Luiza in action at Worlds / Photos: Personal archives

Luiza Monteiro has been standing out in competition Jiu-Jitsu and has a slight preference for No-Gi tournaments. Having won the No-Gi Worlds as a purple belt in 2009, she repeated the feat last year against a black belt opponent. Get to know a bit about this Rio de Janeiro native living in Santos, São Paulo, promising to give the other tough girls a hard time this season, in this GRACIEMAG.com interview:

How did you end up in Santos, being from Rio and all?

I’ve been in São Paulo since 2009, training with Leo Vieira. I spent some time in the USA with Lucas Leite and Rodrigo Cavaca made me an offer to train with him. Now I live in Santos with athletes like Michelle Nicolini.

What are your objectives for this season?

I’m going to do the World Pro qualifiers in Gramado and for sure I’ll go to the Pan and Worlds. I also want to do the ADCC tryouts. But I’m going to focus most on the No-Gi Brazilian Nationals and No-Gi Worlds because I like that kind of competition. Those two are among my biggest objectives. I was a world champion while still a brown belt, competing against blackbelts. Now I want to get the title a second time, wearing a black belt!

Who is the main opposition in your way?

I competed against Penny Thomas twice. I lost to her in the gi and I beat her without it. Hannette Staack is returning this year and she’s a headache for anyone in the middleweight division, she’s a great champion.

Luiza and faithful companion Michelle

Are you planning to do anything differently to stand out at black belt?

I’m not going to do anything any differently. I’m evolving with each training session and, thank God, I have Michelle (Nicolini) to train with; she’s a great fighter. Besides that, I always have the help of Lucas Leite and Cavaca, who correct my mistakes. I feel I’m in constant evolution. I used to make it onto the podium in second, third place, and now I’m winning. I’m going to try and impose my game and see what happens. I’m focused on physical conditioning and we’ll keep ironing out the technique.

What is your view of the current female Jiu-Jitsu scene?

Female Jiu-Jitsu has evolved a lot and the hardships we encountered a few years ago have diminished a great deal. We have fighters like Nicolini, Gabi Garcia, and Luanna Alzuguir, who are doing great. Female Jiu-Jitsu is pure technique, it’s beautiful to watch. We still need a bit more attention and better prizes, but I don’t see our division as having stagnated. I feel it’s growing by leaps and bounds.

Gilbert Burns against Michael Langhi at last Worlds / Photo: Ray Santana

After a great string of wins in 2010, with titles like the No-Gi Worlds and World Pro among others, Gilbert Durinho is getting ready for action this season. The Atos black belt is confirmed for this weekend’s World Pro tryouts in Rio and the European Open in Lisbon, starting on January 27.

Check out the chat he had with GRACIEMAG.com:

How is training for the World Pro and European Open going?

We’re training hard here in Rio Claro. The whole gang’s together and the one leading training is Guto Campos. I’m feeling great, thank God, and we’re all focused, doing four training sessions per day. We do three Jiu-Jitsu sessions and one physical conditioning session with Atos’ physical conditioning coach Thiago Mendes, who uses the Octane method.

Will you still compete at lightweight?

I’m going into both competitions as a lightweight and I can guarantee there’s no lack of desire or fuel in the gas tank! I’ve got an appetite!

There will inevitably be strong matchups in both events. Are you anxious about these challenges?

It’s precisely these challenges that motivate me to compete. I like the mood of rivalry in the lead-up to a match, and I can see my evolution within the division with each championship, which makes me happy. My objective is to continue evolving and putting on better and better appearances with each championship. Becoming champion is a consequence of all these efforts. Last year was incredible for me, I gained a lot of confidence. I have some big wins and beat nearly all the big names in the division. I also fought at middlweight at the end of last year, and I also won major championships. That surely makes me more confident and experienced. But this year will be even better still, I’m working really hard for that to happen.

Durinho celebrates with André Galvão. Photo John Lamonica.

After the Euro Open will you stick around in Europe to teach seminars?

After the European Open I’ll go to Switzerland with my friend Eduardo Ramos, where I’ll stay a week for seminars and classes in Geneva and Zurich. Then I’ll return to Brazil to continue training. I’m planning a training camp in the USA with the whole Atos crew at André Galvão’s academy in San Diego. We’ll likely prepare for the Pan and World Pro there. As always, I’d like to thank my teammates for everything.

