Image: Flograppling

Helsinki, September 25, 2017

Thanks, Finland. It’s time to head back to New York.

I am overwhelmed by the amount of support I received before and after my fight here.

Kikuta is sturdy, and many people forgot he is also a former ADCC champion.

So I knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park. If it were an easy fight, why bother having it?

The best part of the match was at the end. I was winning, and he attempted an arm-and-head guillotine against me.

That was a compliment.

Back in 1998, when I finished our fight with this hold, people didn’t even believe it was possible to submit others with it, and now my poison turns against me. Priceless.

As you know, I got the victory, but this is the less important part of my workday. What matters is that after this experience I am a better fighter, and therefore a better teacher.

So I encourage you to also get out of your comfort zone. The outcome is always positive for those bold enough to take risks.

And don’t ever undervalue the advice of taking Jiu-Jitsu with you at all times.

The art will help to unleash your full potential.

Before catching my plane, let me congratulate my fellow ADCC competitors. It’s unbelievable how high the level on those mats is. I learned a lot by watching you all this weekend. So thank you.

See you in 2019. Definitely.

Renzo Gracie

P.S.: The offer of taking my online course “Renzo Gracie: Mastering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” for only $30 was supposed to end last night. But I demanded Gallerr Academy keep it for a few more days, so enroll now before they stop listening to me.

P.S.2: I will add a few extra things to raffle along my ADCC shirt, so keep tuned for the announcement. It will be cool stuff, and if you become one of our online students, you have a chance to win. So come join our family now. 

Shinya Aoki and Garry Tonon

Asian franchise One Championship has announced an interesting duel for its May 26 event, set to be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. MMA legend Shinya Aoki and talented BJJ black-belt Garry Tonon will go head to head in a grappling superfight.

Thirty-three-year-old Aoki is a black-belt in BJJ and judo with numerous MMA titles to his name, including the One Championship lightweight belt. Known for his flexible style, Aoki has a dangerous rubber guard and attacks from the back among his resources.

Danaher Death Squad member Tonon, 26, has been collecting wins in superfights such as this one. A specialist in leg attacks, he’s always a threat to anyone due to his heel hooks.

Leandro Lo will be making his debut under ADCC rules.

The ADCC has announced another superfight for the second American trials, an event that qualifies for the big one in Finland, in September.

Leandro Lo will be making his ADCC debut at the West Coast Trials vs. Braulio Estima in Anaheim on April 15.

Braulio is an ADCC veteran, having even won the absolute division in 2009.

The trials will also feature three more superfights: Marcus Buchecha vs. Rafael Lovato Jr., Roberto Cyborg vs. Vinny Magalhães, and Bruno Frazatto vs. Geo Martinez. This is on top of the regular tournaments in every weight class.

Gui and Rafa preparing for Rafa’s superfight. Photo: Nick the Tooth

The Mendes brothers, Rafael and Guilherme, indulged in some more world traveling over the weekend. This time, they visited Grozny, Chechnya for an opportunity to face an opponent each, in two separate superfights in both gi and no-gi.

Rafa faced Osvaldo “Queixinho” and submitted him from the back on both days, in both fights. Gui faced a local black belt named Arbi Muradov. Gui submitted him with a baseball choke in the gi and with a toe hold in the no-gi portion.

Their response to the event and their victories:

“It was an amazing experience–first time in Russia and first time fighting under these rules. We were able to get the submission on both days in less than ten minutes and we were able to use the techniques that we have been working on. We want to thank Berkut Jiu-Jitsu and the local fans for all the amazing support and love, and special thanks to our students for sending positive messages and preparing us to face this challenge!

Now it’s time to go back to the academy and train the kids to win another Pan Kids title! OSS”

Keep an eye on the Mendes bros and their travels in the future at www.artofjiujitsu.com

Watch the videos bellow:

Gui Mendes vs Arbi Muradov – (video queued to 7hrs 15 mins)

Rafa Mendes vs Quexinho – (video queued to 7hrs 46 mins)

Gui Mendes vs Arbi Muradov – (video queued to 9hrs 51mins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlCpStTUDFw#t=35460

Rafa Mendes vs Quexinho – (video queued to 10hrs 27mins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlCpStTUDFw#t=37645

After Romulo dominated much of the match, the fight went to the ground, off the mats and chaos ensued. Romulo was awarded the victory based on his dominating performance prior to the altercation.

You can catch the video below:

Learn more about Cavalcanti Jiu-Jitsu at www.rcjiujitsu.com

Michelle Nicolini (Checkmate) and Angelica Galvão (Atos) dueled at a high level in a submission only combat of 20 minutes at Polaris Pro.

More experienced, Nicolini was able to perform an accurate attack at Angelica’s foot, which did not resist.

Review the submission and watch the champions comment the fight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8cjbkqOJy0

In London at the Clapham Grand, the first edition of the Toukon Challenge, an invitation-only event, took place on Sunday, Nov. 23.

The card featured some of the best grapplers from all over Europe. The show presented matches of different calibers in the following categories:

Prelims – 4 fights of 5 minutes under the IBJJF rules.
Brown Belt Middle Weight Tournament – This is an eight man tournament. Brown belt and black belt fights will be six minutes.
Brown Belt Middle Weight Challenge – One six minute match between two brown belts.
Black Belt Team Challenge – Two teams, each with five black belts will fight each other to decide who is the best. The first team to get three wins, will be victorious and will be taking The Toukon Team belt home with them. Black belt and brown belt fights will be six minutes.
Sub Only – Six match-ups. The fights will be twenty minutes in length and will not be scored. The only way to win is by submission, forcing the athletes to constantly be attacking and looking for a way to finish the fight.
Co Main Event – An absolute superfight between two athletes. Fights will be 20 minutes submission only.
Main Event – A superfight will be 10 min minutes.

