World jiu-jitsu champion Augusto Mendes, or ‘Tanquinho’ as he is often called, wishes to win another MMA title. He achieved his black belt grade while training with the respected Francisco Mansor. In July, Mendes took his MMA record to five straight victories, with another win in Legacy FC 43. For his next fight, he wants the opportunity to claim the Legacy FC bantamweight championship.
Augusto ‘Tanquinho’ Mendes recent interview with: MMA Fighting
“They hear I’m a jiu-jitsu champion and think ‘there’s a lot of jiu-jitsu champions out there’, they think it’s easy, but when they find out I’m a world champion as a black belt it makes a difference,” he said. “There are fighters in the UFC who call themselves jiu-jitsu world champions, but they never won the IBJJF world championship as a black belt. That’s completely different. When they find out I’m an IBJJF black belt world champion and realize the fight won’t be easy, they pull out.
“Since I signed for my MMA debut, I believe more than 15 guys pulled out,” Mendes continued. “For my first two or three fights, I guess I had 10 different opponents. They say yes, then Google my name and that’s it. It looks like fighters with a good record don’t want to fight me. But that’s it. I want to win the belt no matter what.”
Nonetheless, Mendes says that people are reluctant to face him, once they discover he is a jiu-jitsu black belt world champion, because they know the fight will be hard. Reportedly, since he signed for his MMA debut, over fifteen potential opponents have reneged on their commitment to fight him. For his first few fights, Mendes says he lost count of the number of opponents who initially agreed to enter the cage with him, then pulled out after researching his name online.
