Bochecha and Rodolfo in absolute: seriousness mistaken for ill manners / Photo: Dan Rod/GRACIEMAG
If it weren’t enough that it’s the fearless and feisty generation it is, with its ranks always crowding the absolute at championships, the latest crop of sport Jiu-Jitsu black belts is also seen as being cordial and friendly, whether in how they deal with the press, the fans or their adversaries.
That’s why so many people were taken aback by the dry handshake between Marcus Vinicius “Bochecha” and Rodolfo Vieira after the quarterfinals encounter that qualified the CheckMat star and eliminated 2011 champion Rodolfo.
Today, the always affable Bochecha denied to GRACIEMAG.com that there was any falling out between him and his colleague.
“Nothing of the sort; it was just the stress from the match. There were no ill feelings. I was really concentrated. I respect [Rodolfo] a lot. Now it’s all about celebrating, I finally managed to make my dream of being a Jiu-Jitsu world champion at weight and absolute at every belt, from blue to black, come true,” said the jubilant Rodrigo Cavaca student.
With Bochecha’s absolute gold, the open-weight throne in the men’s division has gone through an interesting round-robin—unlike in the female division, for example, where queen of the absolute Gabi Garcia has reigned for three years straight. In the men’s absolute, now there have been four different champions in the last five years: Xande Ribeiro in 2008, Roger Gracie in 2009/10, Rodolfo Vieira in 2011 and now Marcus Vinicius “Bochecha”.
The 2012 Worlds also featured another interestingly balanced statistic. Victorious by an ample margin on points in the team contest, Alliance produced two black belt champions—Bruno Malfacine and Léo Nogueira. Atos bore another two—Gui and Rafa Mendes. Gracie Barra too had two—Otávio Sousa and Rômulo Barral. Now CheckMat also came up with two gold medals—the ones Bochecha won in the ultraheavyweight and absolute divisions. Rodolfo’s GFTeam got one. And PSLPB, overseen by Leandro Lo’s trainer, Cícero Costha, also scored one.
Rewatch the battle between Bochecha and Rodolfo, a match that has already racked up 500,000 views on YouTube!
