Talk about a comeback. Chris Moriarty had one of the most successfull comebacks in American BJJ history.Talk about a comeback. Chris Moriarty had one of the most successfull comebacks in American BJJ history. Chris was won the North American ADCC trials only to break his leg before the ADCC worlds in a no-gi match with Raphael Lovato. Moriarty rehabbed his leg and still made it to the ADCC mats. He won his first match but with a price as he re-injured his ankle and it was attacked by Romulo Barral which took Chris out. Refoucsed and and training harder than ever, Chris than set his sites back on Mundial gold, the only prize which he has yet to achieve. And he did so this year in amazing fashion. Submitting almost every opponent and brought the GOLD back to the Alliance Team of Atlanta! ———————————————–
BALEIA-First off whats it feel like to be a mundial champ?
CHRIS-To be honest, it really doesn’t feel that different. When I got back to the academy I took a couple days off and then got spanked by Cobrinha. So its pretty much business as usual.
BALEIA-How did you prepare for this years mundials and what was the difference from last year?
CHRIS-I trained a lot more for this year. I was training 5-6 days a week for about 2 months and was lifting weights twice a week as well as swimming once a week. The training was also much more focused. Jacare knew he was going to bring a lot of guys from Atlanta as opposed to last year when it was only me so he was really pushing us.
BALEIA-Did you prefer to win the worlds in US or would you of rather done it in Tijuca?
CHRIS-To be honest, I would have rather won in Tijuca. The atmosphere there is amazing and I wonder if having the mundial here possibly limited the competition level.
BALEIA-What was your impression of the mundials organization this year round?
CHRIS-This year’s mundial was by far the most well organized, best run tournament I have ever been to. Just awesome.
BALEIA-How did your Alliance team mates do as well?
CHRIS-Everyone on the team did awesome. I look at a tournament performance as a success if you are able to go out there and play your game without inhibition. When you lose a match because you were afraid to try something, it is very frustrating. But if you go out there and do everything you know how to do and still lose, you can’t be too disappointed. Everyone that I coached and watched from our team fought with a lot of confidence. That being said we had a ton of people place. Some notable performances off the top of my head: Daren. Chace, Ian, April, Jonanthon, Eric, Batista, Micheal, Michelle, Cobrinha.
BALEIA-Any word on the black belt?
CHRIS-You know how that goes. It’s up to the old man.
BALEIA–What match from either the black belts or brown belts impressed you the most?
CHRIS-You know I really didn’ get to see too many unfortunately. Since my division was on Saturday evening, I didn’t want to sit in the venue all day until my division to watch the black belt prelims. I really did enjoy seeing Lovato pull out that clutch oma plata on Big Mac though. That win was just unbelievable. I wish I could have seen Margarida throw Roger and pass his guard.
BALEIA-What is necessary for a North American to become a mundial champ like yourself?
CHRIS-That’s a very tough question. I think one of the most overlooked aspects of training is the learning that occurs outside of the gym. I know tons and tons of people who train just as much as I do (sometimes more) but very few who enjoy watching and studying bjj as much as I do. This component of really getting involved in the bjj culture is crucial for me.
BALEIA-MMA in the future????
CHRIS-Probably not for a while.
BALEIA-Who has the greatest chest slaps in BJJ?
CHRIS-Fabio Gurgel. Not even a question. Next!
BALEIA-Who does the greatest BJJ voice impersonations in the BJJ community?
CHRIS-That’s gotta be a tie between Josh Griffiths’ impersonation of Fabio Clemente and your impersonations of Jacare and Fabio Gurgel.
BALEIA-How did you celebrate your recent win?
CHRIS-I ate a lot of deep fried food.
BALEIA-Lovato or Big Mac? Who do you think won and why?
CHRIS-Lovato. He was pushing the pace the whole time.
BALEIA-Where are you going from here? CHRIS-My friend and teammate Chace and I are going backpacking in Brazil for a few months and then who knows.
BALEIA-throughout your fights, you looked very calm and composed, what sort of mental preparation do you do for a big tournament like this?
CHRIS-Going into this tournament, I knew my mind was going to be messing with me. I had a lot of pressure to perform well. So I really tried to reflect on all of my successful performances and talk to myself in a positive way. The day of the tournament I just tried to stay very present. Not thinking too much about the outcome.
BALEIA-Before you go into the Black Belt division, is there any one or any tournament you want to win first?
CHRIS-I just won it.
BALEIA-Who would you like to thank for your recent win?
CHRIS-I would really like to thank Jacare. He has so much faith in me, sometimes more than I have in myself. I would also like to thank all of my training partners, Cobrinha, Fabio Gurgel, Chace, Daren, and Matt.