Thales Felipe, a model of overcoming adversity, at Best Fighters 7 in Fortaleza / Photo by Junior Samurai/GRACIEMAG.com

The seventh installment of Best Fighters took place this weekend in Fortaleza, Ceará, and the big standout of the prize money-offering Jiu-Jitsu tournament was black belt world champion Leandro Lo, who won the absolute division after getting the tapout in four of his five matches, as you already read here on GRACIEMAG.com.

But there were other sterling examples at the tournament, as well. A blue belt native of the city of Natal, Thales Felipe roused the crowd with his attitude. Thales, who lost a leg in a motorcycle accident a year ago, wasn’t intimidated by the competition, donned a gi and hit the mats.

“I used to train three years ago. Then after I got in the accident my teacher convinced me to take it up again. Now Jiu-Jitsu is everything to me,” the FAM Caverna blue belt said.

Watch Thales in action and stop whining. The lesson here is: go fight and take what you want.