Ricardo Almeida is complex and deep, yet simple and blue-collar all at the same time. Sitting on a bench near the edge of the mat at his jiu-jitsu academy, the beginning of the interview took frequent short breaks while he yelled encouraging words to his class that a fellow instructor taught. It says a lot about a man who's long list of accomplishments is dwarfed by his passion for his students.   To sum up the former King of Pancrase in words couldn't possibly do him justice but you can get a feel for the type of guy he is through the words that he speaks, and the actions by which he backs up those words.

FiveKnuckles.com- You were cageside for Frankie Edgar's second fight vs. Gray Maynard. You're his coach and his friend. What was going though your mind as you were watching what happening in the first round?

Ricardo Almeida- Sometimes it's difficult to tell how hurt the fighter is. You could definitely tell that he was very hurt. I was just hoping that in the second round, and in the beginning we were trying to gauge how much he would recover and I don't think any man that I know could have recovered as much has he did, after taking that big slam and everything that he took, to come out and win the second round the way he did. My fear was that he was still kind of groggy and still out on his feet as he came back and that he would get hit and it would be one of those "head hits the mat first" types of knockouts and that there would be repercussions after the fight but Frankie's from another world, man. He's from a world where there is no quit and there is nothing else but what he wants to do. He writes his own path. Nothing is written for him.

FK- Have you ever seen a come back performance like that?

RA- I haven't seen a come back like that, not in mma, not in boxing, not in any sport. For someone to get that kind of physical abuse in the first round, the shots to the head, all that, and to be able to come back and to still do another four five-minute rounds. That's a lot of rounds and a lot of time for something to go wrong and he never really got hit with any other big shots and he just knows how to put it together. It was amazing. After the fight everyone was like, we don't even care about anything else. It's great that he's still the champ but let's make sure he's okay. To me, that was the main concern. Even to this day, I kind of watch him in training to make sure that everything that was there before is still there and like I said, Frankie's from another planet and it's amazing to see and witness that on a daily basis and especially in the octagon.

FK- Now you're seeing Frankie train here with Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez on a regular basis. That has to be pretty special to see.

RA- Man, those guys have some epic sparring sessions. To be able to train with those guys, first round with Frankie, second round with Eddie, then back to Frankie or something like that, it's a real privilege for me and for all of the other guys that are in here. Those guys bring a lot to the table and a lot...

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