Gilbert Durinho withstanding pressure from Vitor Belfort on the ground in Vegas. Photos by Ray Alamo.
Current Jiu-Jitsu world champion of the lightweight division Gilbert Durinho (Atos Jiu-Jitsu)
was one of the stars at Vitor Belfort’s successful Las Vegas training camp for his showdown with the oversized opponent, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, at UFC 142.
Durinho, who’ll be making his professional MMA debut against José Salgado, on the coming 28th in Utah, shared with GRACIEMAG.com what he learned at the camp, amid aces like UFC champions GSP and Dominick Cruz.
“At Vitor’s training camp I was both a Jiu-Jitsu coach and an apprentice at the same time, and I learned all kinds of stuff. There was one week in particular that was just off the hook, when Dominick Cruz, Georges Saint-Pierre, Phil Davis, King Mo, Nate Marquardt and Brendan Schaub showed up. I picked up a bit of experience from each of those aces.”
1. FREER FLOWING JIU-JITSU
“Since I’m just starting in MMA, these six months were all about learning. Standing, for example, I took boxing lessons with plenty of support from Gabriel Oliveira and Gil Martinez. In Thai boxing, Ray Sefo trained me and corrected me on a number of things. In other words, besides the fighters’ experience I made the most of the coaches’ knowledge to develop as an MMA fighter. And on top of that I did physical conditioning with Alvaro Romano, of Ginástica Natural, which always helps get my ground game flowing better.”
2. CRUZ, JIU-JITSU AND DESIRE TO TRAIN
“Training with Dominick Cruz, Dominick Cruz, I learned that he’s a bona fide champion. We swapped a bunch of wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu positions, and I asked him a bit about how to move in the octagon—something he does differently from the rest. What most impressed me about him, though, was his desire to train. I thought I trained a lot; I was blown away by him. And he was there with an injured hand, and he trained hard all the same.”
3. TAKEDOWNS AND BACK TAKE WITH GSP
“Training with Saint-Pierre was marvelous. I learned that he’s really confident, and his wrestling is just sick, not to mention he never gets tired. He showed me a lot of takedown combinations and some details he likes using after getting the takedown. As for me, I showed him some ways of taking back.”
4. VITOR BELTORT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MATURITY
“On Vitor, shoot, I felt he was really mature this fight. Anthony Johnson was five kilos overweight—a total lack of professionalism. Vitor didn’t get flustered by that, and UFC Rio was a great test for him, a test he passed with flying colors. He proved he’s ready for anything at all.”
What about you, dear reader? What did you learn from Vitor Belfort’s win in Rio? Share with us below.
