Rafa Mendes vs Galvao Sparring for ADCC

[Mike Nall]

Question for those with better understanding and higher belt than I:

What is it that Rafa is doing that is stopping Galvao go for his feet? I see that Rafa's body is too far away and that he is masterfully using his legs to stop Galvao passing, but being on his back so much he looks prime for ankle locks? Is it just that Rafa is so quick pulling them back, Galvao has experienced his defence so doesn't bother or something else?

Rafa and Keenan both play an open guard in no-gi that Galvao calls "lazy." Basically when you aren't close enough for them to play spiral/reverse delariva, they just kind of suck their knees to their chest and pick a hip to stay on until you attempt a pass and then they engage. When Rafa's legs are close to his chest like that he's very strong and it's not that easy to leg his legs away from his core.

They also often train with points in mind, and Rafa is very good at sweeping when people go for his feet. At ADCC 2011 Cobrinha put him in a disgusting inside heel hook that may have blown his knee but he didn't tap (http://th07.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/...ot-d5fp1op.jpg). if you zoom in on that pic you can see the horrible twist in the knee.

Rafa has sad before that he's made a conscious decision to never tap to joint locks. Budo Jake asked him if he's so flexible that they don't hurt and he said he is flexible but sometimes they do hurt, but that he just is never going to tap to them. The chances of Andre being able to actually secure a solid heel hook or foot lock on him, let alone finish it are pretty small.

So it's probably everything that you said. Cobrinha is really the only person I've seen go for Rafa's feet and it's usually when Rafa is also going for his feet, but they never finish each other.

[Tony Toffolo]

They also often train with points in mind, and Rafa is very good at sweeping when people go for his feet. At ADCC 2011 Cobrinha put him in a disgusting inside heel hook that may have blown his knee but he didn't tap (http://th07.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/...ot-d5fp1op.jpg).

hahaha that's hilarious

[Mikael Chay]

At ADCC 2011 Cobrinha put him in a disgusting inside heel hook that may have blown his knee but he didn't tap (http://th07.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/...ot-d5fp1op.jpg). if you zoom in on that pic you can see the horrible twist in the knee.

Wow, that's gnarly. For how long was he out of the competition circuit after that?

[Andrew Alexander]

Wow, that's gnarly. For how long was he out of the competition circuit after that?

There is a video of Cobrinha rolling with marcelo, and he was grabing his foot and twisting it when MG had spiral clinch, made me cringe i thought for sure MG's knee was going to blow

[Mike Nall]

Wow, that's gnarly. For how long was he out of the competition circuit after that?

He wasn't out at all. If he was injured he kept it hidden. people saw him icing his knee and ankle that day, but he didn't compete again for a good 4-5 months (between ADCC and the Pans I'd say?), so he could've been hurt and no one would've known. They didn't have a school at that time either, but I think they were still traveling and doing seminars and rolling with people.

When he did come back at the Pans he armbarred everyone in his division for the gold, even Cobrinha in the finals. I think they said that was the first time Cobrinha had been tapped by anyone at his weight at black belt. I've heard that Jose Aldo tapped Cobrinha at brown belt like 10 years ago but I don't know if that's true or not.

[Mikael Chay]

There is a video of Cobrinha rolling with marcelo, and he was grabing his foot and twisting it when MG had spiral clinch, made me cringe i thought for sure MG's knee was going to blow

Not to hijack the thread but could it be this roll you're referring to?



Maybe it's just me and my untrained eyes but weren't they going at it much harder than usual? It didn't look anything like other MG guest rolls to me...

[Mikael Chay]

He wasn't out at all. If he was injured he kept it hidden. people saw him icing his knee and ankle that day, but he didn't compete again for a good 4-5 months (between ADCC and the Pans I'd say?), so he could've been hurt and no one would've known. They didn't have a school at that time either, but I think they were still traveling and doing seminars and rolling with people.

When he did come back at the Pans he armbarred everyone in his division for the gold, even Cobrinha in the finals. I think they said that was the first time Cobrinha had been tapped by anyone at his weight at black belt. I've heard that Jose Aldo tapped Cobrinha at brown belt like 10 years ago but I don't know if that's true or not.

That's crazy! Stuff jiu-jitsu legends are made of

[Mike Nall]

Not to hijack the thread but could it be this roll you're referring to?



Maybe it's just me and my untrained eyes but weren't they going at it much harder than usual? It didn't look anything like other MG guest rolls to me...

I think it was the other ADCC prep roll they put up, where Cobrinha is in a orange rash guard I think? Marcelo's knee definitely had a crazy twist in it.

Yeah, they're going pretty hard. You can tell when MG is going harder, and this is one of those times. ADCC '11 was coming up, Cobrinha is one of the best ever, and there's not much point in rolling slower with him. They both were pushing each other pretty hard there. Thanks for posting that. Sick roll.

To tie in with what Andrew Alexander said earlier, Cobrinha is so under appreciated, especially in no-gi. ADCC champ, 4x nogi world champ, 4x consecutive gi world champ (not even Rafa did that), 3x consecutive Pans champ.

Rafa became his rival right when the internet age of jiu jitsu exploded so a lot of newer grapplers started seeing Cobrinha when he started losing to Rafa. But Cobrinha's a gangster.

[Andrew Alexander]

I think it was the other ADCC prep roll they put up, where Cobrinha is in a orange rash guard I think? Marcelo's knee definitely had a crazy twist in it.

Yeah, they're going pretty hard. You can tell when MG is going harder, and this is one of those times. ADCC '11 was coming up, Cobrinha is one of the best ever, and there's not much point in rolling slower with him. They both were pushing each other pretty hard there. Thanks for posting that. Sick roll.

To tie in with what Andrew Alexander said earlier, Cobrinha is so under appreciated, especially in no-gi. ADCC champ, 4x nogi world champ, 4x consecutive gi world champ (not even Rafa did that), 3x consecutive Pans champ.

Rafa became his rival right when the internet age of jiu jitsu exploded so a lot of newer grapplers started seeing Cobrinha when he started losing to Rafa. But Cobrinha's a gangster.

Yeah the def where getting ready for something. he was not going for any sort of heel hook just twisting his foot for the hell of it. Just looked nasty lol
idk what comp it was for because it wasnt posted by MGinaction but by a 3rd party. but if anyone is a subscriber to MGinAction you could prob. find out what comp they where getting ready for. I agree 100% Cobrinha gets overlooked sometimes, but make no mistake that man is a SAVAGE, just look at his FB account. also he handled Rader at Worlds as well.

[Kurzy]

Rafa has sad before that he's made a conscious decision to never tap to joint locks. Budo Jake asked him if he's so flexible that they don't hurt and he said he is flexible but sometimes they do hurt, but that he just is never going to tap to them. The chances of Andre being able to actually secure a solid heel hook or foot lock on him, let alone finish it are pretty small.

Wow. That is almost self-destructive. Especially if a guy like Galvao ended up latching a solid joint lock on. * SNAP CRACKLE POP*