Gilbert Durinho in action at No-Gi Worlds. Photo: John Lamonica.
Gilbert Durinho was stellar at the No-Gi Worlds in California last Saturday. Besides getting the finish in three out of four middleweight matches, he overcame submission wizards like Eduardo Milioli and Caio Terra in the absolute, before being stopped by Marcus Bochecha.
I’m on a hunt for major titles. I’ve got the No-Gi Worlds and the World Pro, now I want to the Gi Worlds and the ADCC” Durinho
Check out GRACIEMAG.com’s chat with the Atos ace:
Tell us how your No-Gi Worlds campaign went.
I subbed Wallace Castro with a rear-naked choke in my first match. Then I beat Thiago Abreu by a takedown. In the semifinal I finished Lucas Leite with an armbar, and in the decider, I kept up the pace. After sweeping no-gi champion of Brazil Tiago Alves, I finished him with a guillotine. I also did the absolute. I beat Milioli eight to nil (back mount twice) and Caio two-two on points with one advantage point. But I stopped in the quarterfinals of the absolute, losing to Bochecha.
At weight, you stood out for getting finishes on super-tough adversaries. Did you do any special preparations to do so?
I was in Japan without my physical conditioning coach, without Ramon Lemos leading training, without the crew… So I concerned myself with finishing the matches quickly, to not run out of gas in the end. I wasn’t as sure about myself as I was in other competitions, whether I’d run out of gas, so I went for it. I had four matches and, thank God, I managed to get the finish in three. Training in Japan was great, but I trained with a lot of lower-ranked athletes and perhaps that ended up helping me. I would get a lot of submissions in training.
Durinho on podium with Tiago Alves, Victor Estima, and Lucas Leite. Photo: Personal archive.
What are your goals for 2011?
I’ve won the World Pro and No-Gi Worlds. Now I have to get the gi Worlds. The ADCC is a other dream of mine, so I winning this no-gi title was all the more exciting. But I’m going to compete in everything next year. I want to win the European Open, the Pan, Brazilian Nationals… My focus for 2011 is to win all the championships.
I want to do MMA, too” Durinho
Besides that, you got any other projects in mind?
First the Worlds. I took third at the last one, but I lost to Michael Langhi by an advantage point, a trifle. I feel I made a lot of mistakes in that match, but I kept on training and looking to evolve. This experience of traveling a lot, doing different types of training and then returning to Rio Claro is causing me to evolve quite a bit. I also want to make my MMA debut, but before that I have to get that world title.
Anything else you’d like to say?
I’m really happy about a lot of things. My girlfriend, Bruna Nascimento, who trains at Top Brother, became no-gi champion of Brazil. Besides that, my brother Herbert also won the No-Gi Brazilian Nationals, as a brown belt. The kids at Atos are doing awesome, Denílson Bischiliari earned his way to Abu Dhabi and Ronaldo Candido won the under-64 kg division at the World Pro qualifiers.