Megaton Dias: “I hated training with Rickson Gracie”
A 59-year-old coral belt who still competes, the coach jokes about the pressure of training with Rickson and Royler Gracie; the full video is on the VF Comunica YouTube channel
Wellington “Megaton” Dias is 59 years old. He wears a coral belt, one of the highest ranks in Jiu-Jitsu, and he has competed at the IBJJF World Championship since its first edition, in 1996. The IBJJF is the sport’s main federation. Still, he laughs at himself when he remembers what it was like to train with Rickson Gracie.
“I hated training with Rickson Gracie,” he said, joking, in an interview with VF Comunica, presented by Kingz.
Then he explained why. Anyone who has trained with someone far above their level will know the feeling. “You can’t do anything. He crushes you from every side. You can only do something if he lets you. With Royler it is the same thing.”
A product of Gracie Humaitá
These words matter because of who says them. Megaton is a black belt under Royler Gracie and one of the best-known names from Gracie Humaitá, the Rio de Janeiro academy linked to Grand Master Hélio Gracie. Rickson is Royler’s older brother. Many black belts from different generations call him the greatest fighter of the Gracie family.
Megaton is still close to both of them. In the vlog recorded with VF Comunica, he repeats the joke when he talks about his own teacher. He also shows a photo in which Rickson is the referee of one of his matches.
From Rio de Janeiro to Arizona
Megaton was born in Rio on October 2, 1967, and started Jiu-Jitsu at the age of five. In the late 1980s he moved to Arizona and became one of the first Brazilians to teach the sport in the United States. This was before the first UFC, in 1993, showed Jiu-Jitsu to the American public. His academy in Phoenix is still open today. He is also the father of Mackenzie Dern, a Jiu-Jitsu world champion and ADCC champion who now fights in the UFC.
A coral belt who still fights at the Worlds
The coral belt is red and black. It is the seventh degree of the black belt, and an athlete needs at least 31 years as a black belt to receive it. Few people get there, and even fewer keep competing. Megaton fought at the World Championship again in 2026, in the adult division. When people question it, he usually answers that he has the ranking points he needs, that the event happens close to home, and that he fights for those who cannot fight anymore. One part of the talk became the title of a video on the channel: “I see myself dying on the mat.”
In the master division, for athletes aged 30 and over, the results keep coming. In 2025 he won double gold at the IBJJF International Masters North America, with five wins in Master 6. In the vlog, he says he was the first coral belt to complete the IBJJF Grand Slam, and that he would like to be in the Hall of Fame.
A day with Megaton
The full talk is on the VF Comunica YouTube channel, in Portuguese. In the 56-minute vlog “A day with Megaton Dias, Jiu-Jitsu legend”, he talks about his start in the sport, his arrival in the United States, his relationship with the Gracie family and his wish to keep competing. On the same day, the team also filmed Mat Stories, a new documentary series by Kingz made together with VF Comunica. Megaton is in the first episode.
And you, have you ever trained with someone who did not let you do anything on the mat?
