Igor Tanabe wins Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tokyo
He may only be 18 years of age but ADGS Tokyo -94kg champion Igor Tanabe speaks three languages, teaches and trains jiu-jitsu full-time, and is a World Champion.
Born in Brazil, Tanabe moved to Japan with his family at age 3. Tanabe hails from Suzuka, a city of 200,000 most famous for being the home of the Japanese Formula 1 circuit. There are many Brazilian immigrants in the city, with most of them working in the large car factories.
Tanabe himself used to work in the local Honda factory, making headrests for the car seats. "I hated it," he laughed. "It was so boring."
Since winning the World Championships earlier this year, Tanabe has been training in San Diego with Eduardo Telles of Brasa 99. Now back in Japan, Tanabe showed his developing game with a solid performance that got him gold at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tokyo.
"It feels good to be back at home, it's always good to fight here. I was in the U.S. a long time and there is fun, but it's nothing like staying home and fighting at home with my teammates, my girlfriend, my girlfriend's family. Unfortunately my parents couldn't come because of the typhoon, but there're way closer here than in the U.S. I'm very happy to be back home and to fight here, and to win."
Watch Igor Tanabe's gold medal run at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tokyo
Igor Tanabe vs Hidehiko Noritsugu