It’s always refreshing to see an athlete preserver through the ups and downs that go with any combat sports career.
Looking at Mixed martial arts (mma) in particular it’s nearly impossible to take no losses if you are in the game for a long enough time.
The new and very deserving champion is Charles Olivera whos been on a tear the last few years running over top competition in all ranges of the fight. Taking on all opposition and no slouches his last few included Kevin Lee, Tony Ferguson, and most Recently “Iron” Mike Chandler,
Everyone is buzzing about the win so I want to make this post about someone a bit behind the scenes who was very influential for 90’s bjj practitioners that many of the newer MMA fans may know about..
One of the first Brazilian Vale Tudo Bad Boys and man who backed down from no challenges, His coach Jorge Macaco Patino
As a BJJ practitioner in the 90’s NHB / vale tudo fight study was mandatory watching. You have to keep in mind at the time the SPORT of jiu-jitsu wasn’t really a thing and most people were training to learn how to fight so it was a shock to see Macaco’s super intense BJJ finishing style.
We’d all seen Royce Gracie use a slow and methodical approach to pulling out wins but Macaco was a guy with a totally different approach as demonstrated above and blew through the competition until taking a loss in the historic BJJ vs Chute Box grudge match with Jose Pele the first breakthrough artist of the now-famous Chute-Box .. If you haven’t seen it this was big deal because it was at the time though jiujitsu couldn’t lose but Pele did take the win in both matches and while the skills of today’s athletes are more developed you’d be hard-pressed to fight a more legit scrap than this one check it out ——> Pele vs Macaco
Real champions find a way to grow even in defeat
Many a competitor would have left that whole situation salty, but Macaco as a true martial artist instead chose to study and affiliate with chute box to build on his skill set and help them round out theirs. The result of this open-minded, ego-free approach to skill development is a big part of what delivered the total package we have today on top of the UFC lightweight division in Charles Olivera, a man equally as dangerous on the feet as he is on the mat.
I believe he holds the UFC record for all-time submissions while at the same time clean enough to counter punch the always dangerous chandler out of his sense and claim the Ufc lightweight title.
The big BJJ /MMA / Fightsports takeaway??
simple, to be your best drop the ego and you’ll be able to add all the skills to the toolbox as both a coach and competitor and you’ll see amazing results
Congrats to both fighter and coach the climb to the top was long and win well deserved