Learning under all Japan champion and Kyuzo Mifune trainee Yasuichi Matsumoto, Mehdi trained for five years at the Tenri University in Nara, meeting names like world middleweight champion Isao Okano and the great Masahiko Kimura [REF].
Mehdi once said "judo is for intelligent people", and regards the Gracie family as "liars" for claiming Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a separate art from judo [REF].