Fresh off his World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships (also referred to as the Mundials) victory, Alexandre "Xande" Ribeiro has signed with World Victory Road's Sengoku mma promotion. Having been a dominant force in the world of BJJ over the years (especially in 2006/2008), he'll make the crossover to mixed martial arts come September 28th in Japan. An opponent hasn't been announced yet, but his debut into mma will be cause for many to tune into Sengoku no matter who his opponent is. He'll most likely be fighting at the 185 lbs weight limit, which is a drop in weight from what he competes in BJJ tournaments, which is at 205 lbs. The cut in weight might be an indicator that Sengoku may slot Xande into the Middleweight Grand Prix, which WVR has planned for Sengoku 5.
The 27 year old from Maunus, Amazonas, Brazil trains with Gracie Humaita Academy in Brazil and along side his brother Saulo at their gym (University of Jiu-Jitsu) in San Diego, California. Xande has trained under Royler Gracie and his brother Saulo. His accomplishments in BJJ include earning 8 gold medals at the Mundials (two this year), 6 gold medals at the Pan-American BJJ Championships and numerous world championships at other BJJ/Grappling tournaments. He holds notable victories over Roger Gracie and Gabriel Gonzaga.
Sengoku continue to sign elite BJJ and Judo stars to their roster. BJJ notables include Antonio Braga Neto, Roger Gracie, Jorge Santiago, Rodrigo Damm and Marcio Cruz. Judo notables include Makoto Takimoto, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Pawel Nastula and Hidehiko Yoshida. They also have a few Judo and Wrestling signees currently competing at the Olympics in Beijing. Having established a nice mixture of World Champions and Olympians in various martial arts styles, Sengoku is preparing itself for quality tournaments, which are planned for Sengoku 4 (August 24th) and Sengoku 5 (September 28th).
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