{"id":38271,"date":"2026-05-15T17:39:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/New-Rizin-champ-thanks-slain-father-Wanderlei-Silva-for-success-201192"},"modified":"2026-05-15T17:39:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:39:53","slug":"new-rizin-champ-thanks-slain-father-wanderlei-silva-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/new-rizin-champ-thanks-slain-father-wanderlei-silva-for-success\/","title":{"rendered":"New Rizin champ thanks slain father, Wanderlei Silva for success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Now that he resides atop the Rizin Fighting Federation<\/a> mountain, Luiz
\nGustavo<\/a> is not about to forget who helped him get there.<\/p>\n

Last Sunday, Brazil’s Gustavo won the Rizin lightweight title in
\nJapan by knocking out Ilhom
\nNazimov<\/a> at 2:08 of the first round. The emotion of the disciple
\nof former Chute boxer Andre Dida caught the attention of Japanese
\nfans. Upon receiving the belt from Rizin head Nobuyuki Sakakibara,
\nhe cried profusely and made a point of dedicating the title to his
\nlate father and the former Pride Fighting Championships<\/a> great Wanderlei
\nSilva<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Back in his home state of Curitiba on Wednesday, \u201cKiller\u201d spoke to
\nSherdog about the victory and explained the importance of these two
\nfigures in his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father passed away when I was 12 years old, and the last thing
\nhe did for me, the week before his death, was to enroll me in a
\nKarate academy,\u201d Gustavo explained.<\/p>\n

Karate training was essential for the boy to work through the
\ntrauma of seeing his father killed at his doorstep, transforming
\nthe anger not into an instinct for revenge, but into a gigantic
\ndesire to become a champion and be a source of pride for his
\nfather, \u201cWherever he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

By excelling in Karate training, Gustavo was taken to coach Dida,
\nwho realized that in addition to talent, this youth had such a
\nstrong focus on becoming a champion that it forced the coach to
\nwant to restrain him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always had a great desire to learn and an extreme work ethic,\u201d
\nDida revealed. \u201cSo much so that my biggest problem with him was
\nalways making him understand the importance of recovery. When I
\nfound out about his father, everything made sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gustavo\u2019s rapid evolution in ground fighting led Dida to allow his
\npro debut at the age of 18 inside of Parana\u2019s Nightmare Arena. The
\nyoungster prevailed by submission.<\/p>\n

Between 2015 and 2017, Gustavo fought seven more times in events in
\nParana and won them all by stoppage. Thanks to his aggressiveness
\nand killer instinct, in the image and likeness of his idol Silva,
\n\u201cThe Axe Murderer,\u201d Luiz received the nickname \u201cKiller\u201d from his
\nmaster Dida.<\/p>\n

One little push<\/h2>\n

At 22 years old and with eight wins on his record, Luiz couldn\u2019t
\nwait to have an opportunity outside of Brazil. It was two weeks
\nbefore Rizin 12 that Bruno
\nCarvalho<\/a>, who was supposed to face the experienced Yusuke
\nYachi<\/a> in the main event, got injured. Coach Dida, even knowing
\nthe risk of having his athlete debut against a Shooto and Pancrase
\nveteran with 25 fights, decided to offer him to the Japanese event,
\nwhich unfortunately refused. That\u2019s when Silva, who knew the
\nhistory of \u201cKiller\u201d well, decided to step in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Japanese wanted someone more experienced for the main event,
\nso Wanderlei told Dida, \u2018You can say I’ll go with him.\u2019\u201d Faced with
\nthe possibility of having the Pride FC legend at the event for
\nfree, the Rizin staff didn\u2019t think twice. Gustavo reciprocated his
\nidol\u2019s gesture with a brutal knockout of Yachi and sealed his
\ncontract with the Japanese event.<\/p>\n

Eight years and eleven fights later, \u201cKiller\u201d finally won the belt
\nand, for obvious reasons, made a point of thanking his two heroes
\non the microphone for their attitude, which was fundamental in
\nhelping him achieve his dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked so hard! I don\u2019t go out at night, I don\u2019t do drugs, I
\nonly live for the sport,\u201d Gustavo explained his behavior after the
\nfight. \u201cI had some defeats in my career, but none was greater than
\nthe loss of my father, so every time I lost, I picked myself up and
\ntrained harder because I knew that, with hard work, one day I would
\nget there, and thank God that day came, which is why I got so
\nemotional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked to choose one of the four opponents who beat him in
\nRizin\u2014Mikuru
\nAsakura<\/a>, Patricky
\nFreire<\/a>, Roberto
\nSatoshi de Souza<\/a> and Shunta
\nNomura<\/a>\u2014for a rematch for his belt, in his first defense, the
\nchampion didn\u2019t think twice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank God I wasn\u2019t hurt and I\u2019m ready for whoever Rizin decides,
\nbut if I could choose, it would undoubtedly be Nomura. Our fight
\nwas decided by a headbutt he gave me, unintentionally, but it
\nopened a cut that led the referee to stop the fight. I would really
\nlike to fight him again,\u201d the champ vocalized.<\/p>\n