Rafael Mendes has spent years dealing with whispers that he did not voluntarily retire from competition at 27 years old, but was instead forced out by a failed PED test. Now both Rafael Mendes and his brother Guilherme Mendes are pushing back against that narrative directly and on the record.
The story has persisted in part because of how abruptly Rafa’s competitive run ended. He stepped away not only from IBJJF competition but from ADCC as well. Despite no official barrier preventing a comeback, he has not returned to the mat as a competitor since. For a segment of the jiu-jitsu community, that kind of clean departure from someone still in his athletic prime has always raised questions.
Part of what keeps the rumor alive is the nature of PED testing in the sport itself. The IBJJF remains essentially the only major organization conducting any kind of testing, and even then, that testing only occurs at competition. The result is a system that many in the community view less as a meaningful deterrent and more as a formality that rewards careful timing over clean sport.
Adding fuel to the fire was a recent exchange on Instagram that caught attention when Guilherme Mendes squared off with a skeptical fan in the comments. The user, posting under the handle darpa_mkultra, did not hold back.
“@mendesbros why not come clean and admit you both used performance-enhancing stuff back when you were winning championships and then retired when testing was required. Why not win championships without bomba.”
Gui responded with a mix of sarcasm and defiance.
“Hahahah good try, we tested, and I was cutting from 155 lbs (70 kg) to 139 lbs (63 kg). If you know how to do it taking ster**ds let me know. And even if we were taking, which is not true, try taking ster**ds and win 4 and 6 world titles to see if you can.”
The fan was not satisfied.
“Haha that’s not what ‘we’ remember. But it’s okay, you got away with it just like others have.”
That kind of exchange is not new for the Mendes brothers. Rafael Mendes addressed the same rumors during a podcast appearance alongside Tainan Dalpra, where both brothers spoke openly about their retirements and the speculation that has followed them since.
Rafael Mendes was straightforward about what he said actually drove his decision.
“Sometimes people say the internet has already been because of the d*ping. No, people tested it all year that we returned as a black belt in the United States. It wasn’t because of that.”
He isn’t wrong here. USADA started testing as far back as 2014, Rafa retired in 2016 however the amount of testing they were doing was tiny to begin with. The earliest available data from USADA is from 2015. In 2015 they conducted a total of 10 tests – not even having tested all the winners of IBJJF World gold medals.
USADA also conducted a total of 10 tests in 2016 in BJJ.
Compare that to 2025 when they’ve tested
His explanation for retiring was more personal than strategic.
“I think that at that moment, that phase of my life was completed. I felt that he has a record in the category, that that moment had passed. I’ve arrived at this mission and completed it.”
Guilherme Mendes framed the decision as something both brothers had seen coming for a long time.
“Something happened, or I think I spoke with 27, I think he speaks with how many years is 26, and it was natural. That’s how it was. Something that for people maybe we were that age, but our mentality was already in my early 30s. I was already ready to have the business, for another type of pressure, and we already had, I was starting to have a family too. I already had other goals lined up. It no longer made sense for you to be the athlete, only an athlete. For the team, our athlete and teacher did more. It made sense at that moment that we dedicate to other areas that would develop a better quality of life for our family.”
The IBJJF Hall of Fame, it turns out, played a significant role in shaping the brothers’ timeline. Gui recalled the moment he set his internal deadline.
“I had just finished announcing that the hall of fame needed, at that time, four world titles and I didn’t want to stop without entering the hall of fame. So I spoke with Rafael, I remember arriving to tell him, look, I’m going to stop as soon as I get all four, to whatever I can do so that I can focus more on the part of teaching in academy.”
Rafael Mendes described their approach to competition as one of total singular focus, applied with deliberate intention toward a defined goal.
“I think that in order to be successful, for achieving a goal, it is very difficult. When it’s a big goal, you have to have focus, and that’s what we applied in our athletic career. The goal was to win and enter the hall of fame, winning four world titles. My objective of breaking the record of the penalty category. After we applied that focus, he dedicated himself 100% to that objective.”
Once that objective was met, the same focus simply shifted direction.
“So people will understand why you stopped competing at age 26, because I felt that at that moment that phase of my life was completed. It doesn’t make sense for me to stay. With that in mind, let’s apply the focus on the area in the next phase of our lives.”
Whether the broader jiu-jitsu community accepts that explanation is another matter. The sport has a long history of information that never fully surfaces in public, and skepticism toward official accounts is deeply ingrained among fans who have watched other situations quietly disappear without resolution. What is clear is that the Mendes brothers are no longer staying quiet about it.
