i saw vic win the nats in new york in 2000 if remember correctly,he was very impressive then,although craig richardson gave everyone a run for the money also that year.vic had the talent to go far and he did imo
Dear Gracie BJJ,
First, you have a keen memory of the 2000 Nationals held in NYC in which Victor won the overall while Craig won the Lt. Hvy Class. When I went with Craig to the weigh-in the night before, he hit the scales at only 192 pounds. That year, was his most incredible conditioning ever and is something we would like to see again. It should be noted that Jason Arntz was hired to dial him in the last few weeks. I was a bit concerned when Jason had him eat some apple pie filling as a carbing up method.
As Craig's training partner, I can, at times, get a bit too subjective and vocal during a show. I remember standing close to the stage during the pose-down and screaming at Craig. Unfortunately, I was behind 4-5 massive guys who turned out to be Vic's friends. They were not kind to me supporting Craig.
In the end, I do believe Victor deserved the Overall by a very close margin only because of some "hypothetical" gyno issue that may or may not have slightly existed which categorically has not existed since.
Since that time, Victor and Craig have become close friends and I have gotten to know Victor as a pleasant guy who NEVER takes himself to be overly important. He is a very quiet and reserved person.
As a side note, I was curious as to your involvement in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I just last Sunday competed in the Royler Gracie/David Adiv International Tournament.
Harley