Photo: Kinya Hashimoto

3x BJJ world champion, Rafael Mendes added another title to his collection. Last weekend, the Atos black belt won for the third time the Europeans, held in Lisbon, Portugal.

In the final, Rafa faced recently promoted black belt Paulo Miyao and achieved the feat of passing the almost impassable guard of Cicero Costha’s student to win the match and keep the gold.

“Paulo is an amazing athlete! He will improve and evolve even more and conquer his spot in the sport and I know he will shine even more. I believe that experience made me fight in a calm manner and wait for the exact moment to strike. I’ve been fighting against at black belt since I was 19 and I feel very mature today. My vision for the fight is much clearer than some years ago. “

Said Rafa to Tatame.

Rafa Mendes winning the Europeans. Photo: Kinya Hashimoto

The Miayo brothers never hid their admiration for the Mendes brothers. They were often compared to them. Such admiration led Joao and Paulo Miyao to train at the academy of the Mendes bros in Costa Mesa, California. Although they trained together, Rafael believes that this has not interfered with the outcome of the fight.

“I do not believe that training together made a difference. And if it did, it gave him more insight into my game too. But in my opinion, the fact that we trained together does not affect us, especially when we talk about high level competitions in which athletes are always improving and evolving technically.”

About focus on his team and birth of son in May:

“My next challenge is to lead, with my brother, our team of children to try to win the team title at the Pan Kids. We won last year and we are working hard to win again. We will fight Metamoris also, after that there’s nothing confirmed yet. I’ll talk to my brother and decide what we will do. I’m in a very good stage of my life. The gym is going great, I was European champion again and, in a few months, my first born son. I am very happy! “

Challenge in Metamoris

Metamoris 3, which is scheduled for March 29th in Los Angeles, California, will be a historic rematch between Royler Gracie and Eddie Bravo. The card will feature other fights, including Rafael Mendes against Clark Gracie. Even facing a heavier athlete, Rafa is confident he can get away with the victory.

“You always hope for victory. Clark is two weight classes heavier than me, and I thought this would be a good challenge, so I accepted this fight. I’m training a lot with my brother and my students and we are doing 20 minutes submission only fights. It will be a different experience and I can’t wait.”