Gui Mendes has been on the sidelines coaching for quite a few years now. The young AOJ leader has long been one of the most technical out there.
Recently his student Johnatha Alves – a brown belt defeated Paulo Miyao & Masahiro Iwasaki to the chagrin of all spectators. Miyao even flopped hard on the mat as he got swept!
A while later Gui Mendes told flograppling :
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@johnatha || crazy to think that less than two years ago he was winning in the juvenile division! 19 years old and a bright future ahead — We've seen the future – and its name is Johnatha Alves. Alves made serious waves in the jiu-jitsu community when he beat World Champion Shane Jamil-Hill Taylor at Spyder back in July, and the AOJ prodigy is showing no signs of slowing down now. Alves guard shone particularly bright tonight, he was able to submit the notoriously durable Iwasaki with a slick armbar transition from the omplata. His second match against Miyao couldn't have gone better for the young AOJ prodigy – he pulled guard and was able to control the pace of the match until he saw the opening to blast forward and wrestle up for two points. Alves maintained top position for the remaining minute of the match and earned himself his most prestigious victory to date. When we asked Johnatha about what it was like to face a legend like Paulo Miyao, he said that: I knew it would be a tough fight, but I was ready. I did changed my training slightly for Masahiro and Paulo, but the mentality is the same – be ready at all times for anyone. I was young, a green belt, blue belt – and I was watching these guys then, and now because of Spyder, I have the chance to fight against them… now my dream has come true. To become the best athelte, you have you fight the best guys – it doesn't matter if you win or lose, but today was a good day. In a forthcoming interview with Professor Gui Mendes was quick to point out that this victory does nothing to tarnish Paulo's legacy and that 'This doesn't change how great Paulo is, it showcases Johnatha's abilities. The world is getting to see what I've known for the past few years. — @johnatha @artofjiujitsu article: @flograppling event: @spyder_korea — tradução nos comentários
A post shared by mendesbros (@mendesbros) on Nov 3, 2018 at 12:59pm PDT
“You need to take your hat off for Paulo – it’s a hard situation to be a black belt world champion to take on an up-and-comer. You need to be very well prepared, both physically and mentally.
Nowadays the color of the belt doesn’t really matter. You have professional athletes start training so young. I think the fact that Jonatha is a brown belt and that Paulo is a black belt world champion doesn’t really matter’. “
Whole event is available free to watch below:
If you like smash guard passes, here is 5x BJJ world champion Bernardo Faria No Gi Pressure Passing Pressure Passing instructionals in the Gi
