Written by Guillaume (Gile) Huni
Petar Olujic, BJJ brown belt, co-founder of Alliance Jiu-Jitsu Black Dragon Split and head instructor, is one of the pioneers of BJJ in Croatia. He has competed in many regional and European competitions over the years. His best result was a silver medal at weight and bronze in absolute at the IBJJF Europeans at Master purple belt. Petar was always the oldest competitor and his opponents were often up to 20 years younger than him, but he fought with heart, without any complex and fear of losing. In that way, Petar was an inspiration for many.
10 years ago, Petar had an operation to take a cancerous tumour out of his kidney. The operation was a success but now the cancer has returned and has spread to his lungs Petar is fighting to save his life. He is using the same power that he used on the mats in order to defeat the cancer.
There are other cases of BJJ champions that have defeated cancer. Lucio Lagarto and Joao Gabriel were able to accomplish the feat and came back and won major BJJ championships.
I personally faced Petar in competition in 2011 in in Croatia. I remember very well being a bit afraid of him before our match because he looked very confident walking around the gym. We became friends after our match and always talked and exchanged pleasantries when we met at every competition.
The whole worldwide BJJ community is praying and sending positive vibes to Petar to keep fighting and to defat this cancer and one day be able to roll back on the mats.
