In light of this upcoming event, we wanted to introduce a little more information about this organization and talk to the event’s primary organizer and get his take on why Texas grapplers should be excited about this one.
As one of the primary countries leading the way for grappling’s growth around the world, the United Arab Emirates has long been a primary sponsor for the sport. This is largely due to the Sheikhs of the Al Nahayan family, one of the six ruling families of the UAE.
Supporting the sport for well-over 15 years now, the Al Nahyan clan founded the Abu Dhabi Combat Club and its namesake event, the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, in order to involve athletes at the highest levels of jiu-jitsu, wrestling, judo, sambo, shooto and mixed martial arts to promote submission fighting around the world. Going on step further, the UAE also brought BJJ to its school system under the guidance of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in late-2009, introducing a BJJ curriculum to over 20,000 kids in 42 public schools with a project dubbed “School-Jitsu.”
Pushing forward with that same zeal for the sport, HH Sheikh Mohammed also created the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup with the goal of promoting the top players of the world in the GI, just like ADCC does with no-GI competition. Now in their fourth year, the 2012 rendition of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup promises to be its biggest ever and it all starts with this upcoming qualifier in San Antonio.
To get more insight on the event, we recently spoke to the trials organizer, Sergio “Marrinha” Corrêa, a 4-stripe black belt champion and head instructor of the Marra Senki BJJ Academy in San Antonio. Boasting over 24 years of BJJ experience while training with luminaries such as Royler Gracie and Zé Mario Sperry, the fifth year Texas resident is hoping to use these trials a springboard not just for the World Pro Championship, but for the entire Texas Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling scene.
Here’s what Professor Corrêa had to say to TXMMA.com about the upcoming San Antonio event.
Interview with Sergio Corrêa about the San Antonio Abu Dhabi World Pro Trials
TXMMA.com: Mr. Corrêa, thanks for speaking to about the upcoming Abu Dhabi Pro Trials. Can you tell our readers some general details about the event?
Sergio “Marrinha” Corrêa : This Abu Dhabi World Pro Trial in San Antonio is a qualifier for the World Championships that will be held in Abu Dhabi during April of 2012. The winner of the open weight divisions in these trials will win an all-expense paid trip to compete including airplane ticket, hotel stay, and everything for free.
TXMMA.com: How did this come about, you being able to bring an event of this magnitude to Texas?
Sergio “Marrinha” Corrêa : Well I worked for Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed for a few months in 2002 after I was able to become a 2x world champion. I worked there in the ADCC club and after that, last year, a student from mine, Renato, went there to teach as well for their school program. Jiu-Jitsu is very big in UAE and they teach it at all the public schools. It’s at the top of the program and many brown and black belts go there to teach so they’re very big supporters of the sport. After that, they sent me an invite to teach the secretary for Sheikh Mohammad and I was able to attend and work at the World Pro Championship 2011 as well. After coming back here, it was made possible to have these trials two times a year in the US (San Antonio and New York) along with one trial in Mexico, which is the first time they will be able to host trials as a country also.
TXMMA.com: What type of competition are you expecting at this tournament – especially considering the stakes for winners being able to go and compete in the UAE?
Sergio “Marrinha” Corrêa : I think it will be very good. This one is like a real world championship, you know what I mean. It’s not just one tournament like a Houston Open or Dallas Open. This event will give you a chance to travel and compete for free on one of the biggest tournaments in the world. So you know, it’s not just like you win a little bit of money. The airfare cost and hotel expense is a significant amount to win in addition to the honor of competing at the main event. Plus there will be $1,000 prizes for many divisions and $1500 for the brown/black belt absolute division winner at this tournament so there are a lot of stakes. This will be a huge, huge tournament – the best one in all of Texas and we expect the competition to be fierce.
Sergio “Marrinha” Corrêa : It’s very simple. Just go to the San Antonio Trials website and read the information about the event and to register. Also, I want to let everybody know this tournament is just for people that live in the region, meaning you have to be an American citizen or hold a green card or work visa. The goal is for the winners to represent the US in the world championship. Even if you’re a Brazilian guy, if you win this one and go compete in Abu Dhabi, you will be representing the United States. That’s the flag that will come up.
TXMMA.com: Looking further into the future, what do you hope to see with the growth of Jiu-Jitsu here in Texas?
Sergio “Marrinha” Corrêa : I expect the Jiu-Jitsu here in Texas to grow very past and that’s my intention, to help do that. I don’t do this just for me, but I work for all of Jiu-Jitsu, you know what I mean. The fastest this sport grows, the better it will be for me and everybody. I remember five years ago when I moved here to San Antonio, nobody was a black belt except for me. Now we have 5-6 black belts or more in the city and that type of growth is great. We have very big opportunities for everybody here in Texas so we just have to keep growing the sport and showcase our Jiu-Jitsu from here to the world.
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