Gurgel and the historic conquest
Gurgel, to the right, with partner Romero Jacare and the 2008 Worlds trophies.
Alliance dominated men’s adult division
With the end of another World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, it is time to recover from defeat or rejoice in the good results from long months of training. It can be said that Fabio Gurgel, one of the leaders of Alliance, is one of the most accomplished people after the great tournament that took place last weekend in Long Beach, California.
The “General,” as his athletes call him, didn’t add another gold medal to his record as a fighter, but led a big, historical win for Alliance in the teams dispute, beating Gracie Humaita and multiple champion Gracie Barra in the men’s adult division.
“It was incredible. It was the fruit of our work toward renewal. It all went right, the team was all well trained. He were coming in a crescendo since last year. This year we won the Pan-American and we did well at both the São Paulo Championship and Circuit, so we knew we had a big chance. We achieve a historical landmark. We have great athletes, we worked very hard, we went well organized since the pre-season until the final preparation in Atlanta. We got sponsoring, everybody got their visa and got to the peak of their physical preparation,” Gurgel told GRACIEMAG.com, unable to hide his happiness.
Also, the four-time world black belt champion had the joy of having two of his pupils consecrated in two of the toughest black belt weight classes: feather and middleweight. Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles showed why he was favorite and strolled by the featherweights, achieving his third title.
“Cobrinha is one of our standouts. He is a three-time champ, but has the motivation of someone who’s never won a thing. He is way above the rest, because he is always motivated and prepared. I find it hard for someone to beat him at that weight any time soon. He is an exceptional athlete,” explained the General.
The big news, however, was Sergio Moraes, who came without been very well-known, opened everyone’s eyes as he submitted Kron Gracie in the first fight of the middleweight category, and ended up winning one of the most difficult weight classes in Jiu-Jitsu.
“I knew he going to be champion. They started talking about him for being matched up against Kron, who is a sensation and came from a wonderful year as a brown belt. But we always knew about Sergio’s potential. It was a complicated weight class, but we were fortunate and many people were surprised. Many didn’t know him, because he is very humble and had no money or support, but now, with us, he is going to show everyone the great talent he has,” said the proud commander
Gurgel, to the right, with partner Romero Jacare and the 2008 Worlds trophies.
Alliance dominated men’s adult division
With the end of another World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, it is time to recover from defeat or rejoice in the good results from long months of training. It can be said that Fabio Gurgel, one of the leaders of Alliance, is one of the most accomplished people after the great tournament that took place last weekend in Long Beach, California.
The “General,” as his athletes call him, didn’t add another gold medal to his record as a fighter, but led a big, historical win for Alliance in the teams dispute, beating Gracie Humaita and multiple champion Gracie Barra in the men’s adult division.
“It was incredible. It was the fruit of our work toward renewal. It all went right, the team was all well trained. He were coming in a crescendo since last year. This year we won the Pan-American and we did well at both the São Paulo Championship and Circuit, so we knew we had a big chance. We achieve a historical landmark. We have great athletes, we worked very hard, we went well organized since the pre-season until the final preparation in Atlanta. We got sponsoring, everybody got their visa and got to the peak of their physical preparation,” Gurgel told GRACIEMAG.com, unable to hide his happiness.
Also, the four-time world black belt champion had the joy of having two of his pupils consecrated in two of the toughest black belt weight classes: feather and middleweight. Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles showed why he was favorite and strolled by the featherweights, achieving his third title.
“Cobrinha is one of our standouts. He is a three-time champ, but has the motivation of someone who’s never won a thing. He is way above the rest, because he is always motivated and prepared. I find it hard for someone to beat him at that weight any time soon. He is an exceptional athlete,” explained the General.
The big news, however, was Sergio Moraes, who came without been very well-known, opened everyone’s eyes as he submitted Kron Gracie in the first fight of the middleweight category, and ended up winning one of the most difficult weight classes in Jiu-Jitsu.
“I knew he going to be champion. They started talking about him for being matched up against Kron, who is a sensation and came from a wonderful year as a brown belt. But we always knew about Sergio’s potential. It was a complicated weight class, but we were fortunate and many people were surprised. Many didn’t know him, because he is very humble and had no money or support, but now, with us, he is going to show everyone the great talent he has,” said the proud commander
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