Davi Ramos tells how he grew to be a giant at the No-Gi Pan

Davi celebrates triumph in absolute. Photo: Dan Rod.

If the essence of the gentle art is the submission, that’s exactly what Davi Ramos was seeking at the No-Gi Pan this Saturday in New York. Having gone through a total of six matches to take the middleweight and absolute divisions, Davi only didn’t get the submission in one of them. The Cesar Casquinha black belt has been standing out at No-Gi competitions lately, having won the Brazilian Nationals and the No-Gi division of the World Pro this year with Atos teammate Claudio Calasasans.

Like in the bible story where David defeated the giant Goliath, the black belt reveals how he grew to the occasion to have a perfect campaign in New York, in the following interview with GRACIEMAG.com:

How did things go at the Pan?

I had six matches in all and only didn’t get the finish in one of them. I had two matches at weight and four in the absolute. The only one I won on points ended 14 to 0. I could tell my opponent was only working on not getting submitted, so that made it difficult.

And how about the absolute final, against Kayron?

He was beating me by 2 to 0. I was trying to attack him with a kneebar and ended up going to a calf crunch, with which I finished him.

You’ve been coming up with better results without the gi, would you agree? Which do you prefer, Gi or No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu?

I like competing in the gi more, but I really have been managing bigger titles without it. For this event I trained with André Galvão, helping him get ready for the ADCC. We did all our training together and I learned a lot from him. He told me I’d do well.

Did you expect him to win both weight and absolute at the ADCC?

You can never predict the absolute, especially for those of us who aren’t from heavy divisions; you have lots of matches against tough, heavier guys. But I imagined he’d win at weight and would do well overall. He trained a lot for it, always said it was the title he was missing. It was in his sights.

Now the Pan is out of the way, is the No-Gi Worlds what’s next for you?

I’ll return to San Diego and continue training with André. I really want this world title. I really want to thank André, the Atos students and Casquinha students, who keep in constant contact with me to give me advice. I’d also like to thank Gilbert Durinho, who is always giving me helpful pointers on how to fight.