D. Maia's 2002 World Cup Title

[Bocgam]

Does anyone have any information about who Maia beat in his 2002 World Cup title? He is credited with having one the event, but I can't find any record of it.

His 2003 World Cup title appears on his BJJ Heroes page, but no mention of 2002.

 

[JenStark]

Maia's big accomplishment was his 2007 ADCC win.

His world titles are in CBJJF, rather than IBJJF, which are way less prestigious and are not usually considered as "World Championships" even if they are named so.

 

[Ryoto Machida]

Maia's big accomplishment was his 2007 ADCC win.

His world titles are in CBJJF, rather than IBJJF, which are way less prestigious and are not usually considered as "World Championships" even if they are named so.

Considering some of the biggest names of the time (Terere, Leozinho, Jacare) were all competing in the World Cup at the time, I'd say it was pretty damn prestigious. Maia beat Jacare to win his 2005 World Cup title. That alone I put over any of his ADCC wins in 07.

 

[Uchi Mata]

Maia's big accomplishment was his 2007 ADCC win.

His world titles are in CBJJF, rather than IBJJF, which are way less prestigious and are not usually considered as "World Championships" even if they are named so.

Important point: his titles were in the CBJJO, not the CBJJF which is a subsidiary of the IBJJF.

At the time the IBJJF wasn't as established as the premier gi competition promotion organization as it is now. The CBJJO was a major competitor (in fact, competing in CBJJ events for $$$ as opposed to IBJJF events for free is what created the big Alliance schism that led Terere, Jacare, and others to form new teams like Brasa and TT), and those 2002 and 2003 World Cup events were as strong as the Mundials those years. In fact, Alliance didn't win a single men's gold in 2002 at the Mundials because so many of their stars had defected to the CBJJO against Gurgel's wishes (Gracie Barra cleaned up the Mundials since for obvious reasons of the major teams they remained wholly loyal to the IBJJF). Personally, I consider Maia's victories in the CBJJO to be the equivalent of world titles. Remember, the only reaon the IBJJF world title matters is because the best people compete there, it's not like it's a non-profit international governing body. And at the time, it's arguable that the IBJJF did have the best guys. I would say much like boxing is now that there were no universally recognized world champs then, the winners of both tournaments both had good claim on having proved they were the best in the world.