Depending on what part of the world you’re from you will either call it soccer or football. Regardless, Bixente Lizarazu is widely believed to be one of the left backs the game has ever seen. Lizarazu won the league several times with Bayern Munich but is most famous for winning the World Cup in 1998 with France with legends such as Thierry Henry and Zinedene Zidane. Two years later he won the Euro’s with France yet again and went on to make it to FIFA’s team of the year.
For those unfamiliar with the sport, this is the equivalent of winning ADCC, World’s and Pan Am’s several times over – as well as various other accomplishments. However, like many footballers from the era – his legacy isn’t that remembered in today’s times and he keeps a relatively low profile outside of his native France.
It turns out that life after football has been successful for Lizarazu too. In 2009 he won gold at the Euro’s in the blue belt Masters 1 category. This is no easy feat and proves he is very solid at BJJ. Whilst some look down at the master’s divisions, it Masters 1 is no joke and even though it was at blue belt – it’s still a bracket full of talent. It could be argued that his background in football has helped his athleticism and game management whilst rolling.
Since then he got promoted to black belt in France under his professors Yannick Beven and Ze marcello in 2016. Funnily enough, Beven is an ex-surfer which is also a hobby of Lizarau’s.
