Vagner Rocha On Kicking AJ Agazarm: ‘Maybe I Taught Him A Lesson Today’

October 3, 2016

Vagner Rocha is sorry about kicking AJ Agazarm in the back at their main event match at Fight to Win Pro (F2WPRO) on Saturday.

Kind of sorry, that is.

In an interview with FloGrappling, the Brazilian-born Florida resident and BJJ black belt said that, while it wasn’t his intention to offend anyone, he was there to fight.

I’m sorry to anybody that got offended by my actions today. It wasn’t my intentions to offend anybody, but at the same time, I’m here to fight. If you ain’t ready to fight, don’t come to fight me.

Earlier in the interview he made it clear that AJ was not part of that list of people he felt sorry for.

In fact, not only is Rocha less than apologetic to his opponent, he even thinks some good came out the illegal kick that got his decision win overturned to a no-contest.

I have some resentment towards him, but I didn’t let it carry into the match. And the first reach out kind of hit him nice and he turned his back to me and I’m a little bit old school. This is a fight at the end of the day, you know? Don’t turn your back on somebody. I don’t know where he learned his self-defense or his martial arts that he’s learned, but I would never teach any of my students to turn their back on somebody. So, maybe I taught him a lesson today.

Yet in a later Instagram post, Vagner seemed to recognize that kicking AJ Agazarm off of the mat was not the “best decision,” even though he did not believe it should “define the match.”

Some people may not understand the kill or be killed mentality of a fighter in that situation. Emotions run high and the testosterone is flowing, which is not always resultant in the best decision making. I could have kept it on the mat the whole time and feel that a one second decision does not define the match that lasted ten minutes.

Vagner did, however, say he would apologize to the Stolberg family, whose table he pushed Agazarm into.

So I've spent a good amount of time thinking about what I did yesterday, and at the end of the day I'm not sure how I feel. I go to a competition (fight) where my opponent has told everyone he'll strangle me unconscious and use my body as a raffle prize for people to pose and take pictures with; and this is not the first time he has disrespected me! Some people may not understand the kill or be killed mentality of a fighter in that situation. Emotions run high and the testosterone is flowing, which is not always resultant in the best decision making. I could have kept it on the mat the whole time and feel that a one second decision does not define the match that lasted ten minutes. I do feel extremely bad for the Stolberg family at the table that I pushed AJ into and publicly apologize to them and will contact them personally to apologize. #VRMA #fightsports #bjj @flograppling @f2wpro @grapplingweekly2 @jiujitsutimes Eu andei pensando no que eu fiz nesse final de semana, e no fim das contas eu não tenho certeza como eu me sinto. Eu to indo para um campeonato (luta) onde o meu adversário fala para Deus e o mundo que ele ia me estrangular e ia me deixar inconsciente no meio do tatame para as pessoas poder posar do meu lado em fotos; e vamos lembrar que essa não e a primeira vez que ele me desrespeita! Algumas pessoas podem ate não entender a mentalidade de “matar ou morrer” nesta situação. Emoções, adrenalina e testosterona a flor da pele, na qual não seria um bom momento para tomar decisões. Eu poderia ter mantido a luta o tempo todo no tatame, mas eu sinto que aquele um segundo de decisão errada não define nenhum pouco dos 10 minutos ocorridos na luta total. Eu sinto muito mesmo pela a a família Stolberg que estava sentada na mesa, na qual eu empurrei o AJ e a publicidade eu me desculpei e irei desculpar mais uma vez pessoalmente.

A post shared by Vagner Rocha (@vagnerrocha_vrma) on Oct 2, 2016 at 11:35am PDT

And as far as their match at F2WPRO being the last chapter of the tumultuous Rocha-Agazarm saga, Vagner says he is done with it, but can’t say the same for Agazarm.

I imagine tomorrow I’ll open the Internet and find something that brings it [their feud] to the next level . . . He’s a keyboard warrior, like a lot of the new generation of people.

Those who missed the controversial match between Vagner Rocha and AJ Agazarm can watch a replay of the fight by clicking the FloGrappling link at the beginning of this article.