The credentials of Chael Sonnen’s Jiu-Jitsu coach

Vinny Pezão in ADCC 2011 final / Photo: Daren Bartlett/GRACIEMAG.com

A black belt from the Gracie Tijuca stable, Vinicius “Pezão” Magalhães had announced over Twitter that he will be join the competition at the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship in California. Late Monday night, however, the fighter posted that he has pulled out: he received an offer to train Chael Sonnen for his fight with Anderson Silva in Rio de Janeiro before a crowd of 80,000.

“Forget my last post about competing. Instead, I’m going to Oregon to help the UFC middleweight champion get ready for a title fight in Brazil,” wrote Vinny, harping on the same hokey chord as Sonnen, about being the current champion—the outcome of the last fight, the triangle, was of no significance to the title challenger.

MODERN, MMA-GEARED JIU-JITSU

A scholar when it comes to applying Jiu-Jitsu’s MMA application, Vinny is a coach with some serious clout. He’s wreaked all kinds of havoc in the gi, making it to the top as a brown belt at the 2005 World Championship. After having relocated to the USA, he shed his gi and won the 2011 ADCC. In MMA, Vinny has amassed a record of nine wins in 15 fights, and he was a finalist in the eighth season of TUF, in 2008, during which time he a spat with team captain Minotauro, who happens to be the leader of the team on which Anderson Silva trains.

Can Vinny sharpen up Sonnen’s game to the point of dethroning Anderson? Did Chael Sonnen do a good job of picking his help? Was Vinny right to accept? Let us know your thoughts, gentle reader.

First, check out Vinny’s credentials in practice.