Joao Gabriel on ADCC training: "Suffering!"

Interview by Hywel Teague

Straight off the plane and into the gym, Joao Gabriel Rocha returned to Rio de Janeiro after three months in Miami spent training for ADCC alongside Robert Cyborg Abreu, Rodolfo Vieira and many other top names.

The 24-year-old heavyweight black belt returned to competition earlier this year after spending 2014 battling cancer. Fully recovered and ready to compete, Rocha is pumped up for this weekend.

In this video interview he gives us the inside scoop on what went down in Cyborg’s amazing camp in Florida, assesses the dangers he faces in his division and reveals how the support of the jiu-jitsu community motivated him through his illness to return to compete in the biggest submission wrestling championship in the world.