Lucas in photo by Luca Atalla.

Lucas Lepri had a good year on the mats. He won major competitions and saw his work at GMA academy Alliance New York prosper. Looking ahead to next season, the black belt assesses his main challenges in making 2011 even more productive.

Check out the conversation he had with GRACIEMAG.com.

What’s your assessment of your year?

It was really positive, but I can improve and yield a lot more. I started out well and won the European Open, in Lisbon, along with Michael Langhi. Then I had to deal with a number of tough guys at a championship here in New York called Long Island Pride, where I beat guys like Abmar Barbosa, Guybson Sá, and in the final, Roberto Cyborg by 6 to 2. I also closed out the Pan with my friend Langhi and didn’t have an easy time in doing it. To get to the final, for example, I had to make it past Bill Cooper and Jonathan Torres. After the Pan I went to Brazil for two weeks before the Worlds to finish up preparations with Fabio Gurgel and the team. Even with a fever, I competed at the Brazilian Nationals and there was no getting around the result: I ended up losing. But it served as a learning experience, now I see that I have to respect my own limits, no matter how much I want to fight. I missed a week of training and, in the end, I had a week to get ready for the Worlds, where I took third. The No-Gi championships started up in the second half of the year and I managed to win the Pan for a second time and, soon after that, I got my second No-Gi Worlds title, where I got the finish in all three of my matches. Looking back over the year, I competed at all the major championships and managed to place in all of them.

What are your hopes for 2011, do you intend to compete in the big tournaments? Will you be at the European Open?

2011 is coming up and I’m already getting ready for the season, which will be really intense until June, when the Worlds happen. I started preparing to put in a good showing at the European Open. After that I’ll be in the World Pro tryouts, which will happen February here in New York. I hope to be at all the major events like the Pan, World Pro, and Worlds. In know that to keep the titles I’ve won over these years and win the IBJJF Worlds again I’ll have to sweat a lot, but I always expect the best. And, of course, I always rely on the support of my team, my students, my family, and especially, God.

So the main focus is to close out the Worlds with Langhi again?

If possible, we’ll not just close out the Worlds but the other championships. However, the Worlds is always all the athletes’ main focus.

Lepri puts on the pressure at Long Island Pride. Photo: Luca Atalla.

Lucas Lepri had a good year on the mats. He won major competitions and saw his work at GMA academy Alliance New York prosper. Looking ahead to next season, the black belt assesses his main challenges in making 2011 even more productive.

Who are the main adversaries you have ahead of you?

There are a number of top competitors at lightweight and there are others who I didn’t know about showing up now. When I won the 2007 Worlds nobody knew who I was. I won the title I’d always hoped for in my very first year as a black belt. So I always pay close attention to the opponents I already know about and I don’t forget how surprises can always show up.

How is work in New York?

Alliance NY is growing and producing new champions with every day. We’re working on building the foundations, aiming for our students to make the lowest number of mistakes possible. We’re also focused on the self-defense part that gave origin to Jiu-Jitsu and it is extremely important to teach starting at white belt. I’d like to mention Fabio Clemente, who provided me the opportunity to teach at Alliance NY, and Babs, my brother who teaches with me and helps me train for championships. I’m really happy to be part of this team and I consider my students to be my true friends.

Do as Lucas Lepri does and sign up for the European Open clicking here.

What are your hopes for 2011, do you intend to compete in the big tournaments? Will you be at the European Open?

2011 is coming up and I’m already getting ready for the season, which will be really intense until June, when the Worlds happen. I started preparing to put in a good showing at the European Open. After that I’ll be in the World Pro tryouts, which will happen February here in New York. I hope to be at all the major events like the Pan, World Pro, and Worlds. In know that to keep the titles I’ve won over these years and win the IBJJF Worlds again I’ll have to sweat a lot, but I always expect the best. And, of course, I always rely on the support of my team, my students, my family, and especially, God.

So the main focus is to close out the Worlds with Langhi again?

If possible, we’ll not just close out the Worlds but the other championships. However, the Worlds is always all the athletes’ main focus.

Who are the main adversaries coming up in your path?

