Xande Ribeiro and his MMA debut [Archive]

cholitzu

07-11-2008, 19:53

"SPOILER"

IS al oud maar voor de mensen die het nog niet hebben gezien...

Thursday 02nd of October 2008 03:03 PM
http://www.tatame.com/imagensup/4751/1222970598.m.jpg (http://www.tatame.com/imagensup/4751/1222970598.g.jpg) By Guilherme Cruz
Photo Marcelo Alonso

“It couldn’t be better”. That’s how Xande Ribeiro analyzes his first MMA fight, after a third round knockout against Takashi Sugiura at Sengoku 5. Besides the celebrations, Ribeiro says he still has a lot of thing to develop, and wants to come back as soon as possible to the Japanese ring. “By the technical side, I failed when I could have tried an arm-lock finish the fight. But it was cool, I like being in the ring and I’m just waiting for the next fight”, said the black belt, that explained why he got tired on the last part of the fight. “There’s a lot of explanations. The adrenaline on the first round consumed me a little and I came back to the second a little tired, I have to train more cardio and get faster”, told.

At the Japanese’s corner, the expert Josh Barnett helped Sigiura for the fight, and Xande realized that in the fight. “He’s an expert fighter and knows how to avoid the ground, might have help him a little. Sigiura was strong, but when I tried the single leg I didn’t felt so much pressure”, revealed the two times BJJ open weight champion, who’ll come back to trainings in one week. “I don’t know yet (about his next fight), but I might be back in November. I’ll rest this week, train another three and fight again”, finished the athlete, that wants to train more to continue at 205lbs division. “There are a lot of good guys in Sengoku in this division… I wanna get stronger for this weight”.

cholitzu

07-11-2008, 20:42

A different kind of pressure

A distinct view of Xande Ribeiro's MMA debut
By Joao Pedro Santos, special for GRACIEMAG

Current absolute Jiu-Jitsu world champion Xande Ribeiro made his ring debut September 29th, in Japan. GRACIEMAG tagged along and, in the November (http://www.graciemag.com/news/171/ARTICLE/12270/2008-11-05.html) issue, brings all the behind-the-scenes action from the event. We set aside this never-before-seen excerpt from the report by Joao Pedro Santos (unpublished in the magazine) for GRACIEMAG.com:

In making his MMA debut at Sengoku 5, Xande Ribeiro didn't face it as "just" a different type of sporting dispute. Unlike the world of Jiu-Jitsu, where there is camaraderie among athletes and where Xande is a well-known and respected figure, in the modern MMA arena with its big-money purses the air is thick with tension. Add to that the fact the Brazilian was making his professional debut amid great expectations, in a mega event on the other side of the world, against a local fighter and headlining the event on top of it all.

In the days leading up to the fight, Xande showed himself to be quite relaxed and well adapted to the climate in Japan. He was surrounded by great friends and a tightly-knit team that included the high-charged Ronaldo Jacare, another Jiu-Jitsu phenomenon who fought days earlier at DREAM, also in Tokyo. On Saturday morning, one day before the event, the official weigh-ins and a brief press conference with the fighters took place. Having to shed but a single kilo to make weight at 93 kg, Xande went the whole morning without eating or drinking anything, while his teammates filled up at the Starbucks by the hotel, amusing themselves by rattling off curious stories.

The weigh-in represented the first moment of tension, as all the athletes meet in the same room with their teams, making a sizing-up mood inevitable. While Xande carried himself with an air of calm and respect, the other fighter making his debut, wrestler Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal, trotted to the scale sporting a hat and white cape, carrying a bikini-clad Japanese model, who held an umbrella over the athlete's head. It served to cut through the tension, the room broke out in laughter. Unlike Jiu-Jitsu, MMA – especially in Japan – is show business, and now and again an eccentric character pops up to spice up the tv broadcast.

At the press conference that followed there was yet another surprise in store for the two-time absolute world champion: his opponent, Takashi Sugiura, revealed how on that very night he would be making a pro-wrestling appearance in Nagoya, and the next morning would return to Tokyo to face Xande. Sugiura explained that pro-wrestling is his main occupation and that the engagement had been scheduled well before, but he didn't think it would affect his performance on Sunday, at Sengoku. With the interviews having come to a close, a visibly bothered Xande spilled his feelings to his team: "That's a lack of respect to me. If I'd known he had this appearance to make the day before our fight, I'd have faced another of the adversaries the event offered me. I have nothing against Sugiura, as I understand it's his job, he has a family and bills to pay like I do."

Called upon to participate in the final fight of the evening, Xande spent nearly five hours in his dressing room at Yoyogi National Stadium. Physical conditioning coach Alvaro Romano had a keen understanding of the difficulties that brings: "It's complicated, since we don't know for sure when he'll be called on to fight. Warming up and cooling down again wears you out, not just physically but mentally. We have to watch out for the kid." In the third bout of the night, a shocking occurrence took place catching everyone by surprise: Brazilian fighter Evangelista Cyborg fell on his own arm and dislocated his elbow in a brutal way. The images, broadcast real time in the dressing rooms, were reminders of how risky fighting MMA is. It's serious business.

As readers already know, Xande passed his first test in grand style, proving to be a versatile and conscious fighter. It's hard to measure how all this pressure affected him, in the end he came off as being cool headed throughout the bout and knew how to achieve victory in surprising fashion, when all signs pointed to him winning by judges' decision. "All eyes were on me, right?" Destiny put me here for a reason. I believe I have a mission on earth, in Jiu-Jitsu, grappling and now MMA. Shoot, it feels great to be here. What sucks is getting tired! But that feeling that you gave it 100% is really wonderful," he concluded.