Inside BJJ Interview with Renato Laranja
if people don't follow Renato on twitter to keep up with this shit, they need to:
http://www.insidebjj.com/2011/12/29/...enato-laranja/
Interview with Renato Laranja
Dec 29th, 2011 @ 08:00 am › insidebjj
Renato Laranja
Inside BJJ
What is your background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? How did you get started? When did you receive your black belt?
Renato Laranja
I started a long time ago when I was eight years old. I was raised in Rio De Janeiro. I was a street kid. I was wild. I ran around the favela. I did a lot of things that was illegal. I didn’t have a lot of supervision. I had a Dad but he was like from that song, “Papa Was a Rolling Stones”. On the street, he sold gum and stuffs like that. He was a street vendor.
I was having some hard times. I was one night very hungry. I was very cold. I was curled up in the corner next to some garbage can. My little legs was very skinny and I was just wear some shorts. And I don’t have a shirt. I was shivering. And then, all of a sudden, I see a face come close to me. It was a man. He cover me with something. But it was not a blanket, it was a gi top. He put the top over me like a blanket to tuck me in. And I look that man and I think at first he was the guy from the movie, Evil Dead 2, Bruce Campbell. Also now he’s on the show Burn Notice. The man was Murilo Bustamante. He take me under his wing. That day was the change for my whole life. He take me to train. He teach me how to live. I was no longer do bad things. Before I was experiment with some “Heefer” and with some smoke. Also I was sniff glue. And I was also do what they call huff paint. But now I do everything good. I learn to fight. I learn how to train. I learn how to take some natural foods for my body. I take to jiu-jitsu like a fish take to…jiu-jitsu.
It was a very natural for me from the beginning. The natural progression for me was to get into Vale Tudo. When I was about seventeen, they start to put me in some fights. That’s why when a lot of people ask if I do MMA, I say I’ve did so many fights in MMA but back then it was called Vale Tudo. They don’t keep the “hecords” for that. I would fight anywhere. I would fight anybody. I would fight in some empty swimming pool. I would fight in a “Haquetball” court. One time I fight in the studio apartment of my friend.
Inside BJJ
You made a transition into Vale Tudo when you were seventeen. How old were you when you received your black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
Renato Laranja
I got my black belt when I was twelve years old. It took me four years.
Inside BJJ
After four years? For most people it’s a big deal to receive a blue belt and that alone can take a year or two. Was it controversial to get your black belt in four years? Did you face any criticisms or challenges?
Renato Laranja
There was nobody to say nothing because I beat all the critics. I would choke anybody who was to say something. Like I said, I don’t back away from nothing. Anybody who was have a big mouth and was say, “you don’t deserve a black belt”, I’m gonna show that guy.
Inside BJJ
Many traditional jiu-jitsu guys such as Andre Galvao, Roger Gracie, and Marcelo Garcia have tried the transition to MMA but haven’t achieved the same level of success they had in traditional jiu-jitsu. Can you talk about the challenges of making the transition from jiu-jitsu to MMA?
Renato Laranja
I mean that’s a problem for those guys because for one reason. They don’t expand their game for the standup. When I was sixteen, I was find that I have some holes in my game. Not in jiu-jitsu but in my standup, so I learned Capoeira. I also trained with some guys for Goju Karate.
Inside BJJ
You had a developed ground game and standup also?
Renato Laranja
I have a lot of things. I also learn how to play the instruments for Capoeira. People ask me how I was play the tambourine so good in that show, “Return of The Deathknuckle”, I learn tambourine from my Capoeira background.
Inside BJJ
You’ve been a martial artist since Bustamante tucked you in with his gi?
Renato Laranja
God knows where I would have end up if that don’t happen that night.
Inside BJJ
Who were your toughest opponents?
Eddie Bravo
Renato Laranja
I fought the best. I don’t know who was the toughest but I’m gonna tell you the easiest fight that I had my whole life and that was in my fight with Eddie Bravo. He beat Royler so I’m think that guy have something in his sleeves. That guy just try a lame takedown so I put him in a north south choke. It was easy. I put him to sleep with that. That was a surprise to me. That was shock me because I don’t expect that.
Inside BJJ
Eddie Bravo was an easier fight than you expected? Why did Royler Gracie lose to Eddie Bravo?
Renato Laranja
I think he was probably sick. He don’t think too much about Eddie Bravo. He was probably think about some other thing that day. I think it’s like the same thing like Buster Douglas.
