New Rizin champ thanks slain father, Wanderlei Silva for success

Now that he resides atop the Rizin Fighting Federation mountain, Luiz Gustavo is not about to forget who helped him get there.

Last Sunday, Brazil's Gustavo won the Rizin lightweight title in Japan by knocking out Ilhom Nazimov at 2:08 of the first round. The emotion of the disciple of former Chute boxer Andre Dida caught the attention of Japanese fans. Upon receiving the belt from Rizin head Nobuyuki Sakakibara, he cried profusely and made a point of dedicating the title to his late father and the former Pride Fighting Championships great Wanderlei Silva.

Back in his home state of Curitiba on Wednesday, “Killer” spoke to Sherdog about the victory and explained the importance of these two figures in his career.

“My father passed away when I was 12 years old, and the last thing he did for me, the week before his death, was to enroll me in a Karate academy,” Gustavo explained.

Karate training was essential for the boy to work through the trauma of seeing his father killed at his doorstep, transforming the anger not into an instinct for revenge, but into a gigantic desire to become a champion and be a source of pride for his father, “Wherever he was.”

By excelling in Karate training, Gustavo was taken to coach Dida, who realized that in addition to talent, this youth had such a strong focus on becoming a champion that it forced the coach to want to restrain him.

“He always had a great desire to learn and an extreme work ethic,” Dida revealed. “So much so that my biggest problem with him was always making him understand the importance of recovery. When I found out about his father, everything made sense.”

Gustavo’s rapid evolution in ground fighting led Dida to allow his pro debut at the age of 18 inside of Parana’s Nightmare Arena. The youngster prevailed by submission.

Between 2015 and 2017, Gustavo fought seven more times in events in Parana and won them all by stoppage. Thanks to his aggressiveness and killer instinct, in the image and likeness of his idol Silva, “The Axe Murderer,” Luiz received the nickname “Killer” from his master Dida.

One little push

At 22 years old and with eight wins on his record, Luiz couldn’t wait to have an opportunity outside of Brazil. It was two weeks before Rizin 12 that , who was supposed to face the experienced in the main event, got injured. Coach Dida, even knowing the risk of having his athlete debut against a Shooto and Pancrase veteran with 25 fights, decided to offer him to the Japanese event, which unfortunately refused. That’s when Silva, who knew the history of “Killer” well, decided to step in.