Roger GOAT confirmed?

[JagRoss]

I'll gladly eat my words. I love me some Roger and hoped to see him win, but didn't think it was going to happen. It was awesome to watch live.

I think it is worth emphasizing how amazing this is. Roger was the most accomplished BJJ competitor of all time. He stepped away from the sport entirely to pursue MMA, dropped weight, and focused almost exclusively on MMA. In the meantime Buchecha establishes his place as the Absolute champion of BJJ. Roger returns to the gi in 2012 to challenge him, and while the match is officially a draw, most felt that Buchecha was the better man that night, and nearly came close to subbing Roger, who hadn't been subbed since blue belt.

Roger's supporters pointed out the weight he had lost, his layoff, and most importantly that he was coming off of a severe staph infection. But we hear things like that all the time - so much that we pretty much disregard them. Then someone decides to make the rematch - 5 years later. That's 5 more years that Roger has been out of the sport, 5 more years that Buchecha has been establishing his dominance and matching Roger's collection of world titles, 5 years older for Roger, now in his late 30s. Take the first match into account, add all those factors, and everything is against Roger.

And then for the old dog to make his return against the king of the mountain, and not only defeat but submit him? Absolutely incredible. Who is the last person to submit Buchecha? The man destroys the top black belts of today, and Roger just comes back and subs him. It's an incredible victory and solidifies Roger as the greatest in my book. And as far as I'm concerned it far surpasses the result of their first match.

The confidence as well.
Imagine coming back after 5 years for a superfight with a 10x world champ.
You don't sign up for that if you don't believe you can win.

I can imagine coming up and competing a lot - having confidence from that.
But what Roger did? Wow.

 

[closequarters]

He said in the interview after the match and also off the mat that he's retiring from BJJ. He should've retired on August 26 instead. Lol

What's August 26th? Masters Worlds?

If he could do that to Buchecha, I'd like to see him just keep competing. I wonder why he is retiring anyways. Run his school or just wants to slow down on the demanding training schedule it takes to be the best.

Edit: nvm, August 26th is the IBJJF HW Grand Prix

 

[trustdoesntrust]

I wouldn't say its prevailing that Buchecha's modern style threw Roger for a loop - some say it was and others that it was because Roger was sick and gassed.

I find it hard to believe that since that metamoris match, having still not competed, all while Buchecha himself is competing, evolving and improving, Roger somehow magically figured out Buchecha's number just by rolling with students. If you don't count useless time of standup, Roger pulled guard and submitted Buchecha under a minute.

Again, its unlikely Roger would improve THAT much doing relatively nothing compared to what Buchecha was doing all those years.

What's more realistic is that Roger was always better, but his illness prevented him performing 100% and when he was 100% his true capability was shown.

Was Roger sick and gassed when he passed Buchecha's guard? When he posted on his head to deny the tornado sweep? Did Buchecha hit the same general closed guard recounter twice in the span of a few minutes because Roger was sick?

We've all seen what Buchecha has done against the best competitors of his era (and many from Roger's era)-- it makes sense that Buchecha 'won' the first match because Roger had trouble with his style.

 

[Aethyr]

Was Roger sick and gassed when he passed Buchecha's guard? When he posted on his head to deny the tornado sweep? Did Buchecha hit the same general closed guard recounter twice in the span of a few minutes because Roger was sick?

We've all seen what Buchecha has done against the best competitors of his era (and many from Roger's era)-- it makes sense that Buchecha 'won' the first match because Roger had trouble with his style.

lol, its like you don't understand what it means to be sick. Being sick doesn't mean you're injured - its not that you CAN'T do the moves you need to do, it means your energy reserves get depleted quickly. You'd know this already if you've trained after recovering from an illness - The quick, twitchy blue belts that I usually have no problems with, become a problem later in the round because my tank would deplete quickly. When Roger passed, he still had some gas, but watch Roger after Buchecha recovers to full guard - Roger just sort of sits in the guard for a while. He never does that. And posting your head is a purely technical move that requires little energy. Nothing you said proves Roger wasn't sick.

However, you didn't address the ridiculous scenario that Roger improved leaps and bounds over Buchecha in the last 4 years, all the while Buchecha has been training and competing in the GI, while Roger was punching bags and sparring in MMA, and counting just the ground action, submits the current most dominant grappler in under a minute. Yeah, that seems pretty believable.

