Alain Mennet spent eight of his 59 years as a martial arts student and athlete, and hours before passing on from this world, he was given the ultimate honor by his coach, UFC veteran Igor Araujo.
According to Araujo, as told to Opovo, Mennet began his martial arts journey in kung-fu. However, he soon found jiu-jitsu and began training under Araujo, often training multiple times a day. As a blue belt, Mennet went on to win gold at Euros in 2018 in the Master 5 featherweight division.
Mennet had been battling cancer that began in his stomach, and sadly, he passed away at the beginning of November. Araujo and his wife came to visit Mennet in the hospital, where Araujo promoted him to black belt. In fact, the belt that Araujo gave his student was the very same that Araujo had worn. Araujo then began talking to Mennet about the memories from Euros, and although Mennet was mostly unable to move at that point, he did shed a few tears and try to speak.
Hours later, Araujo says, Mennet passed away.
The Jiu-Jitsu Times extends our condolences to Alain Mennet’s loved ones, including his coach and teammates.
