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Never Give Up: The 10 Greatest Comebacks in BJJ History

Never Give Up: The 10 Greatest Comebacks in BJJ History

One of the most exciting and inspiring things that can happen in sports is when bad the luck starts to change and an athlete makes an unbelievable comeback.

BJJEE.com looked through the archives to dig out 10 of the greatest Jiu-Jitsu comebacks of all time.

Credit to Andre Borges of BJJHeroes.com for helping us out.

 

10. Andre Galvao from a failed ADCC 2009 and hard times to double gold at ADCC 2011

 

galvao

Back in 2009, Galvão was a competitor in the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in Barcelona, Spain where he placed second in the -88 kg class after a heartbreaking submission loss (by reverse triangle) to Braulio Estima in the final. Galvao was then more focused on MMA. He gave up MMA in 2010. In the meantime, his house had burned down and he had lost everything. He competed in the 2011 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, and he won weight and absolute!

9. Roberto Cyborg Abreu vs Braga Neto – The Fight of Year 2010


Ultra Heavy Weight Category of the 2010 worlds.
 In a match, none beats the come from behind victory of Roberto Cyborg Abreu against Braga Neto.  Neto was all over Cyborg right until that triangle at the end. Great match and great emotion after the victory.

8. Braulio Estima

 

braulio

6 months before his ADCC super fight vs Ronaldo Jacare at ADCC 2011, Braulio Estima suffered a serious neck injury during a training session. Braulio was going for a single leg takedown, his training partner defended and Braulio fell hitting his head on the floor. The injury was so bad that he thought he was paralysed. Braulio had the neck surgery and came back a few months after and beat Jacare in the super fight!

 

7. Rodolfo Vieira ADCC 2015

 

Rodolfo

Rodolfo Vieira competed for the first time in ADCC in 2011, and he was submitted by a violent reverse heel hook by Dean Lister in the quarter finals.

Back in April of this year, Rodolfo Vieira decided to pull out of the World Pro in Abu Dhabi in the last minute because of a serious back injury. He had serious pain from herniated discs. He also had to drop out of the worlds. He went through rehab and was able to come back at ADCC 2015, winning the -99 kgs weight class.

6. Cobrinha ADCC 2013

 

Photo: Akiko Kami

Photo: Akiko Kamei

They say fall down 7 times, get up 8. Cobrinha never gave up. After haven been beaten for 6 consecutive years by his big rival Rafael Mendes at the Pan, Worlds and ADCC, Cobrinha kept training hard and was able to finally win against Mendes in the final of ADCC 2013.

5. Roger Gracie 

 

roger

Roger Gracie competed as a black belt in 2003 but it wasn’t as easy as expected. He was beaten in the Mundials finals by Pe de Pano and Jon Olav Einemo beat him at ADCC 2003. That did not stop Roger, as he came back and eventually became the biggest champion ever in the sport: 10X world champion at black belt.

 

4. Orlando Sanchez

orlando

After a career in American football, Orlando Sanchez was living a life of drugs and alcohol until he found Jiu-Jitsu. That was a turning point in his life and from that point, Sanchez took his life under control and never looked back. He won numerous competitions at all belts and at ADCC 2015, he won the +99kgs weight class.

3. Fernando Terere 

terere

Photo: Gracie mag

Fernando Terere is a BJJ legend that has incredibly won the Mundials at every belt and in consecutive years. His charisma and spectacular style of Jiu-Jitsu made him a fan favourite. An incident changed him: in 2006, Terere was arrested while acting strange on a plane in Miami, and spent a few weeks in a US jail. From that point on, he became paranoid and consumed drugs such as crack. His BJJ career was lost and the whole BJJ community worried about him and tried many times to save him. He had many comebacks and many relapses since that time but since 2013, his life has come back in order. He has competed many times, notably in Brazil, central America and Europe. In a emotionally charged moment at the 2014, Europeans, Terere reached the semi finals of the middle weight category vs his once student Alain Finfou Nascimento. Finfou conceded the win vs Terere and then gave him his old belt back. He later explained his actions:

Fernando Tererê made what I am in Jiu-Jitsu. He taught me since the white belt. This belt, he gave me one day and asked for 5 reais and I knew it he was going to buy crack. I told him then that I was going to give him back the belt when when he got back on his feet.

 

2. Joao Rocha’s return from cancer

 

joao

The 2013 Brazilian national black belt champion and world medalist João Gabriel Rocha went through hell and came out alive. He battled and beat cancer in 2014.

In 2015, Joao made his return and what a return! He came second at the Worlds and at ADCC Open weight class!

 

1. Lucio Lagarto’s return from cancer

 

lagarto1

Lucio “Lagarto” Rodrigues is a BJJ black belt under Master Carlos Gracie Jr. from Gracie Barra. A few years ago, Lagarto overcame cancer, and returned to world class BJJ competitions (Winning the Europeans and the World Pro) and opened his own academy in London.

In an interview with Gracie Barra “Lagarto” talked about his battle with cancer, about training and competing and his philosophy of life.

A few years ago, you successfully overcame cancer and returned to training and competition.
Can you tell us about that experience and what it taught you about your life?
That cancer just knocked on the wrong door ;))
I didn’t change anything in the lifestyle Carlos Gracie Jr taught me. I looked at it as a challenge I had to overcome.
It’s funny to say it, but it was a very good experience, I learned things I would not have learned in any other circumstances.
Appreciate every second as your last in every little detail, life becomes so beautiful.
During my treatment. All my friends came to my house to spend time with me, when my friend Daniel Amaral hugged me and he said “I love you so much my dear friend”. I just realized that the must important thing of my life is our real love and friendship. I don’t know how you are feeling right now or how is your life, but that is what we really take from this world.