idea. His brother didn’t. Thought he wasn’t ready yet, wanted to postpone it. But Ryan insisted, and Renzo caved.

With no record, and two weeks after turning 26, he premiered in August of 2000 for a purse of 150,000 dollars, around five times what big-name Brazilian fighters received for fighting in what was the top MMA event in the world at that time.

As he walked to the ring, the Japanese announcer called him the greatest street fighter in the Gracie family. No exaggeration there. Speaking over the mic, he told of how in one fight he bit off an opponent’s ear. Also not a lie.

The fight mentioned, with him as a kid taking on Tico of Amazonas, is a Youtube classic. In the middle of the fight, he said his opponent was pulling his fingers. They said no holds were barred. So he did what his crowd told him to: “Bite his ear off!” It didn’t go as far as to come off, but the bite did end up figuring on his résumé.

Immediately, rebellious Japanese youth identified with Ryan. At events, he made a point out of greeting his fans, even on the walk out preceding his fights. He would be surrounded by thousands of fans, who were looking for signatures, photos, mementos. He was an idol.

Professional commitments forced Ryan to dedicate himself more to training. His life of partying, travel and women had to share a room with his training program. There were no two ways about it. If he didn’t train, he could not fight.

Perhaps the most naturally talented fighter I have ever met, during that phase he got better technically and was able to use at least a small percentage of his ample talent.

If he kept on that path, the Milky Way was the limit.

But fighting brought in a lot of money, and money brought him an cushy life. More parties, more women, more pleasure. And the room for training got thinner. Before he realized what was going on and tried to pull the brakes, he stepped on the gas hard. So hard, there was no stopping him.

Ryan didn’t die

From August 2000 to December 2004, Ryan fought seven times, all in Pride, all against local idols.

The high points were his outstanding debut, knocking down and out a local wrestling star; the fight against Sakuraba, where he lost by decision but climbed even higher up the mountain of fame; and the occasions when he represented the Gracies in the Pride Bushido team match-ups.

Another feat of his was the armbar that hyperextended the arm of Shungo Oyama, a judoka who had disrespected him at a press conference. Ryan wanted (but didn’t get to) to fight Olympic judo champion Hidehiko Yoshida. He knew that bout would make him even more famous.

A few days after his death, Ryan’s greatest enemy, Jorge “Macaco” Patino, told “Diário de São Paulo” newspaper the following:

“Though he may not have been a top fighter, Ryan had termendous will to win, had no fear and took shit from no one – which the Japanese loved.” Macaco also said that the respect for and fanaticism about Ryan’s style in Japan were impressive.

Ryan and Macaco fought about ten times, over the course of 15 years. They fought in tournaments, restaurants, MMA events, within the São Paulo Federation, on the street. They did have a truce for a couple of years, but then they got back to their mutual bellicosity.

Still, though he does try to diminish Ryan’s worth as a fighter, Macaco does recognize his popularity.

Indeed, Ryan’s results were trifles when compared to what he represents. Out of his seven fights at Pride, five were main events (as a comparison, Rodrigo Minotauro was also featured in five Pride main bouts – but he fought 21 times for the Japanese promotion).

It’s no wonder Ryan made the cover of nine issues of GRACIEMAG and NOCAUTE magazines.

Elvis Presley may not have been the greatest virtuoso as a musician, but that didn’t stop him from being the most popular.

In 2005, Ryan practically tore up a check for a million dollars, the sum offered by Pride FC for a year of the Gracie’s services – but he would never fight again.

Catch me if you can

With glory came more money, more commitments, more tension, more obligations, and drugs seemed to be the purge switch. The biggest problem might not even have been the drugs, but rather the pills and, above all, the alcohol.

The fact is that he signs he needed help had started to surface. And his family, friends, wife, students, all tried to help. He even tried himself, with all his might. He would spend days, sometimes weeks without taking anything, but then came the withdrawal crisis—and it was stronger than him.

Ryan wasn’t used to being tamed, and he wouldn’t let himself be controlled. When his subconscious took the reins, he did what he wanted. It was always like that.

His body seemed impervious; he’d go out of his way to defy the system, create an adverse situation, and then escape by a hair. Always.

During carnival in 2002, at a rave in the Southern Brazilian town of Ibiraquera, he was getting beaten up by a half dozen mid-ranked Chute Boxe students from Curitiba, and I convinced them to let go of the choke they had him in. In a split second, his first reaction once able to breathe was to summon two bouncers working the party to help him out: “You guys are with me, you’re with me.” His students arrived right after that and the situation got worse before it got better. But he left unscathed.

