UFC BJJ S2E1: Renato Canuto vs Andrew Tackett
6 minutes of pure intensity to discover the behind-the-scenes preparation of the Brazilian before his title fight against Andrew Tackett. A short episode, but loaded: the atmosphere has changed, and...
6 minutes of pure intensity to discover the behind-the-scenes preparation of the Brazilian before his title fight against Andrew Tackett. A short episode, but loaded: the atmosphere has changed, and you can feel it right away.
Table Of Content
A new Fight Week format
You can feel the series evolving. Gone (at least for this episode) are the 20-minute formats with face-offs, portraits and house atmosphere. Enter a sort of Fight Week BJJ-style: embedded camera, gym, sweat, and pre-fight tension.
And to kick things off, let’s head to Las Vegas, to a certain… Renato Canuto.
At Hybrid Jiu-Jitsu, between sweat and kibble
The camera takes us to the heart of Nevada, to Renato and Raquel Canuto‘s gym, Hybrid Jiu-Jitsu. It’s their academy, their cocoon, and the episode opens on a typical scene: a dog on the mats.
Achilles, their four-legged mascot, crashes the warm-up by running among the athletes. Raquel laughs, says he’s “not supposed to be there”… but well, he’s there anyway. Honestly? Kinda gross, but let’s move on 😅. It gives a family, authentic, raw atmosphere. It smells like real gym life.
Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani vs Renato Canuto: high-level sparring
To prepare for the duel against Andrew Tackett, Renato trains with Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani, whose role is clear: reproduce as best as possible the ultra-explosive style of the title holder.
Except that… it’s not that simple. Jean-Paul says it himself:
“Renato is preparing for his world title fight against Andrew Tackett. And Andrew is really a guy that’s very explosive and so is Renato. They have very unique styles that are like extremely high level and you really can’t mimic it or prepare for it.”
So he does his best: scramble after scramble, flying submissions, frantic pace. Renato takes it. He explains that the hardest part isn’t even the technique — it’s breathing:
“The most tiring part is when you actually stand up and you have to breathe and you realize, ‘Oh I haven’t been breathing.'”
Surprise in the corner of the mat: Fares Ziam training
And there, total surprise for the French-speaking audience: Fares Ziam, the UFC fighter from Lyon, is in the background. Our French gem, discreet but definitely there. And even better, he speaks to the camera.
“I come here to the Renato and Raquel gym every jiu-jitsu my first time. They have a very good class and good team.”
We even see him rolling with Jean-Paul. A brief appearance, but one that brings joy: Fares is preparing for his UFC fight in Paris, and comes to sharpen his skills in Canuto’s BJJ temple. This kind of bridge between UFC MMA and UFC BJJ, we want more of it.
Team spirit one week before the fire
The episode ends on a sweet note. Raquel, smiling, tells the camera:
“We love you guys. Amazing training as always. We are about 2 weeks out right now. So, I’m feeling really good. I’m feeling strong. I’m really lucky I’ve got all these guys here. So, they’ve been pushing me and getting me ready.”
Renato also feels confident, grateful to his training partners. There’s only one week left before the fight against Tackett. You can feel the pressure rising, but the dynamic is good.
Between the Fares Ziam surprise, the intensity of the sparring, and the family atmosphere at Hybrid JJB, this first episode sets the foundation for a season 2 that promises to be captivating (at least in terms of fights).
👉 See you very soon for the next episode and until then, all UFC BJJ news is on bjj-rules.com
