was a witness to the Masahiko Kimura vs. Hélio Gracie fight and Helio's subsequent hospitalization, He stated that, unlike what the Gracie side claimed, Kimura was no giant, but about 5'6 and 185 lbs. Additionally he believed the fight was worked or choreographed to a point, with Kimura intentionally allowing Hélio to fight for minutes before finishing him. In 1968, according to Wriedt, Mehdi trained with fellow Gracie student Pedro Hemetério, nicknamed "Okra Man" for his victory over the Judoka Akio Yoshihara. Georges would have capitalized in his superior conditioning at the time to hold him down and not letting him out, claiming to win by judo rules. Several Gracie students tried to assault his academy, but they were stopped by Rudolf Hermanny and two armed bodyguards that trained under Mehdi. Hemetério and the Gracies later challenged Mehdi to a fight, but he did not accept the challenge, stating in a newspaper that, "I don't want to fight Hemetério, because a Judoka is not on equal terms with a Jiu-jitsu fighter. While one is a sport, the other is a real fight." Wriedt recalls Hélio Gracie pressed Mehdi into making the claim. He was the Brazilian judo champion for seven years straight. He competed in the 5th world championships. At the age of 32 he was already a 4th dan in Judo. He received a silver medal and a bronze medal in the Pan American games in 1963 and 1967 respectively. Teaching career He trained numerous individuals including Henrique Machado. George's students included Mario Sperry, Rickson Gracie, and Sylvio Behring. Judo champion Isao Okano said of Mehdi that "if you took all the knowledge of all the instructors in this hall [the Olympics], it would not equal the knowledge of Sensei Mehdi". He was fluent in French, English, Japanese, and Portuguese. Death Sensei Mehdi died November 6, 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, aged 84. References 1934 births 2018 deaths Sportspeople from Cannes French male judoka Judoka trainers Martial arts school founders Brazilian male judoka Pan American Games medalists in judo Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Judoka at the 1963 Pan American Games Judoka at the 1967 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games