Absent from the jiu-jitsu competition scene for nearly three years, Ary Farias – who was widely regarded as one of the most exciting young prospects of his time – is back. His sights are set on on the featherweight world title, a medal he feels he was undeservedly denied in 2013. 

Farias turned his back on jiu-jitsu for almost three whole years because of an incident at the World Championships. Victorious on points against Gabriel Moraes, Farias was awarded a penalty after time had expired due to leaving the mat area to celebrate, an infraction under IBJJF rules. The penalty turned the scores in Moraes' favor and Farias was denied the victory. 

Since then Farias has focused on an MMA career and has amassed a record of 4-1 (3 submissions). This is his first major tournament back in the gi since that fateful day in 2013. We caught up with Farias at the Atos gym in San Diego where he is currently part of the team's Worlds training camp. 

Interview by Heather Raftery 

FloGrappling: Ary, you’ve been away from competition for a while. Tell me about that.

Ary Farias: [Translated from Portuguese] The thing that made me really frustrated and go away for a little bit from jiu jitsu was because of what happened with me in the Worlds in 2013, when I won the finals and the ref gave me a negative point, and I ended up losing the title.

That frustrated me a lot. It was two years that I put my mind in place, and during these years it taught me a lot about that, and what happens. Now in my mind, I have the need to go back and show who’s a true champion.

So what are your plans? Are you going to be in the U.S. for a while?

I will be here just for the Worlds.

Do you have a strategy in preparation for Worlds?

My goal is to dedicate myself every single day during the training these weeks before Worlds, giving the maximum that I can. And that will make me flow during the tournament.

Andre, how did you meet Ary?

Andre Galvao: I met Ary a long, long time ago. He was, I think, yellow belt or green belt, and I was purple belt. I believe it was in 2003, when he used to train with Jacare, who was a good friend of mine, and we were training together in a camp for Brazilian Nationals. After that, the relationship became stronger and stronger. One day, Ary left Rio and he moved to Sao Paulo to train at Atos.

Tell me a little about him as a competitor.

Ary is a great competitor and I like his competition mindset. He’s always confident, believing in himself. He’s a very smart athlete. He’s very dedicated and has a lot of discipline as well. Everything he does, he does 100 percent, in training and in competing. Competing at Worlds, from blue to black, he always went to the finals. That shows that he’s always hungry. I’m a big fan of Ary. 

Ary Farias will compete in the 2016 IBJJF World Championships. Watch it live or on replay exclusively here on FloGrappling

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