AC Milan former forward Robinho has revealed an interesting incident from his time at the Italian club. The Brazilian recalled the time when his teammates, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Gennaro Gattuso had a jiu-jitsu fight.
Ibrahimovic and Gattuso were both known for their fiery temperament during their professional career, but one day during a training session, these big characters clashed in unfamiliar territory. During an interview with Marca, Robinho, who spent four seasons at AC Milan, recalled how a training session turned into a jiu-jitsu match between his teammates.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a black belt in taekwondo, but it didn’t bother Gattuso who believed that he could match up with the Swedish striker. Robinho revealed: “One day in training he (Zlatan) challenged Gattuso to a jiu-jitsu fight. Right before your eyes, you had this fierce guy (Gattuso) doing martial arts against Zlatan – who is a black belt.” Robinho concluded by saying: “Who won? Zlatan always wins…”
Ibra went on field to practice some taekwondo against Fiorentina players pic.twitter.com/QiThRZPrZV
— ACMatt (@ACMatt93) March 4, 2023
There are not many people who can claim that they got the best of Gattuso, however, Ibrahimović is an exception as always. Robinho, Gattuso, and Ibrahimovic together won the Serie A back in the 2010/11 season under Massimiliano Allegri’s first season at the club.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic retired from professional soccer earlier this summer in front of a packed San Siro crowd. He promised the crowd that he would be back in some other capacity. A glimpse of this was evident when Ibrahimović turned up in training to motivate the squad ahead of their UCL opener against Newcastle United.
Martial arts background of Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The Swedish legend was known for his powerful and athletic presence throughout his career. He recently referred to him as a god in the trailer for his upcoming interview with Piers Morgan. Such confidence in his abilities can be traced back to his background in Martial arts.
Ibrahimovic love for Martial arts is well known as well as his black belt in taekwondo. According to the Daily Telegraph, he earned his first black belt at the age of 17 in his hometown of Malmö.
He also earned an honorary black belt during his first stint at AC Milan. The honorary black belt was given to him by the Italian national taekwondo team.
Black belt #taekboll #taekwondo #football pic.twitter.com/HIHYXr3zWh
— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) March 19, 2019
Experts and fans have always pointed to his background in Martial arts whenever the 6ft 5in striker flew in the air like a superhero. He was often photographed drop-kicking a dummy during his first stint at AC Milan.
The Taekwondo expert had successful spells throughout Europe and even in MLS with LA Galaxy. He ended his professional career with 827 matches 496 goals and 205 assists at the club level, winning 32 major titles along the way. The Swedish giant was one of a kind.