There are a number of top competitors at lightweight and there are others who I didn’t know about showing up now. When I won the 2007 Worlds nobody knew who I was. I won the title I’d always hoped for in my very first year as a black belt. So I always pay close attention to the opponents I already know about and I don’t forget how surprises can always show up.

How is work in New York going?

Alliance NY is growing and producing new champions with every day. We’re working on building the foundations, aiming for our students to make the lowest number of mistakes possible. We’re also focused on the self-defense part that gave origin to Jiu-Jitsu and it is extremely important to teach starting at white belt. I’d like to mention Fabio Clemente, who provided me the opportunity to teach at Alliance NY, and Babs, my brother who teaches with me and helps me train for championships. I’m really happy to be part of this team and I consider my students to be my true friends.

Do as Lucas Lepri does and sign up for the European Open clicking here.

Photo: personal archive

Following her gold medal-winning performance at the No-Gi Worlds, Beatriz Mesquita wrapped up the 2010 competition calendar atop the winners’ podium yet again. Holder of the 2009 World Cup belt, the Gracie Humaitá brown belt confirmed her favorite status defending her title last weekend in São Paulo.

At the competition, Bia submitted Luiza Monteiro with a choke from back mount two minutes in, yielding here $R 1,500, as well as the honor of keeping her belt for yet another year.

“I’m happy because I was able to show female Jiu-Jitsu has technical shine to it too. Plus I got some money for Christmas,” she says with a jovial laugh.

Now the fighter from the coastal town of Saquarema is focused on her upcoming challenges.

“Now I’m going to train a lot for the Abu Dhabi trials and the European Open, in January,” she says in finishing.

To get the whole story on the 2011 European Open, to take place from January 27 to 30 in Lisbon, click here.

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Photo: Publicity.

Today, at New Jersey’s Absury Park Convention Center, Grapplers Quest wraps up the No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu season in the USA. No-Gi world champion João Assis, one of the big names of the style in 2010, will be there to cap off the solid phase he’s been going through this year.

After New Jersey Assis will carry on training, with his eye on the gi events coming up in 2011. “On February 5 I’ll compete at Samurai Pro, and I intend to be at the Abu Dhabi World Pro in April. I want to do the Worlds in July and, God willing, the ADCC in September and the No-Gi Worlds at the end of the year. Besides those events, I’ll also have some MMA fights,” said João in conclusion.

Bia on the podium with Michelle and Fabiana Borges. Photo: personal archive.

Lightweight champion and absolute runner-up at last month’s No-Gi Worlds in Long Beach, California Beatriz Mesquita was received with a homecoming party in Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro state. With her in her baggage the brown belt brought the Worlds gold medal she won disputing against black belts.

Bia’s party gathered relatives, friends, fighters, and admirers in celebration of Bia’s performance on the mat. The city’s mayor, Franciane Motta, received the illustrious Saquarema native along with other dignitaries, among them town councilmen and district attorneys.

To cap off the year, Bia will defend her World Cup title on December 4 and 5 in São Paulo.

Bochecha in photo by K Jewel (publicity).

Having won his weight group and the absolute at the Jiu-Jitsu Worlds as a brown belt, Marcus “Bochecha” Almeida lived up to expectations and had a great run at black belt. His first major result came in no-gi competition, this month. Bochecha closed out the heavyweight division with João Assis and the absolute with Cyborg. Speaking with GRACIEMAG.com, the beast from the coastal São Paulo city of Santos analyzes the season coming to a close and his perspectives coming in 2011. First, though, he shows how he’s keen to the UFC 123 show coming up this Saturday.

“I’d like to wish my great friend Edson Jr. luck in his UFC debut. He’s going to kick butt!”

How do you assess your first year of competition as a black belt?

It was the best year of my life in every way. Both professionally and personally, things came together as best they could and with what I like doing: competing, training, and teaching. I did well in all the competitions, winning at weight and open weight. But I could feel the weight of the new belt, always against more experienced opponents. I feel I’m learning more and more with every competition.

Bochecha and Pablo Popovitch celebrate at No-Gi Pan. Photo: Alberto Vasari

What’s your aim for next year?

