At the start of 1996 was the first ever World Championships. Fábio, who was still a blue belt at the time, participated in the competition which took place at Tijuca Tennis Club in Rio de Janeiro. Fábio and Gustavo Maguinho both really enjoyed competing, so they decided to go to the tournament where they stayed at Maguinho’s aunt’s house, located in the Méier neighbourhood.
Rio de Janeiro was the capital of the world for Jiu-Jitsu, virtually everything happened there. The biggest names and the greatest champions, for the majority, were all from there. The presence of the famous Gracie schools; Carlson Gracie, Gracie Humaitá, Gracie Barra and many others, made Rio a paradise for anyone who was involved in the sport. If just going to Rio de Janeiro and living the culture was a dream, then fighting there was beyond extraordinary for both Fábio and Maguinho, who were 17 and 19 years old at the time.
Shortly before the competition took place in Rio, a carioca (native of Rio de Janeiro), who was already a blue belt, went to live in Natal. His name was Michel Alvarenga. Today, he is a Military Police officer in Rio Grande do Norte and a good friend of Fábio’s. He became a kind of idol for him. As his number one fan, he would imitate everything that Michel did; the way he walked, the clothes he wore, and even the way he spoke. Fábio started speaking with an accent from Rio!
Thus, inspired by Michel, Fábio arrived in Rio dazzled by both the world of fighting and the natural beauty of the city. To top it all off, he took the plane for the first time in his life. They even stayed for a week to enjoy the Marvelous City. Unfortunately, both of them lost their first matches. Gustavo Maguinho lost to Adriano Nasal, who later became part of Brazilian Top Team and a good friend of his. Today, Nasal even owns the BTT school in Orange County, California.
Fábio lost to Rodrigo Cumprido by a takedown. These were the only points scored in the match. Cumprido became world champion that year and later became two-time black belt absolute champion. He was an idol on the world scene and Fábio was either fortunate or unfortunate to have gotten him in the first round. Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience overall. They stayed there for three days watching the competition, and taking pictures with big names and idols that they would only see in magazines and on VHS tapes.
Some of the big names they took pictures with were Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Libório, Carlão Barreto and Amaury Bitetti. These same people later became friends of Fábio’s a few years later when they trained together, first at Carlson Gracie and later at Brazilian Top Team. Their friendship continues to this day.
Speaking of VHS tapes, there were two famous fights in the Jiu-Jitsu world that the guys at Combate Real would watch at least once a week after training. One of them was between Marcus Aurélio and Guilherme in Fortaleza. It was a historic fight. At that time, when two athletes were clashing, there would be a closed-door vale tudo. These were sometimes filmed. This particular vale tudo fight was a brawl without gloves that lasted more than 50 minutes. Later on, Marcus Aurélio also became friends with Fábio, and their friendship continues to this day.
The other famous fight on VHS was in Rio de Janeiro. It was also a clash, this time between Ryan Gracie and Tico, from Carlson Gracie at the time. The dispute was settled in a house. This fight was also long-lasting and in the same style as the other, there were no gloves and everything was permitted. These two VHS tapes were very motivating during Fábio’s career, as well as for his other friends at Combate Real.