After giving up all hopes of competing when relocating from his native Brazil to Abu Dhabi to work as a jiu-jitsu instructor seven years ago, Jose Junior has instead revived his status as an athlete.
He deposed fellow Brazilian Gabriel de Souza as the No 1 in the world after his victory over countryman Ricardo Evangelista in the Al Ain Jiu-Jitsu International over the weekend.
“To take the world No 1 title was my goal when I entered for this competition. Now having achieved it, I want to keep it,” said Junior after extending his record over Evangelista to 5-1 on Saturday at the Al Ain University auditorium.
His encounters with Evangelista have been highlights of the domestic competitions in the black belt heavyweight division in both Gi and No-Gi since the beginning of last season.
Evangelista won the first time they met but Junior has owned the rivalry since.
“A meeting with Ricardo is always a close contest,” said Junior. “I was trailing on points (4-2) and managed to level the score at 4-4 before winning by an advantage point.”
Next for Junior, 30, is the Grand Slam Rio de Janeiro on November 12 and 13 followed by the Grand Slam Abu Dhabi and the Grand Slam London.
He also plans to take part in the domestic competitions in between and April’s Abu Dhabi World Professional Championship, in which he was runner-up in the absolute class last year.
“When I arrived in Abu Dhabi for the first time I was surprised to see large number of black belts taking part in the competitions here,” said Junior.
“It motivated me to start training while doing my work. I managed to raise the bar in the last three years to the level that I have reached now, thanks to the encouragement provided by my employer.”
The Brazilians again dominated the black belt categories by winning all 12 gold in both the men’s Masters and the open divisions, and the female categories.
Some of the Emiratis to claim the spotlight were national team members Hamdan Al Balooshi and Zayed Al Kaabi. In the juvenile male; Saaid Haj, Humaid Al Kaabi and Omar Al Fadhli, and Alyazyah Al Shehyari in the female juvenile, all claiming gold.
The Al Ain International over two day for both Gi and No-Gi (without the traditional kimono) drew nearly 600 entries for the 150 gold medals that were up for grabs.
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