Megaton Dias: “You have to know your past to know your future”
The 59-year-old coral belt says he pointed out four champions to a girlfriend at the time and she knew none of them; for him, anyone who makes a living in Jiu-Jitsu has to know who came first
Megaton Dias has a story ready for when he explains why people who make a living in Jiu-Jitsu should know its history. It happened at the Pan Championship, with a girlfriend he had at the time, a blue belt from an academy he chose not to name. As the two walked around the venue, the coral belt started pointing out the champions they passed.
The first was Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros. “Do you know who this guy is?” he asked. She didn’t. “World champion, a legend,” Megaton said in the VF Comunica vlog. A little later they passed Márcio “Pé de Pano” Cruz, “world champion, absolute champion,” and the answer was the same. Then came Roberto Traven and Roberto “Gordo” Correa. She didn’t know any of the four.
“I said, ‘Come on, who do you know?’” he recalled.
Four names from the history of Worlds
The men Megaton pointed out that day are part of the sport’s history. Comprido won the open weight division at the World Championship in 1999 and 2000. Pé de Pano won it in 2002 and 2003. Traven was a two-time world champion, in 1998 and 1999, and won the ADCC open weight title in 1999. Gordo, a world champion in 1996, is credited with turning the half guard into an attacking position.
“Know where you come from to know where you’re going”
That scene led Megaton to the line that sums up how he sees it. “You have to know your past to know your future. Know where you come from to know where you’re going,” he said.
The 59-year-old says he does it in both directions. When he asked his girlfriend who she did know, she gave more recent names, like Miyao and Mendes. “I know the old-school guys and I know the new guys,” he said. He didn’t let her off the hook, either: “That’s my generation, my era. It’s not hers, but it’s her job to know who is who.”
Respect for those who came first
Looking for the veterans is something Megaton does wherever he competes. In Brazil or at any other tournament, he says, he walks into the venue and goes looking for the old guard. “I go pay my respects,” he said. “Without those guys, we wouldn’t be here.”
Megaton was there for much of that history. A Royler Gracie black belt who came up at Gracie Humaitá in Rio de Janeiro, he moved to Arizona in the late 1980s, took silver at the first IBJJF World Championship in 1996, and competed in the adult division at Worlds again in 2026. It is the same reasoning he uses when he asks for a place in the IBJJF Hall of Fame.
Full video on YouTube
The story is in the vlog “Um dia com Megaton Dias, lenda do Jiu-Jitsu,” in Portuguese, filmed at his academy in Phoenix and available on the VF Comunica YouTube channel.
Would you recognize all four walking around the venue? Leave your opinion in the comments.
