Rafael Mendes with his five world titles in the featherweight category, has hit a new record in the history of Jiu-Jitsu. He defeated his big rival Rubens Cobrinha last Sunday  in California.

Mendes is the first 5 times world champion in the history of featherweight. He is nowhere near done competing, as he hopes to continue fighting in the world, winning more championships and increasing that number to make it even more difficult for others to catch up.

Their fainal match was entirely dominated by Mendes. Toward the end of the match as Mendes was largely ahead on points and attacking Cobrinha’s back, Cobrinha was able to escape and once free of danger Cobrinha looked at the crowd and made a hand signal. In the middle of the match, the two rivals had a chat that many interpreted as trash talk.

Rafa told William Burkhardt and Tatame what that was all about:

At the end of the fight, the crowd said he wouldn’t tap, he told the crowd that he wouldn’t tap, and we had a chat afterwards. I said that it doesn’t matter the rivalry, we are rivals on the mats because we always want to win. We get angry with the coach shouting, with the crowd shouting, but we cannot disrespect the fighter that’s there. We are following a dream. So, when he called the crowd for provocation I went there and said this, that we must respect each other independently on what happens on the mats, explained the 5 times champion.

 

The exact moment when Cobrinha waved at the Alliance crowd

If the provocations irritate the fighter, support, on the other hand, excites him. Many children of his academy, the AOJ  were the Pyramid to root for Rafael, who will not forget this moment.

“The crowd was amazing. They were all children of AOJ there, and they went wild. They took off the shirts just like in a football match in Brazil. They began to scream. It was a great emotion. When they saw me win the Worlds, I was giving class all day for them, they were very happy. This is the great reward. That’s what is priceless. See the kids vibrating for me is more important than the title, “celebrated Rafael.

Here is their match and the exact moment when Cobrinha signals the crowd and the conversation that followed: