“Pode haver alguém que goste de luta tanto
quanto eu, mais é impossível”. ROBERTO LEITÃO (última entrevista
concedida pelo mestre) https://t.co/QtV5fXvynH pic.twitter.com/VhWltP7WBE— marcelo alonso (@alonsopvt)
November 29, 2020
COVID-19 has taken a victim from the combat sports world.
After 45 days of struggle in the hospital, master Roberto
Leitao died due to the virus on Saturday at 83 years old in Rio de
Janeiro. Master Leitao was the man who famously introduced ground
skills to Marco Ruas,
Pedro
Rizzo, Gustavo
Ximu, and Renato
Sobral.
Considered a master of the leglock and heel hook, master Leitao was
passionate about training. In addition to being a 10th degree Luta
Livre black belt, Leitao was also a judo black belt.
“There must be someone who likes fighting as much as I do, [but]
more is totally impossible. Fighting is my addiction,” Leitao once
said.
Leitão was also a professor of mechanical engineering at
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. In 2017, he wrote
a book entitled “Biomecânica da Luta” (Fighting Biomechanics),
where he was able to share a little bit of his fighting
knowledge.
”His ground skills were really impressive,” said Nova Uniao leader
Andre
Pederneiras. “Even being more than 80 years old he would come
to Nova Uniao almost everyday to roll with everyone. No matter if
they were professionals or beginners, master Leitao always had some
new tricks to show. We will miss him a lot.”
The most famous student of master Leitao, Marco Ruas shared a
moving message on his Instagram account about how important Leitao
was to his ground development.
“He was with me in almost all my fights,” Ruas wrote. “He was the
one who screamed to me to footstomp Remco Parduel in the semifinal
of UFC 7. He was also the one who taught me one of my favorite heel
hooks.”
Hugo
Duarte, one of the most prominent practitioners of Luta Livre
in Brazil, also gave a statement regarding Leitao’s passing.
“It’s such a huge loss not only to Luta Livre, but to MMA and all
fighting world in general,” Duarte said during a cremation ceremony
on Sunday. “[During the Luta Livre] war against jiu-jitsu, he was
the one who always tried to avoid conflicts. What impressed the
most about him was the passion for training. He had a serious
shoulder injury, and the only way he could sleep was using
painkillers. Even being more than 80 years old and with that
serious injury, he never missed a training session. Always rolling
and taping everyone. No matter if in Luta-Livre or jiu-jitsu dojo,
he was welcome everywhere.”
The founder of the first Brazilian Wrestling Federation in 1979,
Leitao also had played a very important role in the development of
the sport in Brazil. Today his son, Roberto Leitao Filho, is the
president of Brazilian National Wrestling Confederation.