Brazilian jiu jitsu star, Pablo Popovitch, is a man on a mission. Mission objective: win his weight class and the absolute division at the ADCC tournament in late September. With a busy school and the Abu Dhabi tourney just around the corner, Pablo is finding himself with a very full schedule, these days. Fortunately, TapouT Radio was able to get some of his time in a recent interview. Popovitch filled us in on his plans, which include flying to England, this Saturday, to get some training in with Braulio Estima, before competing in the prestigious event, in Nottingham. The elite grappler gave some insight on the growth of ADCC, and the much deserved recognition it has been getting recently:
“I think with the UFC getting bigger and larger, people are starting to pay more attention to the grappling part of the game, and that’s one of the most important parts of MMA. You’ve got to be a good grappler nowadays, a good striker, good at wrestling, good at everything. I think it’s gonna keep growing and growing and people are gonna pay more attention to submissions and techniques.”
Popovitch, who has known Roger Gracie since childhood, weighed in with his thoughts on how he sees the Lawal/Gracie fight happening, saying,
“Man, that’s a tough match for him (Lawal). If I was in his shoes, I would try to outstrike Roger on the feet and avoid going to the ground. Mo’s striking, I don’t know how well he’s doing with his striking. I know he throws some heavy hands, but Roger has a bigger reach. Definitely Roger’s gonna be hard to take down. It could go either way. I’m cheering for Roger, of course, because he’s representing jiu jitsu, but if it goes to the ground, Roger will submit him, for sure. He might try to ground and pound Roger, but he can get armbarred so easy, or end up in a triangle because Roger’s so long. You know, the guy is 6’4 or 6’5, but King Mo is a tough guy. It should be an interesting match.”
He continued with,
“I see King Mo trying to keep it on the feet, trying to outstrike Roger, and Roger’s gonna have the longer reach in the boxing. If it goes to the ground, Mo could get submitted with an armbar or a triangle. If Roger gets on top of him, I think he’s done. A fight is a fight, and anything could happen. Mo could knock him out with a punch, but if I had to bet, I’d bet on Roger, for sure.”
With the recent controversy over the circumstances surrounding the proposed ADCC match between Eddie Bravo and Royler Gracie still on the minds of the fans and media, we were able to get Pablo’s opinion regarding the situation:
“Man, my opinion is Royler wanted a lot of money, and supposedly, the sheikh knew about that, because I was there, training with him, while this whole conversation was happening, in Abu Dhabi. He wanted too much money, and then, he wasn’t worth it to them, to invest that much money, but, if I put myself in Royler’s shoes, and that guy tapped me out, and I like Eddie, I think he’s a super nice guy, but I would’ve fought him for free, just to defend my honor. Eddie won that fight, submitted him, and you’ve gotta give him credit. A rematch would be a dream come true, if I were in Royler’s place. I don’t know why he asked for that much money. He has his reasons, and I don’t know what they are, but if I was in his shoes, I would take the fight for a lot less than that. I would do it for free.”
If you’re among the constantly growing list of fans that are excited to see the top competitiors in jiu jitsu, grappling at the most prestigious level, you will be happy to know that Budo Videos will be streaming the tournament live on September 24th and 25th.
You can follow Pablo Popovitch on Twitter or via his Facebook fanpage.
You can listen to the audio from this interview at TapouT Radio.