Eddie Bravo

Fight Like A Champion - What You Should Know About Training and Competing

Eddie Bravo Interview

MMAYOU.com: How are you doing?

Eddie: I'm doing great!

MMAYOU.com: What's new?

Eddie: Just same old, just trying to build the Jiu-Jitsu Empire, the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu Empire. Making music, just having fun.

MMAYOU.com: For those of our readers that might not be familiar with your style of no-gi Jiu-Jitsu, please give us a quick breakdown of it.

Eddie: It's just like Greco-Roman as opposed to Judo. It's submissions without using the gi. When you focus on that for a while it turns into a completely different style based on clinching, overhooks, underhooks, and head control as opposed to yanking on collars and sleeves and setting up your submissions with a gi.

MMAYOU.com: Right now, who would you say is the best grappler in MMA?

Eddie: In MMA, well now that Marcelo Garcia had had his first fight even though he lost I would say Marcelo Garcia and Shinya Aoki are the best grapplers.

MMAYOU.com: I knew for sure that you would say Marcelo Garcia by the way.

Eddie: For sure.

MMAYOU.com: Is the rubber-guard effective in street self-defense situations?

Eddie: Absolutely. If you're going to be on your back, you might as well use a guard that is going to be defense first. It's the most defensive position. You're working in the clinch and it's hard to hit or get hit when you're in the clinch so that's what it's based on. So for self-defense, for pure self-defense it's the best way. If you're going to be on your back, it's the best way to play guard.

MMAYOU.com: You've said you would like to fight Royler, he's said he would like to fight you again as well. What's stopping this rematch from happening?

Eddie: Well he's saying he wants to but actually he doesn't want to. He said in an interview at the last Abu Dhabi tournament he said on camera that there is not enough money in grappling and Royler's got four daughters and he's got to fight for big money and he has to think about his family.

MMAYOU.com: Who are the top three pound for pound MMA fighters in the world right now in any order?

Eddie: The top three? BJ Penn, Fedor, and Anderson Silva.

MMAYOU.com: Speaking of Anderson Silva, who can beat Anderson Silva at 185lbs?

Eddie: Nobody.

MMAYOU.com: I agree with that. What are the benefits of training in the gi?

Eddie: It will help your gi game.

MMAYOU.com: Who are your top students at the moment?

Eddie: Shawn Bolenger, Denny Prokopos, and Scott Epsteen.

MMAYOU.com: I know you've opened up a new 10th planet branch in San Francisco with Denny. How is that coming along?

Eddie: It's just starting, you know. Just gotta take baby steps. It's going to take a while to build a following up there. He's a fantastic teacher and he's one of my top students. He just started going a few weeks ago and it's going to take at least a year before he's got a nice group of guys now.

MMAYOU.com: Speaking of Denny Prokopos I actually did a class with him when I was in San Francisco, like you said, it was excellent. Great teacher, amazing class, great atmosphere, it was a really good experience.

Your style of Jiu-Jitsu I really think will revolutionize MMA.

Eddie: It's just a matter of time. It's already worked so well for Shinya Aoki. He's one of the only guys that has really taken what I taught; he was already in the mix. He was already a black-belt in Judo, a black-belt in Jiu-Jitsu; he already had like twenty fights MMA. Real flexible long and lanky. He listened to me when I recommended him wearing pants to make it harder for opponents to slip out of stuff in the guard. He listened and look where he's at. There could easily be fifty guys that could fight like Aoki if they would just listen and have an open mind and have faith in the rubber guard because eventually it is just going to be standard. You have to jump on it right now.

MMAYOU.com Also Nick Diaz is another great example with his sub over Gomi helping to put it on the map.

Eddie: Yup, yup. It's just proven that flexibility is very very important off your back, to work on it and gogopolatas which were a thing that people thought were too low percentage, proven time and time again, they're just popping up everywhere. You just got to really work on it. They're hard moves but if you put enough time and dedication into your polata or anything in the rubber guard. Like I said it's hard, it takes time but once you get there, it's not that hard, it's easy.

MMAYOU.com It's just like anything else. Like when you first started riding a bike it was hard but now it's a piece of cake.

Eddie: Exactly.

MMAYOU.com: Is there anything you would like to say to our readers around the world?

Eddie: Thank you for the support. Add me as a friend on www.myspace.com/thetwister or visit the www.thetwister.tv . There's going to be 10th Planet affiliates popping up all over the world so keep your eye out.