This past weekend I competed in the SF open and a lot of people had question’s about my final with Gustavo Dias. Before I give my breakdown you guys need to know I think Gustavo Dias is a phenomenal jiu jitsu player, congrats to him! A lot of people said he’s big, yes he is big but don’t forget he is also very technical. At the end of the match some people made an issue that he slapped his chest and celebrated but I think that is 100% fine, he was happy to win, YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY WHEN YOU WIN!
Now for the break down, going into the match I was completely exhausted, I trained for the past week and didn’t rest before the tournament. To make it worse my semi final match was very tiring. I contemplated pulling out but after talking with everyone they said I should do it and after it was over I think they were right. Some times we have to challenge ourselves to go outside our comfort zone to make ourselves better and this was one of those experiences.
The match itself didn’t go the way I want. I tried establishing grips and going for Uchimata, just kidding, he’s huge he would have crushed me. I pulled guard first chance I got, and defended his passes eventually establishing a half guard. I worked for over a minute to establish a triangle, but at some point between knowing what I should do and doing it I made a critical thinking error. I always tell my students to go for a choke vs a joint lock because you can break a joint and they can keep fighting, with a choke they are going to sleep. As soon as I locked up the triangle I transitioned to a the arm bar and it was all down hill from there. I defended for the rest of the match till Guatavo Dias secured the choke.
A lot of people said I didn’t look very upset after and I wasn’t, it’s not often that I get to tap and I love it!! In the absolute I can’t make a mistake, every one is bigger than me and also very technical so once you make a mistake it’s over. I fought for almost 10 minutes exhausted, trying to regain my guard and I’m better for it. Also I made the mistake of trading a joint for a choke, something I told my students never to do, here’s proof of what happens when you do!
Keep training every one and remember there are wins and lessons so you never really lose in Jiu Jitsu!
