Farewell to Two Legends of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Arguably two of the greatest heavyweights to grace the mat's in BJJ have decided that the 2012 Worlds is where they will rest their belts forever.  Much in the same vain as wrestlers leaving their shoes on the mat signifying their retirement from competition, Marcio "Pe de Pano" Cruz and Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros left behind their black belts Sunday afternoon.

Pe de Pano made it to the semi-finals to lose 4-2 to the champion Buchecha, where Medeiros had a bit of a difficult time in the quarterfinals.

These two warriors combined have won more championships then most of us will even enter, and they have literally fought a "who's - who" of the BJJ world throughout the years:

Marcio Cruz @ the World Championship’s Finals

Year	Weight	Belt	Oponent	Result
2003	Absolute	Black	Roger Gracie	Win
2002	Absolute	Black	Saulo Ribeiro	Win
2002	Pesadissimo	Black	Luiz Guilherme	Win
2000	Absolute	Brown	Eduardo Machado	Win
2000	Super Pesado	Brown	Marcelo Caresto	Win
1999	Pesado	Purple	Carlos Nelson	Win

Marcio Cruz @ the Pan Am’s Finals

Year	Weight	Belt	Oponent	Result
2005	Absolute	Black	Xande Ribeiro	Win
2005	Pesadissimo	Black	Alexandre Dantas “Café”	Win
2003	Absolute	Black	Fabricio Werdum	Win
2003	Pesadissimo	Black	Alexandre Dantas “Café”	Win
1999	Absolute	Blue	Wilson Borges	Win
1999	Pesado	Blue	Leonardo Stancioli	Win

Marcio Cruz @ the Brazilian National’s Finals

Year	Weight	Belt	Oponent	Result
2001	Absolute	Black	Terere	Loss
2001	Pesadissimo	Black	Carlos Alberto dos Santos	Win
2000	Absolute	Black	Leo Dalla	Win
2000	Super Pesado	Black	Renato Ferro	Win
1999	Absolute	Brown	Maxwell Carvalho	Loss (team mate)
1998	Meio Pesado	Blue	Luis Duarte	Win

Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros

Main Achievements:

• 3x World Champion (1998 – Brown Belt, 1999 & 2000 – Black Belt Absolute Division);
• 3x Pan American Champion (1999, 2007, 2009 – Master Division);
• 2x Brazilian National Champion (1999, 2000);
• 2x World Cup Champion – CBJJO (2002, 2006);
• European Champion (2011 – closed the bracket with team mate Igor Silva);
• 2x World Silver Medallist (2001, 2004).

Weight Division: Over the years “Comprido” has bounced between Meio Pesado, Pesado, Super-Pesado and Pesadissimo.

We have a lot to learn from these guys!  I thank them for their years of service and battle.  Though I am sad to see them go, I hold nothing but mad respect for both!

Thank you,

Jake