Being a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is an honor for martial artists who trained intensely for this. However, according to UFC lightweight Renato Moicano, the MMA world has handed out more BJJ black belts lately. The most recent one features Alex Pereira receiving his black belt at UFC 300 despite having no submission wins in his UFC career.
Demetrious Johnson recently interviewed Moicano. He was asked the question about his thoughts on Alex Pereira getting his black belt in BJJ after the fight with Jamahal Hill. In recent times, many have questioned the legitimacy of a BJJ black belt. As such, Moicano gave a fitting reply, saying that black belts in MMA don’t matter much.
Brother, let me tell you something. I don’t think a black belt means nothing in MMA. Jiu Jitsu is a completely different sport… Maybe the coaches are giving black belts just so people could say ’yeah he’s my student.’ I don’t think you should get a black belt if you win a fight in MMA. But in the end of the day, belts don’t matter.
Renato Moicano via Mighty YT
Pereira receiving the black belt at UFC 300 was a shock to many fight fans as the finish wasn’t even a submission win for Pereira. He knocked out Hill in the first round without any form of grappling involved. According to Moicano, belts don’t matter if the fighter wins and Pereira excels in that part.
Renato Moicano is himself a black belt in BJJ. He believed that MMA and BJJ are two very different sports. Getting a black belt in BJJ for BJJ tournaments should be through merit, as per Moicano. The BJJ black belts discussion remains prevalent in the MMA community. It would become more heated if many others like Pereira continued to receive black belts without any display of grappling.
Alex Pereira believes that grappling requires getting tired
The light heavyweight king is all-in on improving his grappling game. Alex Pereira is working to improve his grappling and submission techniques. Pereira is primarily a kickboxer with granite hands. His fights usually don’t see him going to the ground. As such, very little of his mysterious ground game was seen.
Alex Pereira talks about his grappling training (via MMA Mania)Pereira uploaded a video before UFC 300 on his YouTube channel where he talked about his grappling training. He revealed that grappling was a very energy-intensive process. He trained with his mentor and former light heavyweight champion, Glover Texeira.
You have to get tired, if you get tired it’s because you trained. You can’t play here, the people here are badass. Training here with Glover, there’s no way not to learn. I’ve seen a lot of people criticizing, and not wanting to train. I go there and train with women, older, heavier guys, beginners…That’s how we evolve.
Alex Pereira via Alex Poatan Pereira YT
The 36-year-old knockout artist is taking the grappling lessons in stride now. He knew absorbing the techniques and sharpening those aspects would only benefit his fighting future. His training came to fruition after he won against Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 as his coaches wrapped the black belt around his waist.
