Samir catches Barata's foot. Photo: personal archive.
Runner-up at the 2009 No-Gi Worlds Samir Chantre would be excused for being a bit disappointed taking silver again this year. Far from it. He celebrated taking second as though it were first. Although he and Caio Terra went through with the final, they had agreed to the result beforehand. The truth is that the teammates from Gracie Fighter closed out the light featherweight final.
“It still hasn’t hit me 100%. I’ve been training for this since I was a kid and I’ve been just missing. You never know when your time has come, but thank God, it came. It was really rough, I’d never made weight at light featherweight without the gi before. Last Worlds I didn’t make it and ended up going in as a feather at the last minute. This time I made it, and it was very gratifying to be able to close out with Caio,” he told GRACIEMAG.com.
The black belt comments on his competition campaign:
“I got a by and then had a great semifinal with Rafael “Barata” de Freitas. It was a great and lively match; we didn’t stop for a second. I had two really good foot attacks. I tried some sweeps and in the end it was decided on an advantage point. After that I was already overjoyed because I was sure Caio would win the other bracket. He got the finish and we shut out the division. Another dream come true!”
Samir and Caio Terra. Photo: John Lamonica.
The year has been bountiful for Samir. Besides the American national title and the double with Caio at the No-Gi Worlds, the black belt took second at the Rio Open.
“Now I want to rest. I trained hard and cutting weight was stressful. There were people who helped me train, like Caio, Matheus André, and the whole gang at Gracie Fighter, as well as my master in Brazil, Alan Moraes. I thank God for this title and want to congratulate Caio Terro on winning the event for the third year in a row,” he says in closing.