ADCC World Title A Boyhood Dream Come True For Yuri Simoes
ADCC World Title A Boyhood Dream Come True For Yuri Simoes
We caught up with 2015 ADCC Submission Wrestling world champion Yuri Simoes to find out how he's feeling after ticking off one of his life goals - and of course, what's next.
By Hywel Teague
Fresh from conquering the 88kg division at this year's ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Yuri Simoes is riding high after realizing one of his life's dreams.
At only 12 years of age, Simoes was among the crowd at the ADCC 2003 World Championships in Brazil. It was there he told his father that one day he too would be an ADCC champion, a bold statement for such a young boy but one that would ultimately come true.
We caught up with the Rio de Janeiro native to find out how he's feeling after ticking off one of his life goals - and of course, what's next.
This was your first time competing in the ADCC and you won gold in your weight category with a very strong performance. How do you feel?
I feel great, it was the realization of a dream and a life goal. I feel happy and rewarded for all the years of dedication and time I invested, something that started as a young boy's dream and became reality. And at same time it happens to be my job. Dude, I am a lucky man.
Your wrestling has looked better and better this last year. In last year's no gi Worlds you showed everyone you had good stand-up, but you took it to another level in the ADCC. This is obviously something you've been working on, how did you develop it and how did you prepare for ADCC?
I've been preparing for this since I dreamt about it as a kid, it was a dream and a goal since then. For my ADCC camp, I started it two months before the fights, dropped 12 kg and did wrestling, jiu-jitsu and conditioning every day of the week, but everybody else that was fighting probably did all this as well - for me the difference is how intense you do it.
Since you joined Caio Terra's team you've looked like a complete different fighter - more focussed, more technical, and you've been getting great results. Why did you decide to join Caio, and how does he help you as an athlete?
Caio is a very technical fighter, and as a coach he's very strategic and a perfectionist when it comes to techniques. Beside the jiu-jitsu coaching, he is also like a real life brother.
You've had a lot of success this last 12 months in no gi - do you think you're stronger in no gi than in the gi?
No, I don't think so, I have the same jiu-jitsu game and grappling style in both.
What's next? Do you have any other big goals to conquer?
I believe it's just started, I want to win the IBJJF World Championships in the gi, the next ADCC absolute of course, and I want to move into MMA at some point too. But I'll never stop training jiujitsu and competing, I love grappling.
Fresh from conquering the 88kg division at this year's ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Yuri Simoes is riding high after realizing one of his life's dreams.
At only 12 years of age, Simoes was among the crowd at the ADCC 2003 World Championships in Brazil. It was there he told his father that one day he too would be an ADCC champion, a bold statement for such a young boy but one that would ultimately come true.
We caught up with the Rio de Janeiro native to find out how he's feeling after ticking off one of his life goals - and of course, what's next.
This was your first time competing in the ADCC and you won gold in your weight category with a very strong performance. How do you feel?
I feel great, it was the realization of a dream and a life goal. I feel happy and rewarded for all the years of dedication and time I invested, something that started as a young boy's dream and became reality. And at same time it happens to be my job. Dude, I am a lucky man.
Your wrestling has looked better and better this last year. In last year's no gi Worlds you showed everyone you had good stand-up, but you took it to another level in the ADCC. This is obviously something you've been working on, how did you develop it and how did you prepare for ADCC?
I've been preparing for this since I dreamt about it as a kid, it was a dream and a goal since then. For my ADCC camp, I started it two months before the fights, dropped 12 kg and did wrestling, jiu-jitsu and conditioning every day of the week, but everybody else that was fighting probably did all this as well - for me the difference is how intense you do it.
Since you joined Caio Terra's team you've looked like a complete different fighter - more focussed, more technical, and you've been getting great results. Why did you decide to join Caio, and how does he help you as an athlete?
Caio is a very technical fighter, and as a coach he's very strategic and a perfectionist when it comes to techniques. Beside the jiu-jitsu coaching, he is also like a real life brother.
You've had a lot of success this last 12 months in no gi - do you think you're stronger in no gi than in the gi?
No, I don't think so, I have the same jiu-jitsu game and grappling style in both.
What's next? Do you have any other big goals to conquer?
I believe it's just started, I want to win the IBJJF World Championships in the gi, the next ADCC absolute of course, and I want to move into MMA at some point too. But I'll never stop training jiujitsu and competing, I love grappling.