In this video, we see what happens when a 150lb BJJ purple belt takes on a massive, 250lb bodybuilder in a grappling challenge match; it ends up being a pretty one-sided affair.
The purple belt in this video is 20-year-old Matheus Gabriel, at the time a world champion in chess, training out of old-school MMA legend Guy Mezger‘s gym in Dallas, Texas. On appearances alone, you wouldn’t think that this young kid would have a chance in hell against someone with so much more muscle. That said, looks can be very deceiving, especially in martial arts.
A purple belt in BJJ may not seem as impressive as a brown or black belt, but against someone with no training, a good purple belt will seem like a wizard on the mats. An untrained opponent, even one larger, will typically end up tied in a pretzel, with little clue as to what happened.
In this video below, we see that to be the case, as the massive, 250lb bodybuilder is forced to tap out left and right in a pretty embarrassing fashion, including to a flying armbar. All that time spent weightlifting and building his strength proved to be no help here whatsoever. Even when he briefly had top position on the ground, he didn’t know what to do with it and either got swept or submitted shortly thereafter.
This video is a great example, though of the power of jiu-jitsu, as had this been a straight-up wrestling match, or perhaps even a striking sparring session against a similarly skilled striker, the big man’s size and strength could have posed some problems.
Today Gabriel is the owner of the highly-regarded Inevat Brazlian Jiu-Jitsu in Katy, Texas.
