Rafael Mendes Retires from Competing in BJJ

[BJJ Coffee Drinker]

C'mon dude, he's way ahead of Shaolin and renzo both. Marcelo is the only one on his level.

Ahead of Shaolin and Renzo? Maybe in pure sport BJJ. But those 2 seem to have a little more to offer than just sport BJJ. They both work with MMA fighters often and they have the background and pedigree for it. Rafa does not. Both Renzo and Shaolin left BJJ in the prime of their careers to focus on MMA. SO their flavor of BJJ might be a little different

Don't get me wrong, in a pure grappling match Rafa takes them but with punches allowed, I can easily see both of them outgrappling Rafa and hurting him bad. Anyone who says otherwise is clearly a biased

 

[yetanother]

Anyone who says otherwise is clearly a biased

I'm biased that having better boxing doesn't make you better at BJJ than a 6 times world champion.

 

[BJJ Coffee Drinker]

it doesn't make them better at BJJ than Rafa and I never said they did, but in a fight think about this-is Rafa going to take them down? Very slim chance. If not, is he going to stand and trade punches with them? I highly doubt Rafa will be able to take them down as both fighters have trained high level wrestling since Renzo and Shaolin have both fought dangerous strikers and their survival depended on it. Not to mention their defensive wrestling which still strong.

Trading punches with them will equal Rafa getting hurt, especially with Shaolin.

That leaves his last and best option, pulling guard. Against those 2 who have a beastly top game, base, strong wrestling, not to mention an above average level of BJJ and the knowledge of top game ground and pound, it will be very unlikely that Rafa will be able to do anything significant to them from his guard, even if he were in prime ADCC shape. After a couple good shots, it wouldn't be surprising that Shaolin or Renzo would be able to out grapple Rafa following this.

And I am absolutely unbiased in my opinion, as I am a huge fan of both Mendes brothers and really enjoy their style and incorporate much of their concepts and techniques in my game. But looking at this from facts, he would annihilate the both of them in pure grappling but in a fight, he's not fighting 2 bums that have no clue about BJJ.

 

[rmongler]

Its all more or less besides the point anyways, since one of the biggest draws of Renzo's place is that its not just Renzo, but the connections to many other top tier coaches too, in multiple sports even; not the least of which being Danaher himself.

 

[Solidus Snake]

it doesn't make them better at BJJ than Rafa and I never said they did, but in a fight think about this-is Rafa going to take them down? Very slim chance. If not, is he going to stand and trade punches with them? I highly doubt Rafa will be able to take them down as both fighters have trained high level wrestling since Renzo and Shaolin have both fought dangerous strikers and their survival depended on it. Not to mention their defensive wrestling which still strong.

Trading punches with them will equal Rafa getting hurt, especially with Shaolin.

That leaves his last and best option, pulling guard. Against those 2 who have a beastly top game, base, strong wrestling, not to mention an above average level of BJJ and the knowledge of top game ground and pound, it will be very unlikely that Rafa will be able to do anything significant to them from his guard, even if he were in prime ADCC shape. After a couple good shots, it wouldn't be surprising that Shaolin or Renzo would be able to out grapple Rafa following this.

And I am absolutely unbiased in my opinion, as I am a huge fan of both Mendes brothers and really enjoy their style and incorporate much of their concepts and techniques in my game. But looking at this from facts, he would annihilate the both of them in pure grappling but in a fight, he's not fighting 2 bums that have no clue about BJJ.

All true, but I don't think anybody was disputing that the MMA style of two veteran MMA guys would certainly be better than the MMA of a lighter guy who never have an interest in the sport itself. I mean.. it's kinda obvious..

Now, if Rafa would go to NYC to open a Rafa Mendes MMA gym I'd agree with the need for an argument of this kind.. but since it's never gonna happen this way, if there is a comparison to be made between him and the other big names, it clearly has to be about pure grappling/Bjj.

 

[BJJ Coffee Drinker]

I'm comparing this because the original guy I was responding to basically implied that there is no need to go to train with Renzo or Shaolin because Rafa outshines them both in BJJ

I'm making this argument because due to the amount of MMA experience combined with their above average level of BJJ, they probably can teach better BJJ to MMA fighters looking to work on their ground game than Rafa would be able to, despite being more decorated in BJJ.