Yuri Simões is a two times ADCC champion. Photo: Ivan Trindade
After a year and a half away from BJJ competition, Yuri Simões called 2021 “a year of overcoming.” First he had to deal with the losses at the start of the year so that right in the following months, he could achieve one of the greatest strings of victories of his career.
The owner of two ADCC gold medals, in the 88kg and 99kg divisions, Yuri soared in the last three months, accumulating wins in Fight to Win, BJJ Stars and Raw Grappling Championship—the latter giving him a nice trophy after he won thrice in the same night, including the final against Patrick Gaudio.
“I began the year with defeats in grappling after almost a year and a half away from competitions”, he says. “I had to get past my best in each training session; I had to rub the rust off the armor and polish my weapons! With each loss, I progressively got better and returned to the competitor I am, until the first win of the year came against a top-ten competitor, then I got another five wins. In total, I’m coming off of six consecutive wins, with four of them against athletes who are in the top ten of the world. Today I feel like I’ve arrived at my best version and I am certain it was well worthwhile to believe in me even when many did not. It’s necessary to persevere and battle until the end! I’m ready for a historic 2022.”
After the strong phase, Yuri went to teach BJJ around the world. In recent weeks, he went to Abu Dhabi, UAE to teach the tricks that enabled him to win some of the world’s most important tournaments.
“It’s impressive how Jiu-Jitsu is so popular here. It’s hard to talk to someone here who doesn’t know what Jiu-Jitsu is. They have many gyms and thousands of students, not just in Dubai, but in all of the Arab Emirates. I’ve always loved traveling and I’m really grateful for the opportunities that Jiu-Jitsu has given me and for all the countries and amazing people I’ve been able to get to know through this sport! Traveling opens up our mind, allows us to discover other cultures. For us athletes, traveling also allows us to learn different methods and styles of training, among many other forms of learning. I try to absorb each trip I go on to the utmost and I also always try to pass the maximum I can in terms of my knowledge on to the people who share the mat with me on these trips,” he said.
Yuri confirmed that he will be taking part in the next edition of the ADCC Worlds, set to take place on the 17th and 18th of September in Las Vegas.
“I will fight for sure. I have big plans in relation to the ADCC; I still can’t talk about the category in which I’ll be fighting, but I can guarantee that, God willing, I will be there in 2022 fighting for the double gold!”
Before finishing the interview, Yuri talked about his situation regarding One Championship. He has only appeared in one event by the Asian organization to this day:
“I asked many times to fight in One, but got no answer. I’ve lost count of how many times I requested a fight. I’m ready and I continue to train. I hope I fight in 2022. If it’s not with One, then with another outfit, because I can’t bear to wait any longer. People always ask me when my next fight is; it looks bad because it seems like I’m the one who doesn’t want to fight! People who truly know me know that fighting is part of my identity. So, in this year of 2022, I hope not only to have grappling matches, but at least a few MMA fights as well.”