WORDS: CAN SÖNMEZ ILLUSTRATIONS: GARTISTAAFTERMATH
Reactions after the fight were typical of both men. Roger, known for his stoic reserve,
said simply “I think, we can be sorry when we get home. Congratulations to those
who are victorious today. One more year. Next year we will be here.” He spoke at
greater length later, in his voiceover for the Tradition documentary:“My style of fighting, I’m never satisfied with points. I don’t get a dominant position
and hold. Winning or losing, if I’m getting a dominant position or not, I’m always im-
proving. I’m never going to hold this position here just because it’s going to give me
the victory. There was one point I lost the fight because of that. I was winning up to
the last ten seconds against Xande. Ten seconds to go, he tried a takedown and I saw
the opportunity to get his back. I ignored the takedown and I went for it.“When the fight is finished and you’ve lost, what can you do? Whatever mistake
you did, it’s too late now. If it was a mistake that the referee made or you made, or
something happened in the fight, when the fight’s finished, you know the other guy
got the victory. Nobody likes to lose, it’s not a good feeling. But it’s something that,
there’s nothing to do, you’ve just got to think next time, I’ll make sure that mistake
doesn’t happen again.”Xande, gregarious and brimming with confidence, also discussed the fight on his own
documentary, Road to a Championship. Interestingly, he characterised his approach
to competing in much the same way as his opponent:“Thirty seconds to go, what am I going to do? There’s no strategy no more. I didn’t
have any strategy, I was like, ‘Man, I want to go for it, I want to be able to fight, I want
to be able to do good, I want to do a show.’ That’s what I’m all about. I don’t want to
go there and win by one advantage.”Of course, Xande did in fact do exactly that, winning by a single advantage: he had
four points and two advantages, compared to Roger’s four points and one advantage.
Regardless, he was the champion, visibly overwhelmed upon achieving his first Abso-
lute title. Roger was patient: it would not be long before his time would come, with
open weight golds in 2007, 2009 and 2010.Yet Xande remained a potent obstacle. It was something Roger appreciated, display-
ing his characteristic humility in another comment from Tradition:“Throughout my career, I fought great fighters, especially Xande and Jacare, prob-
ably the two guys that I fought the most. There was always a battle, never an easy
fight. I’m glad they were that good, because it motivates me to train a lot more. For
you to be great, you have to beat great fighters. You can’t be great alone, you know?
You want great fighters to fight against, otherwise you never prove yourself against
a serious challenge. You need that challenge, so the greater the fighters out there,
the better.”It is rare for a competitor to establish one memorable sports rivalry. It is a further mark
of his greatness that Roger has at least two.SOURCES: TRADITION: RISE OF A GRACIE FIGHTER • ROAD TO A
CHAMPIONSHIP • IBJJF.ORG • SLIDEYFOOT.COM
MATCH LENGTH: 10 MINS
VENUE: TIJUCA TENNIS CLUB
LOCATION: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
EVENT: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
“I WAS WINNING UP TO THE LAST TEN SECONDS AGAINST
XANDE. TEN SECONDS TO GO, HE TRIED A TAKEDOWN AND
I SAW THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET HIS BACK. I IGNORED THE
TAKEDOWN AND I WENT FOR IT” - ROGER GRACIE
THE MATCH
Both men are confident in their judo, looking for the
takedown. Roger is the first to score, landing two points
as Xande hits the ground. Xande immediately swivels
into open guard, successfully preventing the pass. After
a minute, Xande is able to stand, whereupon Roger de-
cides to pull guard.
Xande almost manages to pass, but Roger swiftly recov-
ers to closed guard. Xande tries to open the guard, which
Roger uses as an opportunity to attack an omoplata. He
completes it as a sweep, ending in Xande’s closed guard.
After Roger stands, Xande rolls backwards and grabs
Roger’s leg. Gracie capitalises to try and take Xande’s
back: once again, Xande is able to hold him off and
eventually return to a standing position.
This time, climactically, it is Xande who lands the take-
down, hitting a drop seoi nage with only a few seconds
to go. The two men are even on points, but Xande is
ahead by one advantage as times runs out.