Demente at European Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Photo: Ivan Trindade
Ricardo Abreu, better known as Demente (“Demented” in Portuguese), is moving to Rio de Janeiro, where he will stay definitively. “I’m here in my town, getting my things together. Now I’m going straight to back to Rio,” the Sao Paulo native told GRACIEMAG.com.
The fighter has been at the top of his game at the main Jiu-Jitsu competitions. His latest big win came at the European Championship, featured in the current issue of GRACIEMAG. On the occasion, the Robson Moura black belt won the super heavyweight category.
In a video interview taken by our collaborator Diego Marcello in Portuguese, direct from the X-Gym training center in Rio de Janeiro, the where he works out with aces like Andre Galvao and Anderson Silva, Demente explained in detail how a long-running knee injury kept him from disputing the absolute category in Europe. Rather than operating his knee beforehand and being uncertain as to whether he could compete, he opted to compete with the injured knee and hope for the best. Hence his avoiding the more injury-prone absolute class.
He also spoke of he feels fully accommodated at his new home in Rio, where he was surprised to encounter a well-structured family that welcomed him with open arms. However at home he may feel, he did express how he is still in training limbo when it comes to the gi. While X-Gym provides him all the training he needs without the gi, he has not found a shop wherein to polish up his gi game for coming March’s Abu Dhabi World Cup Pro tryouts.
Check out the complete Portuguese interview