At the 2008 Jiu-Jitsu World Championship Rafael Mendes won the featherweight division, at brown belt. The following year the Atos representative quickly went on to figure among the top of the black belt heap, showing he doesn’t feel the weight of his new belt level. The latest big conquest was the ADCC, in Barcelona. After overcoming established beasts like Leonardo Vieira and Rubens Cobrinha, he snatched the gold medal in his very first outing in the event. The fighter teaches his recipe for success:

1st requisite: train, train and train

“The secret to my quick evolution is in training. The more effort we put in, the quicker we get to where we want to be. If we stick to the rules and do everything right, we make it.”

2nd requisite: to believe

“It’s important to believe. If you have faith in yourself, you’ll make it to wherever you want to be. When I go into a fight I don’t think how I’m facing a big name, I think of how I have in front of me someone of flesh and bone like me and that there are no superheroes. I know I can go in and win and if I believe in myself it is possible. So that’s where your head has to be to win.

3rd requisite: do it with love

“When we do things for love they come out right. I trained hard, and only by putting in a maximum of effort do we manage to achieve things.”

4th requisite: keep rivalries on the mat

“I don’t know about Cobrinha (opponent in final), but to me our rivalry is only on the mat. When I go in to compete, I forget who I’m fighting. I go in there to do my job and practice what I trained. I hope that to him it’s that way too. I’m really happy with the win, I trained four times a day for it.

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