Xande in No-Gi final against José Junior / Photo: Raphael Nogueira
Not having set foot on the mat of a major Jiu-Jitsu tournament since losing a submission grappling match to João Assis last June, Alexandre Ribeiro again put his gentle art skills to the test last weekend, at the World Pro No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu contest, securing gold in the over-92 kg division.
“Thank God I managed to get the rust off and fight okay. Truth is, I haven’t been training without the gi at all and I felt a lack of pace, but I managed to impose my game and do well at weight. I messed up in the absolute, got a dumb advantage point scored against me and couldn’t rally back in time. It’s really not a good idea to fall behind in score with a six-minute match duration,” the two-time absolute world champion told GRACIEMAG.com.
“This No-Gi competition served to warm up my engines for the Gi event. The way I see it, nobody there was really sharp at No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu; I think all of them had trained to compete in the gi,” he adds.
That being the case, the greatest excitement in Abu Dhabi is yet to come, when the folks really get down to doing what they wen there to do.
“There’s sure to be plenty of excitement this weekend!” he predicts.
“I’m really confident. I trained a lot of Jiu-Jitsu and judo and had a strong training camp in Oklahoma with Rafael Lovato. He’s all set to go too. I’m already getting used to the climate and getting over the jetlag, so I think I’ll have some good matches,” says Ribeiro in closing.
Stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com for all the goings-on in Abu Dhabi.