ESTIMA WOULD TAKE HEAVIER OPPONENT ON POLARIS II

By Tom Bell

Victor Estima has spoken of a desire to fight heavier opponents should he feature on the next Polaris Professional Jiu Jitsu Event.

The thirty-year old was originally scheduled to fight JT Torres in a fifteen minute, submission only bout at the first Polaris event earlier this month, however he had to pull out through infection.

Both Gracie Barra Nottingham’s Estima and Team Atos’ Torres fought to a draw last year at Metamoris II and the scheduled rematch could not go ahead as planned.

“When I pulled out I had an infection in the month of December that put me out of action for five weeks.” Estima explained. “It was a bacterial infection so I couldn’t even sweat, because if I did then the water in it would make it stay longer and it’s why one of the implications of me having to pull out. I had to keep my conditioning up and it was making it hard to heal. It was a nightmare; it gave me two to three weeks to train for a fifteen minute match and I was like ‘No way, I can’t do this fight, I don’t want to put my name on the line when I can’t even get to not even an average condition’.

“It’s a shame, I thought it was a really good idea and I was excited to fight JT again especially after my fight with him at Metamoris when I didn’t feel I performed to what I could. I’d put nine weeks training to one side so I could specifically train for JT and in week one I got the infection. I couldn’t train for five weeks after that.”

Forced to go from competitor to spectator, the Brazilian saw enough in the first Polaris event to know he would like an opportunity to fight at the second event, especially after being impressed with the match making and the opportunity to fight in his now-adopted home.

“I’d like the opportunity to fight on Polaris again.” Estima declared. “I thought it was a fantastic event and we got to put our country on the world stage and I’m really excited for it. I’d take an opponent in no time. It was very exciting with good match ups. You can never stop with the comparisons, so I think when you compare it with Metamoris then it wasn’t that much behind. It was the first time that Polaris happened and I think they’re definitely on the right track. Overall they got it right.”

Whether a rematch with Torres is formed remains to be seen, however Estima would like to put his jiu jitsu to the test with somebody different, as he bids to test his game further.

“To be fair, JT was the opponent that was put to me and I would take it again, but to be honest with you I would like to fight somebody I haven’t fought before. There are many other fighters who would make an interesting opponent in the future. I like the idea of bring jiu jitsu to mainstream, that’s one of the things we need to do. I’d like to see more people from MMA to be put to submission only events and I think that is a good way to go – I’d love to fight someone who is tough and different.

“At the same time, I want to fight the people I haven’t fought before even if they are in a different category to me, they could even be heavier. I like to have a challenge, I’d like to be the ‘challenged’ guy and not the challenge. I’d like to hunt instead of being hunted.”

But how would he choose it given the choice to fight any opponent?

“If I’m going to choose I’d like to fight somebody like Andre Galvao. I would give him a good fight and I believe my game has what it takes. I know he’s a tough guy and he’s heavier than me but I think with my skills I have a lot of surprises for his game. People like this would be a nice motivation, a nice push for me and I’d love to fight a different guy.

“I respect Andre, he’s a friend of mine. I actually fought him in 2006 when I just got my black belt. My first fight ever after getting it was at the Worlds and I fought Andre. It was a nice fight, it was a tough fight for him but he finished me and to be honest he should have, he was the current world champion. I was a brown belt for only seven months before I fought him.

“I would love to have that experience but I am only saying Andre because it was the first name that popped in my head. There are many other guys that would be interesting to fight. I am already used to fighting at my weight and those kinds of guys so anybody at a heavyweight, anything could happen. I think that would be a good fight for me.”

With 2015 still young, Estima spoke of a new found motivation to achieve his goals, with both the World Championships and Polaris in mind.

“The Europeans is too soon, but I am going to go for the World Championships. This is the title that I have been chasing for a long time. I fought to bronze five times in the Worlds and I fought to silver three times in the Abu Dhabi Pro so I am a little bit fed up to keep coming short. I have made a massive statement to myself that this year I will be doing everything that I can and everything it takes to be champion.

“I am thirty now, my past was very different from many guys. I’m not a full time competitor really, I have my school to run, I have a family and a child to look after, I’d moved to a new country, I’d started a new team and we’re doing jiu jitsu so we need to make sure we can live first, before we go somewhere to compete.

"2015 has to be the year of Victor Estima. I’m okay as long as I feel I did everything I could. I am always fighting the toughest guys in the toughest division in the year. If you look at the last five years at the Worlds who has remained on the podium for all five years? You can count on one hand. Many people get there once, but not many people remain there. So I have been there, but not to the position where I can get to. I know I can get gold."

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