First off, thank you for all the support from my fans, It is great how much all of you remain on  my side.

In this case, sometimes for me (that is not used to lose), is hard to take something good. But after all, I really enjoyed compete at the worlds and was an outstanding  experience for me…… For the first time I walked out without a gold medal, but in the end I felt like a champion. After 2 years coming back and taking 2 medals is awesome,    “but my gold… It’s all the love and support I felt in all my 8 fights”   . Now I will really feel what is to be respected in the whole term of the word, because when you win is easy, but when you lose…. everyone go away, And in the end… You all stayed, and I felt great, even on defeat.

There are no excuses for the loss, and Im fine with it… but not happy, I will train harder and harder everyday and will be back.. with same attitude and love on the heart.

8 fights, 3 subs and great opponents. I m so stoked.

And now about the tournament, Unfortunately we didn’t see too much Jiu-Jitsu… the real one… BJJ rules are messing up what jiu-jitsu really is. People are fighting for the advantage, for the point and for the win…. but… what about attacking the arm, triangles, chokes, collar chokes…. now jiu-jitsu/BJJ is all about the sweeps, about holding the legs and stalling….. nobody attacks anymore. Please people,  lets fight, lets see the truth… I miss times when we saw closed guard and a blitz. Now Jiu-Jitsu is reduce to halfs, fiftys fiftys, 1/4 guards, Oh my God , this is terrible, they are ruining the ART and the Sport is boring…. Where are the Takedowns?… no no… flying half guards and siting on the butt. Where are the hands in  the collar, x chokes , triangles?… no no… only holding half, 50/50s, sleeves.

You that is reading, Im not against the new stuff, they are great, and I love it… but Jiu-Jitsu, the real one is about Submission, takedowns , Dominance…not points. People hold halfs, 50/50s, sleeves for 5 minutes, That is TERRIBLE!!!!!

2 things…. or the rules change , or WE CHANGE… so lets sart with US. Lets take people down, lets go for submission, that is the evolution.

Jiu-Jitsu must remain real, must remain with the roots, Jiu-Jitsu is life.

Taking all the drama out… My props for Roger, he really proved MY Point what Jiu-Jitsu is… simple, efficient… beautiful… I wish I had fought him,  next time…. and for now he is the man, and real Jiu-Jitsu is in great hands.

Thank you all

Love you always

Xande

Sorry for taking so long to post again, so many things to deal with, had no time, plus my computer that had the address to update it got messed up…….

Since I decided to compete , it has been a run against the clock. Timing, grips, focus, technique….. but everything in that matter I think is 100% now. My cardio is good, nothing to complain about.

A lot has been said about me and Roger get the 3rd title, I think That will be so good for the sport if one of us make it happen, I m really happy to be 100% and ready to compete. Last year I let it pass, but this time I ll be there to be part of the show. Im trying not to think about the result, Im thinking about enjoying the path to get there.

This one will be the best Mundial ever, History is to be made, Its the last of the decade, there is new generation against the old generation, and for the first time…. I am the old generation. I promise to give my best and if I win I will represent Jiu-Jitsu with Honor, moral and respect, because If that happens I will lead thousand of people that love jiu-jitsu and Im up to the challenge.

Training camp was great, We had so many people from so many different parts of the world at The University of Jiu-Jitsu… the energy was great, We had on the same mat very often… Brazil, USA, Mexico, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Australia, England, UAE, Japan, Afghanistan, Israel… and the list go on….. Only Jiu-Jitsu Can do it, and Im blessed to be the leader of these people and train with them. My best man Lovato Jr, brought great energy, he just got back from Brazil where he took second in the absolute in the Brazilian Nationals… that kid don’t stop making history.

So the engine is ready, the tank is full and the head is above the shoulders. I need to be sharp, fast and precise and use my experience to beat all of them. In the end the best man will win, the one that want the most and the best will win.

Lets pray for a great tournament and lets make history together.

I would like to say thanks for the support from all of you, from my wife and daughter, my family, brother and friends, and my lovely warrior students that put up with me everyday… my sponsor and the last but not the least… my opponents that will be in battle against me.

History has been written already its up to me to put my name in it.

See you all saturday and sunday.

OSS

Training is going awesome, I started my conditioning with Alejarra ( mmaconditioning.tv) and starting to heat up training.

