Eldar “Yakuza” Rafigaev
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Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova in Eastern Europe
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About Us
Eldar Rafigaev was born on April 14, 1987, in Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova in Eastern Europe.
Rafigave’s interest in martial arts started during his adulthood while living in the Czech Republic. A time when he joined a boxing club, aged 23. One year later, in 2011, Yakuza finally came across jiu-jitsu, a sport that was just emerging in Eastern Europe at the time. Eldar first started in a smaller Czech gym, whose name was lost with time.
As a blue belt, Eldar arrived at the biggest grappling gym in the Czech Republic, Jungle BJJ. An academy run by Fernando Araújo, one of the country’s grappling pioneers. It was at Jungle BJJ that Yakuza truly started developing as a competitor, a side of grappling he felt compelled to do. His competitive drive helped him accelerate through the belt system at a faster pace than most, earning his black belt with 6 years of training, midway through 2017, after conquering a brown belt world title with the UAEJJF.
