The first Jiu-Jitsu Worlds, in 1996: Roleta’s upset over Wallid and the fight for the cover
Marcelo Alonso covered the tournament at Tijuca Tênis Clube. He tells VF Comunica how a brand-new black belt beat the favorite, and why the best photo didn’t make the cover
The first Jiu-Jitsu World Championship took place on February 3 and 4, 1996, at Tijuca Tênis Clube, in Rio de Janeiro. The match people in the gym remembered most put a favorite against a black belt who had just been promoted. Wallid Ismail was the man to beat. Roberto “Roleta” Magalhães had just received his belt. Roleta won.
The story comes from journalist and photographer Marcelo Alonso, who covered the tournament as editor of Tatame, a Brazilian fight publication, and looked back at that edition in an interview with Vitor Freitas for VF Comunica. For him, the result only makes sense if you understand how big Wallid was at that moment. “A lot of people say, ‘Oh, Wallid wasn’t technical.’ Man, Wallid back then, in the previous generation, ’92, ’93, was beating everybody,” he said.
A favorite on one side, an underdog on the other
A student of Carlson Gracie, Wallid was coming off wins over Ralph and Renzo Gracie and, according to Alonso, arrived at the Worlds with his reputation “sky high.” On the other side was a rising name from Gracie Barra. “Roleta was a kid from Barra who had been standing out,” the journalist recalled.
Shortly before, still a brown belt, Roleta had lost to Fábio Gurgel and to Castelo Branco in a team competition. Carlos Gracie Jr. promoted him right before the tournament. “When Carlinhos gives him the black belt to face Wallid, he was a total underdog,” Alonso said.
Roleta swept Wallid, won on points and finished the Worlds as the medium heavyweight champion. It was the first of his four black belt world titles.
Three champions, one cover
The win created a problem in the newsroom. Alonso had taken the best photo of the tournament during Roleta’s sweep, but there were two other strong names. Amaury Bitetti was the open class champion. Ricardo Libório, the super heavyweight champion, was returning to competition and worked at Banco do Brasil, one of Brazil’s largest banks, which put his story in the big newspapers.
“The one who most deserved the cover was Roleta, because it was the best photo and he had won maybe the most important match there, the one against Wallid,” Alonso said. “So you had three guys who deserved it.”
The decision took the competition into account. Tatame figured the rival magazine would go with Roleta, so it picked Libório. “Nobody ever got as much media coverage as Libório, because he was from Banco do Brasil,” he explained.
A cover only with sponsors
Alonso also shot for Kiai, which he describes as the biggest martial arts magazine in Brazil at the time, and he convinced the owner to bring Carlson and Libório to his studio for a cover. The answer shows how the market worked in 1996: no sponsors, no cover. Libório had to split the cost among three sponsors.
“You couldn’t have a more deserved cover. Carlson Gracie,” the journalist said. “Absurd, right?”
Thirty years later, the Worlds reached its 30th edition in 2026 and is held in California. The tournament that started in a gym in Tijuca became the most wanted title in the sport.
Full video on YouTube
The full interview with Marcelo Alonso is on the VF Comunica YouTube channel (in Portuguese).
What is the biggest upset you have ever seen at the Worlds? Leave your opinion in the comments.
