Igor Rodrigues against Felipe Costa in 2012 Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship final / Photo: Carlos Ozório/GRACIEMAG.com
The roosterweight Igor Rodrigues had already assumed the post of Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu champion as a purple and brown belt. Two weekends ago in the Grajaú neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro City the CheckMat rep managed to achieve the distinction at the highest rank, as a black belt.
“I won three matches on grit, caution and attention. The first I won on points. The second came by points too but I had a kneebar in place when it ended. Now in the final I swept and finished Felipinho [Costa] via kneebar,” he told GRACIEMAG>com.
Watch Igor Rodrigues catching Felipe Costa by the leg in the 2012 Brazilian Nationals roosterweight final:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhWUAx20JLU
The Ricardo Vieira athlete looked back on the course of his career in Jiu-Jitsu. He lives in Búzios, in the lakes region of Rio de Janeiro State, and trains with Ricardo in Rio de Janeiro City. “I come from a capoeira background. I made it to the top of the sport in 1998, when I won the Brazilian National Championship. In 2002 I became acquainted with the gentle art and fell in love. On that same year I started training under Jiu-Jitsu professor Marco Chuck in Búzios. I won a number of important titles under him. I got my black belt after winning gold in the brown belt division at the Brazilian Nationals. Still, I could tell that training in Búzios wasn’t competitive enough for me to go up against the best in the country,” he remembered, explaining why in 2009 he made the move to team CheckMat.
“Ricardo invited me to join the team, and I started to see Jiu-Jitsu from different angles. I carried on winning other competitions, and now I’ve conquered the Brazilian national title at black belt,” said Igor, who summed up how he achieved the quality he did at the CBJJ championship.
“My strategy, laid out by my trainer, was to attack the opponents’ feet and knees. I was opportunistic and got the holds when the time was right,” he said jubilantly.