My hands and grips are coming back, climbing rope, pull ups with the gi, a lot of hard training. Im feeling great. The only thing that catches my mind is the lack of rhythm, but I think I ll be ok.

This year will be very special, there are a lot of great guys and new blood, I stopped counting was 22 really great opponents in the Absolute, will be so much fun and great matches.

MMA for me, until the worlds is boxing 2x a week and no-gi training once a week, and then when I finish with the Worlds will be all about No-Gi at the 32 men tournament, great fights there too. Jeff Monson, Josh Barnett, Vinny Magalhaes, so many names. SO I ll be busy and excited for a lot of challenges.

Hopefully I can get my evolution going so one day I can be in the main events in the world. We all know that UFC is the ultimate goal, but I know I need more training and skills… experience, I think Jiu-Jitsu and ADCCs gave me a lot of experience and PEACE OF MIND. I had my first fight in Japan in a main event…pressure…. I loved it. But for now I want to fight with someone that gives me the right value. And its coming  :)

I want to fight September because I ll be in a good road, BJJ worlds, Grapplers Quest….

Im more focused than ever, I for my fans… don’t blink, It will be a new, faster and stronger Alexandre.

Don’t forget to follow me on twitter  @xandebjj

Hope all is well

Oss

IT IS WITH GREAT HAPPYNESS AND JOY THAT I AM COMPETING AT THE 2010 WORLDS.

Through this year I had great plans for MMA. But my Japanese organization fell thru, negotiations weren’t the best for me … training was going great.. conditioning was tight and boxing was coming along…. and I had decided that I was only do MMA this year. But in this business ways never go how we wanted.

Im the type of guy that is motivated by challenges and this year will be a challenge. Among the old tough guys that we all know, there are a  few new names in the scene, and I got really pumped.

Training has started… I’m in shape… but there is couple things. MMA hands are soft… so my fingers are already hurting so… fight grip, rope. fight grip, pull up with the gis…..  :)  The skin is hard but soft…. I have to deal with scratches and bruises…. and being heavy in the bottom and light in the top…. No way. 4 weeks of hard training… the troops are ready to do this and Im excited to lead my Army one more time.

Go Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu, go Gracie Humaita… time to take care of business.

Goals for this….. Absolute and Heavyweight Division…. I ll be there to do my best and my best I ll do… Thats all that I am going to do…. fight hard, fight smart and FIGHT HAPPY.

OSS

We got there, went to our dresser and chill for another 2 hours to start the warm ups.

Interesting is that Demian doesn’t like to watch the fight on the tv at the dressing , I was pretty curious to watch the fights, but I didn’t mind. My head was there for Demian and I stayed in the vibe with him.

We do a good warm up and he is ready to go.

Walking into the octagon is fun, I was to pumped and wanted to Demian to feel all the energy I was giving to him.

Demian is there here comes Silva…. first off, he didn’t have the tapes on his gloves, the red ones… whats going on, I try to make they put the red tape, but they wouldn’t stop for it, so I didn’t care.

The fight starts and we expect a caution Silva, but coming forward, but that never happened . He such a great striker but he never comes forward and worse , wanted Demian to come at him, but we didn’t buy it. Demian walks forward but with caution, but Silva refuses to throw combos. His jab is his best weapon along with his showboating… and them things get ugly… he curse at Demian, disrespect him to try to make his mind weak but didnt; happen.

If Silva is the greatest, he should have finish Demian… but no, he uses his talent to show off, I understand he was concern about Demian’s ground.. but he is the champ, he knows ground, we expected way more from him. He disrespected the martial arts by cursing at Maia, his corners Cursed at him to…it was an all around big mess. And all of sudden Silva decides not to fight anymore… tired..maybe, surprised for Demian’s courage to bang… maybe… we won’t never know. But we know that Maia has a huge heart and Im very proud to have stand by him at that moment. And for Silva…. no words, such a great talent and champ, but sometimes his attitude doesn’t stand by his greatness. I hope he learned something with this fight.  For me the experience was unbelievable, each time I feel more comfortable with the octagon. Each time I walked between rounds I would give my best to wake up Maia, “put everything behind those punches, attitude bro and give what you got” and he did it….a little late, but I think he won 4th and 5th.   5th for sure… he even thai clinch and kneed Silva… pretty good for a white belt 3 stripes in strike against a black belt bad ass striker… so you do the math. Props for e Demian.

