By Micah Hinchliffe:
“Soooo, Yes Guys it is true!!! I will be facing Nick Diaz at the World Jiu Jitsu Expo in California. The fight will be broad casted live on the Internet ))) hope u all will like the match” – A status from April 11th on Braulio Estima’s facebook page.

Braulio Estima, a man who many consider to be among the best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners in the game has been set to square off against the one and only Nick Diaz on May 12 at the World Jiu Jitsu Expo in Long Beach, California. Many fight fans have already speculated how this is a possible mismatch in favor of Estima, but who is the man that is facing Diaz?

Having met Braulio myself when competing at Compnet 14 on February 26th, I can honestly say that the multiple world champion is one of the nicest guys you could meet. Braulio and his brother, Victor, have dedicated their lives over the years to helping the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu grow and have focused their attention on the UK and the Gracie Barra clubs. Since April 2004, Estima has been based in Birmingham, England and has since helped create numerous Gracie Barra gyms.

During his preparation for Diaz’s long term training partner Jake Shields at UFC 129; Georges St. Pierre chose to train alongside Estima and fellow Gracie Barra superstar Roger Gracie. St. Pierre commented in interviews how he believed his friend Braulio was one of the best in the world, which is why he was training with him to combat the Jiu Jitsu game of Shields. Estima’s involvement in MMA is interesting to see as he now faces Nick Diaz who publicly retired after the controversial Carlos Condit loss. Estima has been eyeing his own MMA debut for a while now and expressed an interest in starting a new career much like his friend Roger Gracie has done in Strikeforce. Would a win against Diaz foreshadow a future MMA career for himself?

Now with his recent joining of the ‘Blackzilian’ camp in Florida, Estima has stated that he is aiming to debut in MMA in July 2012. With the success of previous Gracie Barra black belts in MMA, the sky is the limit for Estima. Training alongside such fighters as Rashad Evans and Alistair Overeem can only help his game improve in bounds and leaps to the point where he could be fighting some of the best in the world. For now, Braulio remains in the BJJ game and Nick Diaz is in his sights. Diaz is the perfect opponent for Braulio and in many ways his polar opposite when it comes to fighting conduct. The two men have a list of accolades under their belts and both train under the Gracie family name. One thing is for certain, there’s no doubt this high energy match should prove to be an exciting back and forth grappling battle for the fans as promised.

A list of Braulio Estima’s achievements:

CBJJ Championship in 2004, 2006, and 2009
Absolute World Cup Champion 2006
European CBJJ Absolute Champion 2006 and 2009
ADCC 2007 silver medalist and 2009 double gold

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