Jorge Gurgel retires from fighting following tragic death of his mother
On Aug 29 long-time coach and fighter Jorge Gurgel spoke with his mother, Silvia Gallo, just before she was to fly overseas. 40 minutes later, she was dead.
On Aug 29 long-time coach and figher Jorge Gurgel spoke with his mother, Silvia Gallo, just before she was to fly overseas. 40 minutes later, she was dead.
A cab in Manhattan ran over her, trapping her beneath it. A crowd was able to lift the vehicle off, but the damage was done, and, tragically, medical personnel were not able to revive her.
Gurgel recalled his final conversation with his mother.
She literally said, ‘If you die tomorrow, everybody’s lives will still go on. You don’t need to take care of everybody. I want you to get rid of all the bad energy in your life. You have to get rid of all the crazy.’
It was of those mom speeches, Gurgel related to Derek Bolender for MMAJunkie.
She was all about positivity. She had the biggest smile in the world. She hated people that played ‘poor me, poor me.’ She was all about owning your s–-. Get the hell up. Get your s–- done. Don’t find excuses. She did not believe in excuses.
Everybody who knows me knows that she was my hero. She was many people’s hero. The person I am today I owe 100 percent – not 99 percent – 100 percent to her. Everything I am and everything I’ve accomplished is because of her. She believed in me.
And his mother had been pressing her son to retire.
If you continue to fight, you’re never going to give your students or the future generation a fair chance, she told him.
Now he is following her wishes.
My goal now is to make people’s lives better and make them feel better about themselves, said Gurgel. People that come (into the academy) overweight. People that come with low self-confidence. People that come who have been bullied in school. There’s no better feeling than seeing them six months later winning NAGA competitions or knocking people out in muay Thai competitions, knowing that I had a part in all that. Knowing that I created that (is satisfying).
I’m going to continue to change as many lives as I can for the positive using martial arts to do it. It changed my life. I want to spread it all forward.
I’m happy because I feel like she’s with me. She talks to me. I’m going to do what she told me. I’m creating the life I want to live. And nobody can f—ing stop me.
A former English teacher in Brazil, Jorge came to the USA to become a top MMA fighter. Landing a role on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, Gurgel quickly established a reputation bang up brawler and an expert in Jiu Jitsu. Gurgel is a fighter whose love for fighting is such is that he probably lost some bouts he could have won by being more technical, but chose instead to stand and trade until one man dropped. Twice a UFC Fight of the Night performance bonus winner, now a 3rd degree black belt, Gurgel coaches hundreds of students at his Ohio facility, and 13 affiliate schools across North America.
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