We will train harder now, we know where we can stand and we will work to come back and take it from whoever has that belt.

Thank you for all the fans for the support, that was magic and will be recorded in everybody’s minds for a long time.

Attitude , Respect, Honor and Heart make the champion and Maia showed us that. Im proud of him.

For me… back home to the drawing board,… evolving myself too.

Thank you

OSS

Wednesday we had the last training for Maia, now the word is having fun and let it be, free of injuries everything went smooth, we grapple few rounds, did mitts some others and we done…. Now is cutting weight.

On Thursday I headed to Dubai where I had a seminar there, about 30 guys showed up from all over the world and the local press was there. Its great to see that recognition and that Jiu-Jitsu is welcomed all over. 2 hours of fun and great technique. But of course, before the seminar some tourism around Dubai. I went to the beach and all over.. visit the Palm… is surreal how big everything is here, but I see a lot of emptyness, there are some many sky highs buildings in a place that there are not too many people… i believe 80 % of the buildings are empty.. funny they are growing to the sky instead of growing land wise.

Later that night we went dinner, great people here, so welcoming, and after that, around 2 am I got a cab back to Abu Dhabi, and the cab driver was very dumb and he lost the exit… and  there was n o u turn.. took us another 30 min to get back in track… in the end he tryed to charge me for his mistake…wow, but… Im in so good mood that I didn’t care.

Today was the day, weigh ins… everybody in the lobby, we got the bus and went to the mall…. maybe first time ever people  saw other people in their underwear in public… evolution for this place…and iimpressive… the only booo was for Hughes. So Demian hit the weight, Silva too….staredown… now is time….. for the UFC Middle Weight Championship of the world. It’s rest time and wait for the time that we split the man from the kids. And for me… some training with the boxing coach…. I feel that Im gonna fight… good that Demian seem relaxed…

For tomorrow, Jiu-Jitsu all the way…. my heart and my soul is with Demian.

And for me the responsability to guide him. I took the challenge and we gonna do it.

God bless you brother!! It is in your hands now.

OSS

After the media shooting a great way to start the day, Renzo and his stories, that guy should be a comedian, so many jiu-jitsu old school stories, it’s so inspiring to see how humble and positive he is, and after a lot of laugh we go down to business. Me , Demian, Renzo and Rilion go to the workout room to share some techniques and strategies, it’s interesting how many great ideas when we get together, the fundaments are the same but each one with one trick in the sleeve, and I had my piece and learn some stuff too, like his killing guillotine.

After almost an hour of knowledge exchange time to go have lunch and rest, the name of the game now is proper rest and accumulate energy.

So Maia is sleeping and I go enjoy the pool and do some weight lifting, even Im a coach, but training never stops.

Back to the room to rest is good for me too.

Later in the day, since the fight will be in an open arena, we go outside to do some mitt work, he needs to push his lungs and feel the air. Speaking on it, it’s very hot and humid here even though we are in the desert. Air is heavy and sometimes seems hard to breath. But Demian got acclimated and looked sharp on his hands, set ups and closing the gap. His curve is going up and as much as he rest and do proper nutrition, stronger he will be, the idea is get him on his peak, because I know Anderson worked very hard on defending himself against clinching and the ground, so Demian needs to be ready to spend some power if he need to.

After the mitt work outside we run straight for the workout room to do some closing gap and few rounds of grappling. I think everything is coming together, his speed, accuracy, flow and power are coming along.

After that, we run for dinner. Good thing in this team is that everybody is enjoying and keep the mood , we joke around all the time, I think some people , like Renzo, if fighting doesn’t work definitely the stage will be their ring.

Back to the room more jokes, after some time sharing rooms and we all here in the other side of the world, we look like brothers, we joke, we fight, and we have fun.

But the fun will become focus and when time comes we flip the switch and become an animal hunting his pray.

Wednesday press conference and time is coming….. fast. Can’t wait, I feel so energized that I could even fight….. feels good to be a fighter, coach and training partner… let’s do this…. JIU-JITSU all the way.

