Image Credit: Carol Haber/BJJ Stars 

Yuri Simoes, a two-time ADCC champion in two different weight divisions, won at the recent BJJ Stars promotion; beating Mahamed Aly in the No-Gi superfight by referee decision.

He detailed the points that made him the winner that night:

It was a very good victory, but it could have been better. He spent the entire fight trying not to fall, instead of trying to take me down. I went to fight, understand? If you see, I was putting volume on the fight all the time, he just sprawled and tried to defend himself. He only made that attack at first and tried to defend himself, fight on top to keep from falling. I wanted to fight… I pulled guard, tried to sweep, landed takedowns several times. If he thinks he won, that’s his opinion. We can have a fight without time now and I’ll fight very happy.

Continuing to talk after the conference was over, Simoes said:

The most decisive moment for me was the whole fight. I fell several times and once, I almost fell down… Nobody is talking about that. I saw the judges’ video, they were pretty sensible. In the end, I almost scraped him, I almost climbed on his leg and he kept kicking his leg and leaving. It just kept coming out.

Yuri is also an athlete of the ONE Championship, and has not fought for them since his debut in October last year. Wanting to focus only on MMA, he emphasized:

ONE is complicated, that’s the truth. I’ve been pushing them to fight since my last performance. Not only me, but other people who fight at the event as well, that I know, are having a hard time finding a fight. This, for me, has been a problem. The champion Bibiano (Fernandes), who is also Brazilian, hasn’t fought for two years! What’s happening? I want MMA to be my priority right now, but they’re not giving me fights to do. I fight anyone, including the belt owner. I’m fighting heavier opponents too, I just want to do my job.
[Translated from Portuguese]

Source: TATAME