Next to him, Frank Abganale Jr, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in “Catch Me if you Can”, seems like a grounded kid sneaking out of his bedroom.

Ryan was a master of escape.

He was capable of analyzing all the ingredients before blinking, and instantly make the decision that would lead him to the best way out.

At the height of his paranoia, the panic attacks that would strike more and more often as time went by, Ryan left home on Friday, December 14, 2007, and, imagining São Paulo drug gangs were after him, he stole a car to escape. Masterful at the wheel of a motor vehicle, his crashing into a park bench, a scene that would be emblazoned on newspapers the next day, shows he was no longer himself. He tried to steal another car, couldn’t, approached a motorcyclist and tried to take his bike. He was overpowered by a crowd and arrested in the act.

The family psychiatrist visited in jail and prescribed a cocktail of drugs in massive doses, proving to be fatal doses when combined with the other drugs he had in his system. Ryan, at 33 years and two months old, would not wake up the next day.

Medical screw-up apart, he had promised he would never get locked up again.

As much as it hurts, perhaps, at this time, rest may have been the best way out for the Beast.

* * *

Legends about their exploits immortalized Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Virgulino “Lampião” Ferreira. Ryan Gracie, though, was the legend itself.

Legacy: Ryan Gracie academy in São Paulo is now run by world champion Celso Venícius.

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

Jeff Monson, 41, is undefeated in MMA in 2012. Publicity photo.

A seasoned wrestler who’s long been making the rounds at the ADCC and other No-Gi tournaments, Jeff Monson, 41, is still a force to be reckoned with in MMA.

The American Top Team Jiu-Jitsu black belt has been on a roll in MMA in 2012. Since suffering a decision loss at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko at Russian event M-1 Global in November of last year, the American hasn’t lost once in 2012.

He’s had six fights this year, five of them wins and one a draw—and major kudos to him for the north-south choke on Alexander Emelianenko, Fedor’s brother, last November 15 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Monson’s latest win came this Saturday at South Korean event Road FC, where he beat hometown fighter Dong Gook Kang by judges’ decision.

As a tribute to the “Snowman”, GRACIEMAG.com dug up this video of him against former UFC multi-divisional title challenger Kenny Florian at a 2002 Grapplers Quest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqqWTXolFLE

Johny Hendricks lands the knockout of the night at UFC 154, in Montreal. Photo by Josh Hedges/UFC.

“Carlos Condit is the only guy besides Jake Shields who’s guard didn’t get passed by Saint-Pierre. GSP passed the guard of phenoms like BJ Penn with ease, even passed Dan Hardy’s guard 26 times!”

Caio Terra, challenger Carlos Condit’s Jiu-Jitsu coach

“Shogun’s level on the ground is really great. I even asked him if he didn’t want to double up with me at the South American Championship so we could close out at weight and absolute. I learned one lesson from him: if you’re well trained and tire out, don’t stop, because your opponent will be exhausted too.”

Léo Nogueira, Jiu-Jitsu world champion and sparring partner to former UFC champion

“I’m not big on Anderson. He’s a phenomenal fighter but an extremely arrogant guy. (…) I feel a fight between him and Jon Jones would be a much bigger challenge than against GSP. Anderson knows he has an advantage over GSP because of his height and all.”

Roberto Drysdale, letting slip that the “Spider’s” 2010 spat with Demian Maia at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi hasn’t yet been forgotten

“GSP hasn’t fought anyone like me yet. I’ve got strong wrestling and a power punch, and no one’s even seen my Jiu-Jitsu yet.”

Johny Hendricks, after knocking out Martin Kampmann in mere seconds and emerging as a solid contender for GSP

Referee Big John in the circular cage at Mestre do Combate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil / Publicity photo

There were no big stars on the card, which allowed top billing Jiu-Jitsu to take center stage.

So Mestre do Combate, a new event held last night in Rio de Janeiro, pleased the crowd of VIPs and black belts sitting around the circle-shaped cage.

Before the eyes of host Rickson Gracie, and Marcelo Novaes, Cauã Reymond and other famous aces, the fighters on Murilo Bustamante-led Rio team put on a show and overcame the Francisco Veras-led team from São Paulo in an improbable 3-2 come-from-behind win.

