Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive
Romulo “Rominho” Barral, a five-time BJJ world champion and one of the most respected grapplers in the world, is looking to make a serious run at mixed martial arts.
But unlike other recent crossovers such as Robert Drysdale and Braulio Estima, jiu-jitsu wasn’t always Barral’s dream.
“I came from a small town in Brazil and my friend showed me this MMA fight on tape and then I said, ‘Man, this is nice. I want to do this,'” Barral recently told MMAFighting.com. “And he told me if you want to do this, you need to learn the ground game.’
“I was supposed to be a striker,” Barral continued, with a laugh. “And then I turned until a jiu-jitsu guy.”