Some of the athletes who were involved include Lucio Lagarto, Luca Anacoreta, Eduardo Teto Rios, Max Campos, Thomas Oyarzun, Roger Dardis, Sebastion Brosche, Luke Costelo, Raphael Dos Santos, Viking Wong, Alex Cabanes, Darragh O’Conaill and more.

What makes this event unique is the opportunity for the athletes to earn money. As they promote their own showing in the event, they earn a portion of the pay-per-view and spectator earnings. When one goes onto the site to watch, they must choose an athlete in the drop-down list.

The next event will be on March 15 in London once again with some new categories: a female team challenge, a brown belt lightweight grand prix and a classic fight to name a few.

You can see full results here: www.toukonchallenge.com

Cousins Robson, Roger and Kywan Gracie at Roger Gracie Academy in London, UK. Photo: Personal Archives

Kywan Gracie Behring carries Jiu-Jitsu in his blood from both sides of his family. His mother, Kyrla Gracie is Grandmaster Carlos Gracie Sr.’s daughter and his father, Marcelo Behring was Rickson Gracie’s student and became an important Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter in the 1980’s before tragically passing away in 1995.

The youngsters Kywan, who is now a Jiu-Jitsu brown belt under his cousin Roger Gracie in London starts to show signs that he is looking forward to follow the steps of his predecessors and become another protagonist to his family’s fighting legacy.

With a superfight schedule for this November 23rd against Sebastian Brosche at the European TKC 1, Toulkon Challenge event in UK, the Gracie speaks in the video below about carrying out his family name, the beginnings of Jiu-Jitsu and the relationship between Rickson Gracie and his father.

Check it out:

Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes, despite transferring to the realm of MMA, still wants to get back on the mats. He will be matched against New Yorker Gianni Grippo, a young black belt under Marcelo Garcia.

Tanquinho became the world featherweight champion in 2013 versus Rafa Mendes. Photo: Ivan Trindade

Tanquinho has just begun his camp for both the superfight and the MMA fight he has planned for November as part of Legacy. But the hard work he has before him is nothing new. “It’s going to be 8 weeks of hard training. I’m doing S&C, BJJ, wrestling, kickboxing and MMA training, nothing different than what I was doing when I won the worlds in 2013,” explains the champ.

On the other side of the country, Gianni’s approach differs. Having his focus solely on Jiu-Jitsu, his plans for the preparation won’t change from his normal routine: “I’m really not doing anything different in preparation for this particular match over any event I’ve done for the entire year. The big importance for me is to not make this into anything bigger than it already is, so whether it’s a small local tournament or a match with Tanquinho at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo, the same, hard, consistent training never changes.”

Gianni at the NY Open. Photo: Erin Herle

For both athletes, there’s no point in fretting over the other’s game. Each will plan their own strategies based on their own abilities. We know Tanquinho as a well-rounded athlete, able to handle the stand-up portion of the match as well as the berimbolos. He plans to make sure he is in shape and ready for no surprises. Gianni knows that Tanquinho will come out giving 100% so he knows he must be ready.

The excitement of the match is expected for both spectator and athlete alike. While the match can go any way, Gianni plans that it will be one to watch and that he will give everything he has.

Tanquinho’s expectations are firm: “I’m expecting a good match, Gianni is a talented kid! I’m training to win, doesn’t matter how! I left the BJJ scene as a world champion and I’ll show everyone that I still am the number one feather weight of the world.”

Nino Schembri na 1ª World Jiu-Jitsu Expo, em 2012, na derrota por decisão para Bill Cooper. Foto: John Cooper/GRACIEMAG

A terceira edição da World Jiu-Jitsu Expo, marcada para os próximos dias 18 e 19 de outubro, vai reunir dois cultuados veteranos do esporte numa superluta cheia de técnica.

Notório professor da Nova União, detentor do cinturão do Shooto nos anos 2000, Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro encara Antonio “Nino” Schembri, o criador da gogoplata e ex-lutador do Pride, na feira organizada por Renzo Gracie, na Califórnia.

Shaolin e Nino, ambos hoje treinadores nos EUA, viveram seus melhores anos no fim da década de 1990 e início da de 2000, em torneios como o Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu, o Mundial e o ADCC.

A luta entre o faixa-preta de Dedé Pederneiras e o de Carlos Gracie Junior será com o kimono, sob as regras da IBJJF, e terá a duração de 15 minutos. As superlutas estão todas programadas para o sábado 18 de outubro.

A Expo de 2014 será em Long Beach, nas dependências do confortável Long Beach Convention Center, sede do evento nos dois primeiros anos.

Entre as atrações deste ano, está a realização da IBJJF Pro League, torneio profissional que vai pagar 5 mil dólares a cada campeão na faixa-preta.

Fique ligado no GRACIEMAG.com para saber mais sobre as superlutas da World Jiu-Jitsu Expo, leitor. E que outras superlutas você gostaria de ver no evento? Comente com a gente.

The 2014 World Jiu-Jitsu Expo is now set for October 18 & 19 at the Long Beach Convention Center in California. As with previous years, the event will host seminars, meet & greets, a chance to compete, superfights and more.

Over the next few months there will be announcements as to who will be in attendance and when the tournament registrations are open. Adults, legends and kids all have an opportunity to compete.

Unique to this year will be the IBJJF Pro League combined with the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo. The rankings of black belt determine if they are eligible to compete in the limited tournament that offers cash prizes.

To stay aware of all the updates on the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo, go to www.worldjiujitsuexpo.com