ABU DHABI // Jiu-jitsu was not always the plan for Marcus Almeida.
“I wanted to be a surfer but I wasn’t good at it,” the Brazilian recalls. “I got into jiu-jitsu seriously when I was around 14.”
Almeida, 26, is the three-time champion of the absolute class in the Abu Dhabi World Professional Championship and is back to defend his title in the eighth staging of the event at the Ipic Arena starting from Friday until April 24.
Jiu-jitsu runs in his family, but it was actually his older sister, Anakelly, whose interest in the martial art that would lead to it playing such a big part in Marcus’s life.
“I was around 11 and when my father took me to the jiu-jitsu classes,” he said. “It was actually my older sister who started first and my father accompanied her to the gym.
“At that time my father told me jiu-jitsu was like two crabs fighting. He didn’t like it at the beginning but as he got familiar with the sport, he started to like it and got me and himself enrolled.
“But after some time my sister stopped but we continued and both of us received our black belts together in the same year [2010].”
Ditching the surf board for the jiu-jitsu uniform turned out to be a wise move.
Marcus has won seven gold medals in his three appearances at the Abu Dhabi World Pro, two in the +94-kilogram weight division and three in the absolute class.
Yet this year will be an acid test for him as it will be his first competition in more than 10 months after recovering from surgery, owing to an injury he suffered during last year’s IBJJF World Championship in California.
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“Soon after competing in Abu Dhabi I went to the world championships in California where I got hurt while competing,” he said.
“I had to undergo surgery on my left knee and had to stay without training for a long period of time ...
“I feel good coming to Abu Dhabi. The preparation has been really good. Still I have to go out there and compete to know how good I feel. So that’s one way to answer the question. Let’s wait and see how it goes.”
Almeida personifies a carefree approach to life and says he enjoys competing regardless of the outcome.
“I keep doing this because I love it,” he said.
“I don’t take the pressure because for me it’s fun out there. That’s how I always did and that’s how it’s going to be for me as long as I compete.
“Perhaps, that may be one of the reasons to be successful. I have done something that nobody has ever done here, which is to win open weight three times in-a-row. I have nothing to prove here. I have three belts like that,” he says pointing at the championship belts on display at the venue.
“It’s really sweet, you know, to have them at home. It’s mine and nobody can take it from me.”
The Abu Dhabi Pro with the sport’s richest prize purse of Dh2.5 million draws the best in the world.
“There will be a lot of guys out there to make a fight out of every match, particularly those who have moved from brown to black belt this year. They are the new generation of fighters,” said Almeida, when asked if the bar is raised every year in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s going to be interesting. It is the same every year because they return after correcting their mistakes and with new techniques and strategies. I have also done my part and ready for the competition. For sure it’s going to be a great show.”
Almeida is only the second man to win three open weight titles after compatriot Roger Gracie at the IBJJF World Championship in California.
Gracie won in 2007, 2009 and 2010 while Almeida won his titles consecutively from 2012 to 2014 before injury ruled him out from defending his title last year.
Looking ahead to the competition this week, Almeida said: “I’m going to do my best but I’m sure everybody else is going to give their best, too. So let’s see how it goes. It’s going to be some great fights and great tournament.
“Like every other sport, jiu-jitsu too is changing. You need to keep abreast with the changes and adapt to new techniques and styles with the new generation of fighters.
“You can’t stick to the same old methods but adapt to the changes to face any situation out there on the mat.”
Almeida had a one-year spell in the United States in 2010 and returned there in 2012 to compete and teach jiu-jitsu full time.
His career as a jiu-jitsu pro has risen to new levels in the US. He won both his weight and absolute class at the Pan American Championships, and followed it up with the three IBJJF World Championship titles in California and the three World Pro titles in Abu Dhabi.
“I do a lot of seminars and share my knowledge around the world. I teach in an academy and find time for my own training and travels,” he said when asked if he received a substantial income to pursue a full-time career in jiu-jitsu.
“I have residence in the US. I have a green card, perhaps, I can get citizenship, maybe, around 2018. However, I still feel more Brazilian than American.”
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