Team São Paulo had been winning by 2-0, and the experienced black belt Alexandre Sagat could have shut out the competition by beating Gersinho Conceição. Sagat got the better of the first, ten-minute, round, but the BTT athlete would not be intimidated by the hard knocks he took standing, and went on to get two takedowns to win via decision, with referee Big John McCarthy and master of ceremonies Rickson Gracie having decided in his favor. The gang on Facebook had picked Sagat by a healthy margin, however.

With the score at 2-1, the hometown fighters’ spirits picked up: Armando Sapinho and Fernando Camolês rallied back with submissions. Sapinho, after sinking his Submission of the Night-winning north-south choke, shouted through the mic: “That’s grassroots Jiu-Jitsu. It will never die.” A round of applause for them, and for Jiu-Jitsu.

Check out the complete results, and the six submissions in eight fights:

Mestre do Combate 1
Rio de Janeiro, RJ
November 22, 2012

Vitor Miranda subbed Elton Monstro via arm-and-neck choke at 4:33 min.

RJ vs SP

Fernando Camolês subbed Kitner Moura via heelhook in R1.
Armando Sapinho subbed Thiago Fernandes via north-south choke in R1.
Gersinho Conceição defeated AlexandreSagat via split decision.
Udi Lima subbed Celso Farpado via triangle in R1.
Glauke Eugenio subbed Jeffinho Nunes via Kimura lock 26 seconds into R1

Under card

Oséias Viana subbed Luciano Izzy with a choke from the back in R1.
Pety Maffort defeated Robert Peter via TKO in R1.

Marcus Aurelio chokes out Takanori Gomi at now-defunct Japanese promotion Pride FC in 2006. Photo by Susumu Nagao/GRACIEMAG archives.

This coming November 29, another MMA event will come to be in the Brazilian State of Ceará. The inaugural Warrior Fight (WF) event is set to take place at Fortaleza City’s Ginásio Paulo Sarasate arena, and the big draw is the pairing of local fighters against American imports as main events.

Names like former UFC fighter Marcus Aurelio, Junior Killer and André Gigueto head the hometown troop against American invaders Garrett Gross, TJ Thomas and Jack Rosenbaum.

The black belt Marcus Aurelio, or “Maximus”, is the most famous fighter in the bunch. Relocated to Florida 11 years ago to train and teach in the gentle art, Marcus once choked unconcious the then-undefeated Takanori Gomi with an arm-and-neck choke. With 21 career wins, the Brazilian is in Fortaleza to train for the fight.

There, he demonstrated a position exclusively for GRACIEMAG.com readers, one that is just as useful for MMA as it is for No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu.

Warrior Fight
Ginásio Paulo Sarasate, Fortaleza, Ceará
November 29, 2012

Marcus Aurelio vs Garrett Gross
Junior Killer vs TJ Thomas
André Gigueto vs Jake Rosenbaum
Lucas Lopes vs Brian
Iramar Forota vs Ryan Tobar
Igor Negão vs adversário a ser definifdo
Danilo Mota vs Jânio Carlos
Marilia Fanta vs Viviane
Teo Menezes vs Goran
Mil vs Bruno

Robert Drysdale added a third armbar and fifth submission win to his five-fight career this past Friday. Publicity photo.

The only challenge Robert Drysdale faced in headlining the Legacy FC 15 card this Friday was making the 93 kg (205 lb) weight limit for the light heavyweight division. After first showing up around five pounds overweight at weigh-ins, at least the ADCC 2007 champion didn’t have to sweat much in the actual fight.

Drysdale easily took his opponent, Chris Reed, down with a well-timed single-leg, targeted the north-south choke but was kept at bay by Chris grabbing his shorts. Robert thus transitioned to mount, where he sunk an armbar 1:15 minutes into the fight.

The win marks Drysdale’s fifth submission win of his five-fight professional career, as well as the third armbar in his MMA collection.

Check out the results from the Houston, Texas Legacy FC event

Legacy FC 15
Arena Theater, Houston, USA
November 16, 2012

Robert Drysdale subbed Chris Reed via armbar at 1:15 min of R1;
Nick Gonzalez defeated Ray Blodget via unanimous judges’ decision;
Angel Huerta defeated Sail Elizondo via KO at 1:07 of R1;
William Bush defeated Jon Kirk via TKO at 2:08 min of R1;
Thomas de Almeida defeated Cody Williams via KO at 2:28 min of R1;
Charles Ontiveros tapped out Patrick Hutton via armbar at 3:11 min of R1;
Matt Schnell subbed Marcus Duper via armbar at 1:06 min of R1.