 

[loyalyolayal]

Roger is now worthy of the mantra bestowed upon a GOAT like Masahiko Kimura who so utterly dominated their sport.

In the context of BJJ...No one before Roger, no one after Roger

Travis Lutter >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Roger > Rickson

 

[Human Bass]

The most impressive aspect to me was Roger neutralized Buchecha scramble. The whole leg and arm control was so damn technical.

 

[dmwalking]

Roger has my vote.

Roger = Gi GOAT
Marcelo = No gi GOAT

You know, I was going to say that Marcelo will always be GOAT to me, but this is a very fair statement.

 

[Zankou]

The most impressive aspect to me was Roger neutralized Buchecha scramble. The whole leg and arm control was so damn technical.

Absolutely. People talk about the control on the pull and then the finish, but imo the most impressive part was the middle, where he straight shut down and dominated the transitional defense. That's the part that has me shaking my head. Same thing you saw in his world's run, the elimination of the transitional space.

 

[trustdoesntrust]

lol, its like you don't understand what it means to be sick. Being sick doesn't mean you're injured - its not that you CAN'T do the moves you need to do, it means your energy reserves get depleted quickly. You'd know this already if you've trained after recovering from an illness - The quick, twitchy blue belts that I usually have no problems with, become a problem later in the round because my tank would deplete quickly. When Roger passed, he still had some gas, but watch Roger after Buchecha recovers to full guard - Roger just sort of sits in the guard for a while. He never does that. And posting your head is a purely technical move that requires little energy. Nothing you said proves Roger wasn't sick.

However, you didn't address the ridiculous scenario that Roger improved leaps and bounds over Buchecha in the last 4 years, all the while Buchecha has been training and competing in the GI, while Roger was punching bags and sparring in MMA, and counting just the ground action, submits the current most dominant grappler in under a minute. Yeah, that seems pretty believable.

Can you not concede that Marcus Buchecha Almeida, the undisputed best in the world, the man who revolutionized the idea of a heavyweight, the man who hadn't lost in four years, would have won the match we all saw him win because he was the better competitor?

 

[yetanother]

Can you not concede that Marcus Buchecha Almeida, the undisputed best in the world, the man who revolutionized the idea of a heavyweight, the man who hadn't lost in four years, would have won the match we all saw him win because he was the better competitor?

Buchecha didn't win that match because it was a draw. He did awesome but he didn't win.

 

[mattemate]

The confidence as well.
Imagine coming back after 5 years for a superfight with a 10x world champ.
You don't sign up for that if you don't believe you can win.

I can imagine coming up and competing a lot - having confidence from that.
But what Roger did? Wow.

It's almost like Bobby Fischer

 

[Cappy Goodtime]

It's almost like Bobby Fischer

Yeah, but Bobby Fischer never kicked anyone's ass.

 

[Overtures]

Why is Roger above Rafa?

Why is Marcelo above Rafa?

 

[mattemate]

Yeah, but Bobby Fischer never kicked anyone's ass.

No I mean he came out if years of exhile, annhilated the current champ, and bounced.

 

[Arioch]

Was happy to see this match but I would have loved to see Rodolfo vs Roger sometime from 2012-2015 instead.

Why is Roger above Rafa?

Why is Marcelo above Rafa?

Because Rafa is afraid of the big boys.

 

[Overtures]

Was happy to see this match but I would have loved to see Rodolfo vs Roger sometime from 2012-2015 instead.



Because Rafa is afraid of the big boys.

I'm unconvinced.

 

[Overtures]

Was happy to see this match but I would have loved to see Rodolfo vs Roger sometime from 2012-2015 instead.



Because Rafa is afraid of the big boys.

Marcelo is by far my favorite grappler though.

 

[fanboysareevil]

Why is Roger above Rafa?

Why is Marcelo above Rafa?

10x world champ+2 ADCCs>7x world champ+2 ADCCs

6x world champ+4 ADCCs>7x world champ+2 ADCCs

 

[yetanother]

If he could do that to Buchecha, I'd like to see him just keep competing. I wonder why he is retiring anyways.

He wants to crush a bunch of cans in One FC.

 

[vcmmafan]

He wants to crush a bunch of cans in One FC.

MMA Career isn't exactly Great but he's probably the best gi grappler to date