Isaque Paiva asphyxiating Bruno Frazatto with his legs at Gramado tryouts / Photo: Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG
Life has never been easy for Isaque, Paiva, the winner of the under-64 kg division at the Gramado leg of the WPJJ tryouts.
After beating Ary Farias by referee decision, he went on to tap out Bruno Frazatto, who declared him the winner even after Isaque was disqualified (get the background story here). Now Paiva runs the risk of having his trip to Abu Dhabi nixed because of his passport, which has been at the American consulate for some time now and needs to reach the organizers of the event in Abu Dhabi soon.
But even with this holdup, the Saikoo team whiz remains confident and smiling. Back in his town of Penápolis, São Paulo State, the fighter spoke with GRACIEMAG.com.
Did you forget the rule penalizing any competitor who runs to join the crowd in the stands after winning?
Honestly, I wasn’t aware of the rule… Everyone who was there and watched the fight saw what happened; there was nothing ill meaning about it at all. I’ve been struggling for some time to make it here, to compete against the best, and I have no reason to, after winning the match, go thumb my nose at the rules and jeopardize everything. It was just an act of pure joy. I always respected my opponents, but after winning I rushed to hug my friend Guilherme Paradeda, who always supported me there in the South.
PERSISTENCE AND PERFECT STATURE FOR TRIANGLE
What did you learn from the Gramado campaign?
I learned that it’s worth doing a good job of preparing. I always kept a straight line, and now I fulfilled a dream. I also learned to pay attention to the new rules and to curb my celebrations. Let me reiterate: what happened was unintentional; I respect Bruno Frazatto and his whole team—I’ve been around them at other championships before… I just didn’t control my happiness for having won, it was never my intention to cause this whole situation. I’m sorry about it, and I now I just want to keep training, since the championship isn’t over yet.
You subbed Frazatto with a triangle with no arm on the inside. What’s different about the way you do the triangle?
It’s the position I practice most, as it’s the one I have the easiest time doing, due to my physical stature. In fact, it’s a great move for anyone with long legs. What I do to work on my triangle is just train a lot, persist in polishing it up and trying to apply the perfect move.
