Photo Marcelo Alonso
Jiu-Jitsu black belt, the 40 years old Leonardo Castello Branco, besides Jiu-Jitsu world champion, that already faced at MMA rings big names like Igor Vovchanchin, said in an exclusive interview for TATAME that he is working hard to come back to rings in 2008. “I tried to come back at the end of last year. I was going to fight at Gracie Fighting in November, it was right, but it was cancelled and passed to February, but I haven’t received any news and I’m restarting my training. It’s here that I’ll have the real feeling that if I can or I cannot do it. I don’t have the intent of getting to the top, I believe that I, 40 years old, only get in an average level, help those guys and try to do some money”, said the black belt, that’s getting prepared at Rodrigo Minotauro’s team. Missing the fights, Castello Branco forgot his age and got into this challenge.
“When I knew that Minotauro and Minotouro had opened a training center and some guys was coming with him… Some guys I always were friend of, a thing that I always required, that I consider important, are people that interact and I felt this atmosphere here”, told the black belt. Training at Minotauro Team, Castello don’t save praises for gym’s structure. “I think this is the dream of any fighter, even me with 40 years old or a young fighter. I don’t know at , but I’m sure that is not much different from this training center, it’s an American ideal”, says the fighter, that wait coming back strongly this year. “There’s been five of six years that I don’t train fot Vale-Tudo, and here I felt this taste of getting a knock down, go fighting, put the blood in my eyes and for me it’s good to know that, even 40 years old, I still have this blood in my eyes, that I can exchange with those kids”, told Castello Branco.
