Losing is never easy, but Kim Terra knows that athletes have to know how to accept defeat. In order to be successful, they have to be ready to take risks.

Some athletes like to play it safe by taking matches against opponents they know they can beat. Others seek refuge in their preferred promotions, where the rules and regulations play in their favor and put them at an advantage.

Terra felt no such reservations when he accepted a fight with "Danaher Death Squad" member Garry Tonon at Studio 540 on December 17.

Despite Tonon and the group's willingness to put large sums of their own money in "winner takes all" challenge matches, the majority of the jiu-jitsu world has preferred to keep its distance from the notorious leglock specialists.

Terra didn't let the Death Squad hype get to his head. In fact, he didn't even bother to ask about any of the details of the fight before accepting. He readily took the offer and agreed to whatever rules the promoters decided, instead of trying to use weight or rules to leverage some small advantage.

"I don't care about the rules. My job is to train and fight," Terra commented in his post-fight interview. The match didn't go his way, but Terra knows losing is all part of the game.



Only a few weeks after the Studio 540 fight, Terra started preparing to face off against Danny Bohigian in the co-main event of Fight To Win Pro 23, scheduled for Friday, January 27, in San Jose, California.



Instead of letting the defeat to Tonon discourage him, Terra used it as motivation to reevaluate his training regimen.

"I got tired before Tonon did," Terra said. "My goal is to never let that happen again. So, besides doing more rounds, I am pushing the pace during training way more now and I like how it's going."

Terra has only been competing professionally since July 2015 when he moved to the U.S. to train full-time alongside his brother, Caio.

Before relocating to the States, Terra considered jiu-jitsu to be a hobby while he completed law school, but now he has joined the steadily growing ranks of competitors that are trying to make a living from the arte suave.

Eighty percent of the training that Terra does at Caio Terra Association (CTA) is in a gi, but that didn't stop him from taking bronze at the IBJJF 2016 No-Gi Worlds. Nor did he consider it a disadvantage going into the Studio 540 fight with Tonon, who trains almost exclusively no-gi.

No-gi competitions are a lot less common in Brazil, so it's no surprise that Terra has considerably more experience fighting in points-based tournaments. But he didn't use any of that as an excuse for his performance or let the loss upset him.

After taking a day off to go surf, Terra was right back at the gym with his brother preparing for his upcoming fights.

"Losing sucks now as much as it always did, and it always will," Terra said. "It's a learning opportunity, but I'd rather learn in the gym and win the fights."

Once Fight To Win Pro 23 is done, Terra plans to compete as much as possible and to prepare for the IBJJF 2017 Worlds in Long Beach, CA.

Terra dreams of becoming a black belt world champion. He hopes 2017 will be his year to become the adult black belt IBJJF world champion. But if he fails? Then it'll only be fuel to make him better. 

Watch Kim Terra vs. Danny Bohigian on Fight To Win Pro 23, only here on FloGrappling.