Gustavo is not about to forget who helped him get there.
Last Sunday, Brazil’s Gustavo won the Rizin lightweight title in
Japan by knocking out Ilhom
Nazimov at 2:08 of the first round. The emotion of the disciple
of former Chute boxer Andre Dida caught the attention of Japanese
fans. Upon receiving the belt from Rizin head Nobuyuki Sakakibara,
he cried profusely and made a point of dedicating the title to his
late father and the former Pride Fighting Championships great Wanderlei
Silva.
Back in his home state of Curitiba on Wednesday, “Killer” spoke to
Sherdog about the victory and explained the importance of these two
figures in his career.
“My father passed away when I was 12 years old, and the last thing
he did for me, the week before his death, was to enroll me in a
Karate academy,” Gustavo explained.
Karate training was essential for the boy to work through the
trauma of seeing his father killed at his doorstep, transforming
the anger not into an instinct for revenge, but into a gigantic
desire to become a champion and be a source of pride for his
father, “Wherever he was.”
By excelling in Karate training, Gustavo was taken to coach Dida,
who realized that in addition to talent, this youth had such a
strong focus on becoming a champion that it forced the coach to
want to restrain him.
“He always had a great desire to learn and an extreme work ethic,”
Dida revealed. “So much so that my biggest problem with him was
always making him understand the importance of recovery. When I
found out about his father, everything made sense.”
Gustavo’s rapid evolution in ground fighting led Dida to allow his
pro debut at the age of 18 inside of Parana’s Nightmare Arena. The
youngster prevailed by submission.
Between 2015 and 2017, Gustavo fought seven more times in events in
Parana and won them all by stoppage. Thanks to his aggressiveness
and killer instinct, in the image and likeness of his idol Silva,
“The Axe Murderer,” Luiz received the nickname “Killer” from his
master Dida.
One little push
At 22 years old and with eight wins on his record, Luiz couldn’t
wait to have an opportunity outside of Brazil. It was two weeks
before Rizin 12 that Bruno
Carvalho, who was supposed to face the experienced Yusuke
Yachi in the main event, got injured. Coach Dida, even knowing
the risk of having his athlete debut against a Shooto and Pancrase
veteran with 25 fights, decided to offer him to the Japanese event,
which unfortunately refused. That’s when Silva, who knew the
history of “Killer” well, decided to step in.
“The Japanese wanted someone more experienced for the main event,
so Wanderlei told Dida, ‘You can say I’ll go with him.’” Faced with
the possibility of having the Pride FC legend at the event for
free, the Rizin staff didn’t think twice. Gustavo reciprocated his
idol’s gesture with a brutal knockout of Yachi and sealed his
contract with the Japanese event.
Eight years and eleven fights later, “Killer” finally won the belt
and, for obvious reasons, made a point of thanking his two heroes
on the microphone for their attitude, which was fundamental in
helping him achieve his dream.
“I worked so hard! I don’t go out at night, I don’t do drugs, I
only live for the sport,” Gustavo explained his behavior after the
fight. “I had some defeats in my career, but none was greater than
the loss of my father, so every time I lost, I picked myself up and
trained harder because I knew that, with hard work, one day I would
get there, and thank God that day came, which is why I got so
emotional.”
Asked to choose one of the four opponents who beat him in
Rizin—Mikuru
Asakura, Patricky
Freire, Roberto
Satoshi de Souza and Shunta
Nomura—for a rematch for his belt, in his first defense, the
champion didn’t think twice.
“Thank God I wasn’t hurt and I’m ready for whoever Rizin decides,
but if I could choose, it would undoubtedly be Nomura. Our fight
was decided by a headbutt he gave me, unintentionally, but it
opened a cut that led the referee to stop the fight. I would really
like to fight him again,” the champ vocalized.