At 48 years of age, the great master Ricardo De La Riva has announced his retirement, but he will not leave the mat before one last roll. On September 21, in Tokyo, he will face Yuki Nakai, one of the first BJJ black belts in Japan The two have already fought in the past, in 2003 and the creator of the De La Riva guard lost .
With respect for his opponent – the teacher said in an interview with tatame, that he is quite eager to make his official farewell. Nakai used to come to Brazil to train and participate in competitions here, and fought an MMA match with Rickson Gracie:
“I can not wait to fight, I have trained well so now I just wait for the fight. Is not like a farewell match in football. This will not be will not be a easy match. We both want to win. It will be a twenty minutes fight, and I will go for the finish, “he said.
“I’ve done a fight with Nakai ten years ago, here in Japan too. They gave him the victory, and I didn’t object. They chose us because he is also saying goodbye, and it will be interesting, because in addition to the retirment, we have this rivalry. If you think it will be a battle of old men, you are mistaken. Surely he cares too, and is a great teacher, is always training. I We will do a beautiful battle “said the 6th degree Carlson Gracie black belt.
De la Riva talks about the superfight with Nakai:
