GrapplerINFO presents an interview we did with Bernardo Faria; this year heavyweight world chamption.
Are you satisfied with your performance in this tournament?
I’m very, very satisfied about the Worlds, because it was the first time that I was World Champion as a black belt. I’m really happy to get realized this dream…
What can you say about your fights?
I liked my fights a lot. In open class I submitted my opponent in my first fight, my second fight I won 6:0 with Alexandre Ceconi and I lost in the quarterfinals to Romulo Barral. In my division, I submitted my 2 firsts fights, and won with Rafael Lovato and Xande Ribeiro by points.
Did everything go according to your plan?
Yes, my plan was to be a World Champion, because since I started BJJ in 2001, I dreamt about this title everyday, so I’m very glad about this.
What do you think about your final fight against Xande Ribeiro?
My finale was very hard, Xande Ribeiro is one of the best fighters in the BJJ history. He is 4 times world champion in heavy division and 2 times World Champion in Open Class, so I knew that this fight would be very, very hard. I did 2 points by one sweep and control the fight until the end.
Roger Gracie again was unstoppable. How does he do that?!
I think the best fighter is the one who is dedicated more, and I’m sure that Roger Gracie dedicated a lot of all his life, and focus a lot on this, so today he is the best fighter in the World of BJJ. I will still be training hard and dedicate a lot so one day I get this too.
What do you think about the level of this year’s competition?
The level was very, very hard. All divisions had a lot of big names and world champions, so the tournament was very, very hard.
Would you like to thank anybody?
I would like to thank everybody who prays for me, my family, my friends, my teacher Fabio Gurgel, my ex-teacher Ricardo Marques, Atama and MginAction. And thank you guys for this interview.
