and I think Royce Gracie has some guys as well, I’m sure they train in Glasgow. There are other guys that train around the areas but I don’t think they’re affiliated to anyone.

CF: Are you competing this year?
RY: Yes, the Pan Ams in three weeks and of course the Mundials in August so I’ll be out in Brazil training with Mauricao to get myself ready.

CF: Braulio submitted everyone at the end of the session, taking out all the big guys with ease, there were some tough guys there today. What is it that you think set him apart from the rest of us, you know we train three four times a week and think ‘yeah I’m getting good’ and then Braulio comes along and ‘bam’ lights out?
RY: I think it’s technology; number one you’re training in an art that’s truly evolved, it’s like someone firing a hand gun and the other guy has a machine gun you know. Better ammunition to use when sparring, the guys a naturally trained athlete, a motivated man who trains hard and trains with the best in the world. Put those together and you cannot help but be the best. You go to Gracie Barra at 9am and when I went it in in the morning I counted out six world champions on the mats that was in the morning. I rolled with Roleta for fifty minutes and it’s like ‘wow’. When you’re surrounded with quality like this you can’t help but elevate yourself and the problem in the UK is that this level of quality isn’t there yet, but once this base gets here we will progress. It’s like the Judo with the Japanese dominating the world and then Geesink beat a Japanese in ’61 and then B J Penn beat a black belt in Brazil it’s kind of opened the floodgates. In another ten years there will be a massive change thanks to the work of Roger, Felipe, Braulio, Mauricao, Atalla, Roger Brooking and the quality levels will rise. If you keep getting Braulio up once a month and the others at different times you’re being touched by excellence so you can’t go wrong.

CF: Rick, your meal’s arrived, I’ll leave you in peace; thanks again for the support and interview
RY: Cheers Carl, it’s been a pleasure.