The now retired 6x world champion Rafael Mendes sat down with former UFC fighter Kenny Florian and discussed the preparation to his last world title at the 2016 IBJJF World Championships.
interesingly, Rafael also talked about how he had stopped doing any form of strength and conditioning and was just doing Jiu-Jitsu, perfecting his techniques and timing.
On Worlds preparation:
“My preparation was good, I don’t feel like I worry too much these days about strength and conditioning.” Rafa went on to clarify ” I don’t do a lot of strength and conditioning. I feel like I was able to build my body for the division. I feel strong, I have everything I need. ”
“What I try to do is perfect my techniques. Work on my timing… The guys in my division, they don’t have the same body coordination that I do so I think I have the technical level and strength that I need to go there and win, so I feel pretty confident.”
On why he moved away from Strength and Speed:
“I learned how to use jiu-jitsu to get faster and stronger. I don’t have to there and lift weights. Now I have enough experience to use Jiu-Jitsu to get faster and stronger. I think that’s the smartest thing to do because I’m gonna compete in a jiu-jitsu tournament… That’s the way I like to prepare myself.”
You can see the whole interview here:
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