OSS

Breakfast and some relaxing pool time we got together for some technical work and some stretching to get Demian loose and flexible, worked on his speed and agility with Ginastica Natural and Jiu-Jitsu drills, we worked for about 1 hour and Demian look smooth. After that, nothing really to do, some more pool time  :)

Later at night, last intense power training, good warm up drills, closing the distance and intense takedown, greco roman and ground work, all of this in power and full speed, he needs to be ready to do power and remain explosive. We did 5 rounds, plus 2 extra of really hard mitt work and after shadow boxing and flexibility.

Good dinner time after all of it, and great stuff, we get to train with Renzo, watch him grapple and make jokes is priceless.

In the end of the day, I was very tired, some love from the family and bed. Next day, more drills interviews and recover. The name of the game now is recovering and get full of energy for 5 rounds of intense , powerful and smooth Jiu-Jitsu.

See you later!!!!

Go Demian.

The trip was easy, 14 hour flight, a lot of talking with my brother and a few Lost series later , here we are in Barcelona.  Like always everybody is in shape and ready to go and the energy in the hotel is awesome, this year the camaraderie was in the air, opponents were chilling together talking about life. After the weight in things change and the focus take place and it’s normal everybody put a shield around and not so many laughs, normal,   war is coming and everybody wants  to win.

In my case I was confident, I knew I was there to do 8 fights, the year before I won my division and lost first round in the Absolute, so for me better than that was winning both, all know Im an Absolute hunter and I was up to the challenge.

So the strategy was. Be conservative in the division and try to win it without wasting much energy, strategy that now I think was great, but watching my fights I really bit my tongue, I held back and fought to win what made it a little ugly and I apologise for that, but in the end is ADCC and is war and we need to use all our weapons, and in the end ADCC Champion…again that felt great, but that was just the first battle and the war wasn’t over.. But after the division looked like I took 100lbs out of my back, I felt great and the responsability was off, what made a lot of diference, I fought the open so relaxed and I get to fight much better, no strategy, just Jiu-Jitsu. And after all I was in the finals against Braulio that was in a great day too, but I’ve fought him before and I knew what was coming.

20 min, 10 no points 10 w points, so my strategy was feel the fight for couple minutes and go for the kill and spend all the energy I had saved, I was ready to go intense 20 minutes. Fight start feel stronger than him, he let me take him down, but he surprised me and locked the inverted triangle, was strong but no even close to make me tap, so I stand up and let him give up on the position , so we go to the ground and I think, “Ok is time to kill, he can’t keep u with me” and 30 sec later , I didn’t keep up with myself, I was trying to hold him, he pushed me, I held and …… was over. Felt the muscle of my chest/biceps stretching and that was it.

Sometimes we ask ourselves why this things happen, and I always try to see for the best way. I won my division, 2nd in the absolute, good enough, maybe for me not enough, but I have to thank God everyday for the gift he gave me, I can’t judge him or blame something for what happen, I still think Im the best that I can be, but that day was Braulio’s day, somewhere in the course e deserved more than me i that day, and It’s y job to keep my head high and work even harder and come back stronger than never. Next ADCC will be war…Roger, Galvao and cia, but you know what…I’m happy that i this point of my life I still can find motivation to move forward, and you know guys, Ive been hurt/injury so much…but I won’t quit, my mission on earth is to be the best that I can possibly be, and to achieve that I need to do it again……  so be it.

Thank all you guy for the support. You are my motivation to wake up everyday and do my best, and I hope I can inspire you guys to be the best that you can be too.

Now for me,  heal and be ready for the biggest challenge of my life.  Be a Father. My baby Victoria is coming soon and that will be my challenge, and she will be on earth to see her daddy to be the best that he can be.

Hope you all have a great day.

Xande

This is my first post , and before starting it I would like to say thanks for all the fans for all the support thru this years, injuries, glories or simply a hard day of train, you always have been on my side and is a blessing for me to be an example for all of you in and out of the mat.

With my website I wish to stay closer to my fans and try to fulfill their needs, Im here to discuss and to bring you guys the insights of training, travels and thoughts about what is going on on the Martial Arts World today.

Having a new site is a experience to me, and I need all feedback so we can make this exciting for us. Any advice for future posts will be welcome, just email me at   XANDEBJJ@GMAIL.COM

Hope you guys enjoy this.

with my sincere regards

Xande