We’ll start 2011 in everything. Cavaca and Raphael Chaves will do a European tour. That’s why we’ll be training hard starting in January, but our main focus is the Pan, World Pro, and, of course, the Worlds.

What do you need to do to win the Worlds?

I feel that in any competition the secret is not just to train, but to know how to train properly. That’s why we’re not going to take any rest until then. I’m really anxious to see how I’ll do. I guarantee I’ll do my best and fight to win. Is winning the absolute at the 2011 Worlds already a reachable dream?

That’s for sure any Jiu-Jitsu fighter’s dream, and it’s mine too. I know that before then I’ll face loads of tough fighters, but I’ll always fight in pursuit of this dream and objective.

Will you compete again in 2010?

After the No-Gi Worlds the plan was to rest, but I’ll go to Brazil to compete at the World League. So I’ll go without rest. We’re training hard, Thiago “Baiano”, Chaves “Cabeçudinho”, and I. They will give us a lot to talk about, as will Master Cavaca, who also had a great year and will go full steam into 2011.

I’d like to thank my family the Armory, my sponsors, and the whole crew back in Santos. Without forgetting to thank, of course, GRACIEMAG.com!

Michelle, with Bia Mesquita, Penny Thomas and Fabiana Borges on No-Gi Worlds podium. Photo: Personal archive.

Following her conquest of the absolute division at the last No-Gi Worlds, adding the to gi absolute world title she won in 2007, Michelle Nicolini will teach some of her Jiu-Jitsu tricks at Team Quest, in California.

The Check Mat black belt is living in Santos, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, where she trains at the academy of world champion Rodrigo Cavaca, but she’s going to Redding, California, for a November 20 seminar.

Michelle won’t have any rest thereafter, with her next challenge of the World Cup in São Paulo coming up on the 4th and 5th of December.

The light featherweight duo at the No-Gi Worlds teaches the spider guard. Photo: John Lamonica.

Featured in GRACIEMAG #164, Caio Terra has been wreaking havoc in the big competitions, whether in the weight groups – Caio tends to compete either at light feather or at roosterweight – or in the absolute, as he did at the recent Las Vegas Open and the American Nationals.

In GRACIEMAG magazine, the black belt comments on his current rivalry in Jiu-Jitsu, between he and three-time world champion Bruno Malfacine. Furthermore, he speaks of how he goes about training to beat much bigger opponents.

In the video below, including black belts Matheus Henrique and Samir Chantre, the co-holder of his No-Gi world title, Caio teaches some great spider-guard variations, with a sweep and finish.

Watch and learn:

Want to find out more? Then subscribe to GRACIEMAG by clicking here.

Tanquinho in photo by Gustavo Aragão

This Tuesday marks the last day of sign-ups for the South American Jiu-Jitsu Open, to take place November 20 and 21 at the São José’s Multiuso Arena, in the South Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, and two tickets to the 2011 European Open are up for grabs.

Not one to dilly-dally, Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes arrived from his trip to California where he took second at the No-Gi Worlds and is already confirmed in the lightweight mix at the South American Open.

“I’m signed up and have my ticket. I’m going in as a lightweight and, depending on how I feel, I might take a stab at the trip to the Euro by entering the absolute as well,” Tanquinho tells GRACIEMAG.com, also addressing his loss to Lucas Lepri in the No-Gi Worlds final.

“I was having a good run in the tourney and was winning the match by a takedown up until the final minutes. I messed up in defending a sweep and Lepri’s not the kind of guy you can make a mistake against. My jaw was injured from the semifinal and I couldn’t bear it when he started to choke me. He deserves credit and it serves as a lesson to me to train more so as to not mess up the next time around,” he reflects.

After a good year, with titles like the Rio Open and Brazilian Team Nationals, Tanquinho hopes to wrap things up in style in Santa Catarina.

“I’m going to the South American Open and then I should rest up some for next season. Next year I intend to be in the main events, including some I didn’t make it to in 2010,” he says.

To sign up for the South American Open, click here .

Roberto Cyborg (pictured in photo by John Lamonica) is the grand champion of the recent No-Gi World Championship, held on the 7th of this month. Two months earlier, though, he already demonstrated how he was among the favorites to take the title by overcoming none other than the giant Rolles Gracie at the UFC Fan Expo.

Remember it, and learn from the both of them.

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