Inside BJJ
Eddie Bravo lost to Leo Vieira the very next match.
Renato Laranja
Of course he’s gonna lose. He’s gonna lose every time because he’s a fake.
Inside BJJ
What about the criticism Eddie Bravo has received? He built his name from winning one match. He hasn’t launched any major competitors. He renames existing techniques as his own?
Renato Laranja
You just say everything I think. He has some guys? Who does he have? Vinny Magalhaes who just win ADCC but who cares about that you know? That’s just one guy. He has some UFC guys. Who cares about UFC guys.
Inside BJJ
In the US, there’s a debate regarding whether or not traditional gi training is necessary for MMA. Traditional schools focus on the gi and don’t really stray from it. What are your thoughts on training in the gi for MMA?
Renato Laranja
It’s like if you gonna marinate some food. You can marinate some chicken breast. I gonna marinate that at home. Then when I’m take it to the barbecue, the people don’t have to see the marinade. All they have to see is the chicken. The chicken already have the flavor.
Inside BJJ
I’ve never heard it put that way.
Renato Laranja
That’s why you come to me. Because you’ve try everybody else. Now you come to the real thing.
Inside BJJ
Does the type of gi matter when you’re preparing for an MMA fight?
Renato Laranja
I’m gonna tell you the truth. I have some kimono companies who pay me to wear their gi. But if you wanna know what I’m wearing right now in my house, that’s MKimono. I like because they’re made by real Brazilian people who love the sport and the philosophy behind jiu-jitsu.
Inside BJJ
Do you think there’s a difference between jiu-jitsu in America versus Brazil?
Renato Laranja
Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil versus America is like the same thing as soccer in Brazil versus America. It’s very weak here. A lot of guys do stuffs they don’t know what they doing. They do a lot of wrestling moves. You have some Armenian guys who do some leg lock but that’s not jiu-jitsu. That’s a different thing. Maybe that’s why you call it 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu because it’s come from another planet. You have to be so high on “Heefer” or mushroom to believe that stuffs is jiu-jitsu.
Inside BJJ
Do you have a problem with people who open academies and are not black belts?
Renato Laranja
You can open anything you want. The problem is gonna be for the students who gonna waste their money. Why you gonna train there when you can train with real black belt. You go to some guy in Omaha who don’t know nothing. He’s never been in a street fight.
Inside BJJ
You mentioned your extensive Vale Tudo experience and in some of your videos online you have talked to Joe Rogan about the UFC. You seem to feel like Joe Rogan blows you off in the video. If I was Dana White right now, what would say and who would you like to fight in the UFC?
Renato Laranja
Dana White and Joe “Hogan” is aware of me. He know my skill because he seen with his eyes what I can do. They wanna make Brazilians to look bad. They don’t wanna have another Brazilian champion. They don’t like me because I’m speak such good English. They don’t want a young Brazilian guy who can speak perfect English like me. I’ve worked so long on my accent that its appear seamless. It’s like I don’t even have an accent. They don’t want to see a positive image of a Brazilian. Dana White know who I am. Joe Silva know who I am. Joe “Hogan” know who I am. They can only duck from me for so long. Chael Sonnen has a big mouth. That’s gonna be my first fight. I hear that he’s talk alotta stuffs. I’m gonna do a seminar in Portland, Oregon soon and I’ve heard through the grape line that he’s gonna try to crash the party. He’s gonna see that I’m ready for that.
Dana White and Joe Rogan
Inside BJJ
It’s interesting you bring up Chael Sonnen because I wanted to ask you about him. In particular, he had a fight with Anderson Silva where he was on his way to winning the fight up until the very end. Give us your thoughts on that fight? How would do in a fight against Chael Sonnen?
Renato Laranja
That’s easy fight for me. Anderson Silva only looked bad in the beginning because he had some broken “hibs”.
Inside BJJ
He had broken hands?
Renato Laranja
Hibs!
Inside BJJ
He had broken hips?
Renato Laranja
No, hibs! You ever hear that song from Chili’s, “I want my baby back, baby back, baby back…hibs!” Also, there is Tony Homa’s, a place for hibs. What I’m speaking? Chinese?
Inside BJJ
Oh ribs! I understand now. I thought you said hip.
Renato Laranja
I’m sorry you misunderstand that. Anderson was weak and he still put a triangle to that guy. Chael Sonnen’s jiu-jitsu is so bad. Matt Horwich can submit that guy. It’s embarrassing that guy’s jiu-jitsu. I can do anything I want to that guy.
