Jackson Nagai slams champions who retire at the top
The Checkmat world champion, set for The Crown, told VF Comunica that walking away at your peak shuts the door on the next generation.
Jackson Nagai does not like seeing world champions hang up the gi at their peak. Backstage at the IBJJF World Master Championship in Las Vegas in early September, the Checkmat black belt spoke with VF Comunica about athletes who stop competing right after winning the title, and he did not hold back: “I think it’s really ugly. I think it’s really dishonest. That’s just my opinion.”
For him, retiring at the top breaks an old rule of the sport. “A guy becomes world champion and retires at the top, I think that’s really wrong,” he said.
The crown has to change hands
Jackson explained his view through the path every rising black belt follows. “When we’re coming up, we beat a guy who’s on his way out. So why, when we’re at the top, wouldn’t we give the next guy coming up the chance to beat us?” he asked.
He pointed to a name from the new generation. “There are a lot of super talented young guys out there. Tarcisio is one, from Marcio André’s team, among others. Why not fight that guy? One day he’s going to beat me and make a much bigger name for himself,” he said, referring to Tarcisio Santos.
His model is the chain of champions from the last decade. “I think you have to pass the crown on and stop holding on to it, the way it used to be. Leandro Lo took it from Rômulo Barral, I think. Then Cainan took it from Lo. I think that’s amazing,” he said, recalling Leandro Lo and Rômulo Barral.
Seminars and brackets without champions
As Jackson sees it, the growth of Jiu-Jitsu changed the math for anyone who wins the title. “Now Jiu-Jitsu is getting so big, with seminars and all that, guys are retiring at the top. I don’t want to be like that,” he said.
He knows a world title now opens doors off the mats, but he sees a cost for those coming next. “Sometimes I think it shuts the door on a new generation. You get into a Worlds bracket and there isn’t a single world champion in it, everybody’s gone,” he explained.
This year’s adult Worlds, he said, showed the opposite. Jackson took silver at lightweight in Long Beach and pointed to Matheus Gabriel in the bracket as proof it was one of the toughest divisions. “I think that’s great, because the guys coming up think: I’m going to fight a world champion. That’s the right way.”
Three more years at adult
Born in the Amazon region of Brazil and raised in Japan, Jackson started Jiu-Jitsu at 17, got his black belt from Lucas Leite in 2020 and won the IBJJF Worlds and Pans in 2024. He sees himself more as a coach than a pro athlete. “I’ve always taught a lot of classes. I’ve always seen myself more as a teacher than a professional athlete,” he said.
He has no plans to stop, though. “I did really well at adult this year. I fought well. So I think I’ll stay at adult for about three more years,” he said. Next up is The Crown on November 8 in Long Beach, where he is set to compete at middleweight.
Full video on YouTube
The conversation with Jackson Nagai is in VF Comunica’s Day 2 vlog from Las Vegas, on the VF Comunica YouTube channel (in Portuguese).
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