Erberth Santos, 20 years old, was the world’s best brown belt in 2014. He had an exceptional year where at brown belt he was world champion – weight and absolute, and Pan-American champion with the brown belt, he is now a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu .
Erberth received his black belt in last week from the hands of of his master Guigo from Guigo Team in São Paulo, after racking up two wins and two defeats at the Cope Podio, in November in Rio de Janeiro. He was alongside Jon Satava, the only brown belt of the tournament.
For his debut at black belt, Erberth Santos will face a major challenge, the European Jiu-Jitsu Championship. The tournament will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, on 22, 23, 24 and 25 January 2015.
Invited in Dubai by Rafael Haubert, director of Team Nogueira Dubai, Erberth is in the United Arab Emirates preparing for the Europeans and also practicing his English. Erberth has ambitious plans for 2015 at black belt.
He told Brazil’s Tatame Magazine:
“I trained a lot for the Copa Podio. I lost 17 kg in three weeks and five days, and even then did not feel the weight loss. Unfortunately I was caught in a foot lock in the first fight against Thiago Sa and ended up injuring my foot very seriously. Even so, I still managed to win and move on to the next round, but with the short rest period between fights I ended up returning with a very swollen foot and the performance was not the same. ”
“I’m training hard for the Europeans, it is a big dream of mine to fight in this tournament. Besides it is the only title that is missing in my fight resume. Now at black belt, the challenge is even greater, after all I love everything that seems impossible.”
Erberth promoted by Mestre Guigo
His ambitious plans:
“I want to be number 1 in my new category (heavyweight) by IBJJF and win the Worlds, the Pan-American and also European. I know that by training hard I can achieve all my goals.”
“MMA is also in my plans. Today I’m just 20 and becoming a black belt,, but I want to make an impact in the Worlds as Roger Gracie and Marcus Buchecha made to then think about migrating to MMA. “
