266 - ADCC and IBJJF World Champion Yuri Simoes on Switching to MMA

Yuri Simoes is a two time ADCC World Championship, a two-time IBJJF black belt Absolute No-Gi World Champion, and a two-time Pan American Champion. In our chat we go deep into developing the motivation required to train at such a high level, the importance of self defense, how he took down a Olympic Judo champion in competition, and much more. I hope you enjoy it! 00:44: Growing up in Brazil 03:07: Training self defense 05:38: On making BJJ your way of life 10:08: Judo and BJJ cross training 14:40: Yuri's match against Travis Stevens 17:30: On making the switch to no gi grappling 20:42: On coming to North America and training with Caio Terra 27:54: Is it OK to train at different schools? 31:06: New jiu-jitsu vs traditional jiu-jitsu 36:25: On switching from no gi to MMA 38:04: What made Yuri so stubborn? 42:25: Dealing with major injuries 49:50: Biggest adjustments in switching from jiu-jitsu to MMA 51:33: What's a typical week of MMA training? 59:59: Good days and bad days of training 1:02:56: Signing to fight with One FC 1:04:58: Where to follow Yuri If you get the chance, check out my Grapplearts BJJ Master App. There's a TON of free high level content in that app, giving you the opportunity to learn BJJ on your phone. Download the Grapplearts BJJ Master App for free at https://www.grapplearts.com/masterapp Thanks! Stephan Kesting