Diogo Reis did not get the submission he wanted at ONE Fight Night 43, but the Brazilian may have walked out of Lumpinee Stadium with something more important.
A new direction.
The ONE Championship flyweight submission grappling king moved up to bantamweight last weekend and took a unanimous decision win over Yuki Takahashi, after a turbulent few weeks outside the ring.
Reis’ longtime mentor and coach Melqui Galvão – head of the BJJ College team in Brazil – was arrested last month amid sexual assault allegations involving minors. Galvão has not been convicted, and the case remains under investigation.
The case has sent shockwaves through Brazilian jiu-jitsu, with Reis among those forced to make sudden decisions about his future, his team, and where he now goes next.
“The victory was great,” Reis told the Bangkok Post backstage. “Not just because I had a good performance. It was because I was able to overcome things in my personal life.
“I had to make some hard decisions, change my life in a few weeks – where I should go, what I’m going to do.
“I don’t have my coach anymore. I don’t have the gym anymore. Things happen and you don’t know when they come. You have to overcome it.”
Reis admitted he considered pulling out of the fight, with the fallout still unfolding during his final preparations in Bangkok.
He said grappling matchmaker Tom DeBlass encouraged him to stay on the card, and ONE ultimately found him a bantamweight match-up rather than forcing him through the added stress of defending his flyweight title.
“I told Tom to cancel this fight, pull out, because a lot of things happened at one time,” Reis said. “You have a few days to make some decisions.
“He encouraged me – ‘No, keep going, let’s go. You can do it.’ And now here I had a great performance.”
The 24-year-old Brazilian controlled long stretches against Takahashi, taking the back and repeatedly searching for openings, but could not find the finish.
That frustration was obvious afterwards, even if the circumstances around his camp offered more than enough mitigation.
“Yuki Takahashi is a great person,” Reis said. “I talked to him after the fight. His defence is really good.
“I took the back, everything, but I wasn’t able to get the submission. But I feel good.”
Reis said the hardest part has been the speed with which everything changed.
The news from Brazil was still moving while he was in Thailand, with developments often arriving overnight because of the time difference.
“This is happening in two weeks, so it’s still happening,” Reis said. “I’m 10 hours ahead of Brazil, so when I’m going to sleep, things happen. News is coming, and I’m like, ‘What the hell?’
“It’s bad. For myself it’s bad because I had one guy giving instructions my whole life. Now I don’t have it anymore.”
Reis said he had considered moving to the United States to continue his career, but has now decided to remain in Brazil and build his own structure.
That will begin with a new team bearing the name he has carried through his rise in grappling – Team Baby Shark.
“I made a decision already,” Reis said. “I will follow my way.
“I could move to the USA, go to some gyms, and keep focused on my career. But I decided to stay in Brazil.”
“Soon I’m going to open my gym in Brazil where I live. I started with this logo,” he added, pointing to the back of his sweat-drenched rashguard, which he had turned to face the cameras for the interview. It bore the words “Team Baby Shark: Loading”.
“Something is coming.”
Reis said he already has plenty to keep him busy, and he now expects to split his time between fighting, coaching, and running the business side of his new team.
“I have some students already,” he said. “They will fight at the world championship in a few weeks, so I will be there coaching them.
“And at the same time, take care of the business, because now I’m a businessman.”
Inside ONE, Reis remains the flyweight champion, but the win also opened the door to a possible run at 145 lbs.
He said the weight cut was easier, though he insisted he can still make flyweight and pass hydration.
“For me, what’s more important is to get a title shot at bantamweight or make a title defence at flyweight,” Reis said.
“Bantamweight was easy. I like it. I feel good. Flyweight I can also do, but it’s a little bit harder. Now I know how to make weight. I know how to pass hydration.”
But Reis does have one clear request for ONE.
After surviving the most difficult build-up of his career and beginning the process of rebuilding his life around his own team, Reis wants his next fight to be on the new ONE Samurai series.
“It makes more sense for me to fight in Japan now,” he said.
