Wallid Ismail is an iconic figure in BJJ and MMA. A Vale Tudo fighter and MMA pioneer, his name is synonymous with Brazil’s old school tough guys. He holds high profile wins over members of the Gracie family and is well known for his aggressive style.
He was recently a guest on the best BJJ podcast Grappling central podcast where he talked about various interesting topics.
About the ‘Creonte’ phenomenon in modern Jiu-Jitsu:
You have to look at what is best for you, look for the best coaches. You can add more coaches but do not forget where you came from.
Wallid Ismail’s Victories over the Gracie family
Back when they were brown belts, Wallid Gracie had a famous duel with Ralph Gracie at the Copa Rio Sport Center, with Ismail winning a referee decision. In 1993, Wallid scored another victory over a Gracie when he defeated Renzo Gracie. After his win, Ismail challenged the main members of the family, Rickson and Royce, stating that he would fight them in any style anywhere. Only Royce accepted the challenge, demanding special conditions for the fight, like having no point scoring and no time limit, thus making the fight only winnable by submission. With renowned Hélio Vigio as the referee, the bout took place in December 1998, and was won by Ismail after four minutes and fifty three seconds, choking Gracie unconscious with the Relógio (also known as clock choke or koshi-jime), a move that has been associated with Wallid ever since. After the match, Royce’s side tried to negotiate a rematch, but according to Ismail, they withdrew from the proposition after several months.
Wallid was also famous for his personal enmity with Ryan Gracie. It started in December 1999, when Ismail and Gracie challenged each other and had a shouting exchange in a beach in Rio de Janeiro. In October 2000, Ryan tried to attack Wallid from behind in a party, after which Wallid turned around a choked Gracie unconscious with a guillotine choke. Ryan agreed to fight Wallid at mixed martial arts match at World Extreme Cagefighting in January 2000; however, Ryan dropped out of the event, and instead proposed fighting in April 2001, but he had to drop again after being arrested for stabbing a man in a bar fight. Source wiki.
He is also an iconic figure because of his intense persona. He is part of the top 8 funniest people in Jiu-Jitsu.
Here is what they covered on the show:
- Growing up in the Amazon and his predisposition for fighting
- Wallid’s clever tactic he used going into his first tournament
- The decision to move to Rio as a teenager to pursue a higher level of training
- The time he challenged a random “skinny guy” to spar on his first day at Carlson Gracie’s academy
- His love for pressure passing
- Being one of the first sponsored BJJ athletes
- Loyalty in modern Jiu-Jitsu
- His greatest lesson from Master Carlson Gracie
- How he made the spark that lit the feud between Jiu-Jitsu and Luta Livre
- Stories from the BJJ/Luta Livre rivalry, Rickson Gracie vs Hugo Duarte
- His intense feud with Ryan, Ralph and Renzo Gracie
- Fighting Royce Gracie on national television
- How he has changed as a person over time
- How his feelings towards Renzo have changed over time
- The biggest moment of his MMA career
- The reason he decided to retire
- Life as a fight promoter / the foundation of Jungle Fight MMA
To hear about all this and more press play below!
