Mario Reis is the grand featherweight champion from the South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship on the 21st and 22nd of last month, in Santa Catarina. The Gracie Barra black belt told of how he has found inspiration in absolute world champion Roger Gracie.
Reis sought to incorporate the most talked about submission of the year into his arsenal, the choke from the mount, as he reveals to GRACIEMAG.com.
“I was inspired by Roger Gracie for this South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship, because while in training I would sink the choke from the mount, in some championships I would end up losing the position. I noticed some details that Roger uses to get the finish in his fights, as I got a chance to be near him at Gracie Barra Irvine, this last World Championship. I could see well while he rolled how he sinks it, how he puts his hand in deep, details of elbow positioning… the finer details. I think this was a fundamental part of the move working for me in my game. His Jiu-Jitsu is basic and really well done,” said Mario Reis, who used the choke from the mount to finish CheckMat’s Leon Amancio.
Roger Gracie catches Romulo Barral with a choke from the mount at the 2009 Worlds. Photo by Regis Chen
“I was inspired by Roger Gracie for this South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship, because while in training I would sink the choke from the mount, in some championships I would end up losing the position. I noticed some details that Roger uses to get the finish in his fights, as I got a chance to be near him at Gracie Barra Irvine, this last World Championship. I could see well while he rolled how he sinks it, how he puts his hand in deep, details of elbow positioning… the finer details. I think this was a fundamental part of the move working for me in my game. His Jiu-Jitsu is basic and really well done,” said Mario Reis, who used the choke from the mount to finish CheckMat’s Leon Amancio.
In the final, Reis beat Maxmiliano Campos (CheckMat) with a choke from the back at 1:30min of the match.
“I found the South American to be of a really good level, not just the black belts but the other belts, too. A student of mine had five matches to become blue belt champion, the whites fought a lot as well. All I needed was this title for my career, and I’m stoked for it and for the level of the championship,” said Mário Reis, a sure name on the rosters of the European Championship in January and the World Pro Jiu-Jitsu League, this coming weekend in São Paulo, with cash prizes and Michael Langhi, Tarsis Humphreys, Sérgio Morais, Luiz Felipe Big Mac, Bruno Malfacine among others in the mix.