Michael Langhi on Alliance’s 13th World Title, His New Role with the Team, and his Mission to Spread Jiu-Jitsu
On Saturday September 3rd, three-time World Champion and Alliance coach Michael Langhi will be teaching a seminar at Jiu-Jitsu CON. It’s a seminar you won’t want to miss, not only because of his technical level, but also his teaching abilities. Langhi’s career as a competitor was full of success on the mats. In addition to his three World titles, Langhi also won multiple Pan, Brazilian National, and European Championships. After retiring from his career as an athlete, Langhi was set on finding a new challenge. “As soon as I retired from competition I was looking for something to challenge me. And I just made the transition to run the Alliance HQ. Today I’m the owner of Alliance Sao Paulo, a huge responsibility to take care of Fabio Gurgel’s legacy, but at the same time it motivates me to work harder. I can say I was the right guy in the right place, but I also prepared myself for this moment and tried to develop other important skills to take this place.” Langhi has already proven to be an effective leader, as evidenced by his coaching at the 2022 World Championships.
Many of his Alliance Sao Paulo students competed and had great results. “We have a new generation coming up that are hungry, have passion for the process, and believe in our methodology. We have Thiago Saboia. He won the Worlds as a purple belt in the lightweight division. He’s been showing very technical jiu-jitsu and is always looking for the submission. He submitted all his opponents. Guilherme Avelino also won as a purple belt in the heavyweight division. He has very aggressive jiu-jitsu. Both of them train with me at Alliance Sao Paulo. Dimitrius Souza is also doing a great job. He won the Pans for the first time this year and made his debut in the Worlds final, where he got silver. Mario Reis has some very good athletes as well.”
The Alliance Sao Paulo athletes helped propel the team to its 13th title. "I’m feeling great with the 13th World title. We worked so hard for this and it’s a dream come true. This is my first title as a coach and I’m happy to see how hard my students are working to achieve their goals and it’s priceless to be part of this.” Langhi is just getting started as a coach. The last major championship he competed in was the 2019 World Championships, so he’s only recently been focusing all of his attention on coaching. “My goals are to help my team and my students achieve their goals and put my signature on the team. I want to give back what Alliance gave to me. Today I’m who I am because of Alliance. Everything I have is because Alliance supported me and I want to help the jiu-jitsu community. I just want to impact peoples lives through jiu-jitsu and show that jiu-jitsu is the best sport in the world and we can use jiu-jitsu for personal development.”
Michael Langhi’s work ethic, commitment, and attention to detail are sure to make him a vital part of Alliance’s success for years to come. Be sure to catch him at his free seminar at Jiu-Jitsu CON on Saturday September 3rd from 11AM-12PM. Registration will open two hours prior to the seminar and it will have limited capacity. Registration will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.