In the BJJ community, we’ve seen a slew of fake BJJ black Belts get exposed over the years. Of all of the most well-known fake BJJ black belts, none meets the absurdity of Rafiel Torre.
If you’ve never heard his story, brace yourself, because it gets wild. Here’s the story of Rafiel Torre- the most notorious fake BJJ black belt in history.
Rafiel Torre: The MMA Journalist
As he presented himself, Ralph Bartel or Rafiel Torre came onto the early MMA scene of the late 1990s/2000s. Bartel became a fixture at King of the Cage and other early west coast MMA promotions.
At first, Rafiel seemed like a genuine person who wanted to help elevate the sport. He covered numerous events and got interviews with the sport’s biggest names.
Nobody had any inclination that Torre was a delusional liar and did help boost the sport.
Torre’s Alleged Fighting Background
As Torre began to get more notoriety as an MMA journalist, he started telling stories. He began fabricating stories about his martial arts and fighting background, which were unbelievable, to say the least.
He claimed to be everything from an ex-Navy Seal, Karate master, BJJ and Japanese Jiu-Jitsu black belt, undefeated MMA fighter, and Kumite champion.
Rafiel Gets Humiliated at ADCC
When Torre was covering one MMA event, he met Sheik Tanhoun Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Sheik Nahyan, of course, is the founder of ADCC.
As Rafiel often did, he talked a big game to the Sheik about his grappling skills. This led Nahyan to offer Torre a spot in the 1998 ADCC Championship tournament.
After talking a big game, Torre had to put his money where his mouth was. His match was one of the most anticipated of the tournament as he faced Rickson Gracie student, Bo Hershberger.
Everyone watching quickly found out that Torre possessed no grappling skills whatsoever. In less than a minute, Hershberger had submitted Torre to move on to the next round.
Word quickly spread that Torre was lying about his martial arts background.
Rafiel’s Fixed MMA Fight
In an attempt to regain his respect, Rafiel Torre announced that he was coming out of retirement. He announced that he was stepping back in the cage again to fight.
Torre was set to face an alleged former student named Ioka “Big Joe” Tianuu at King of the Cage: Wet & Wild.
This event was held outside, and a thunderstorm occurred, which led to numerous fighters sliding around the cage. The rains cleared for the co-main event between Torre and Tianuu.
What the fans in attendance witnessed was one of the most blatant fixed fights ever. Torre had clearly paid Tianuu off, and neither had any formal training.
After Torre flopped to the ground, he managed to get onto and lock on a terrible knee bar.
Needless to say that the scam was over, and Torre was essentially blackballed from the fighting and grappling scenes. He never showed his face around any major MMA events ever again.
Rafiel Torre: The Murderer
If you thought being exposed for being a fake BJJ black belt was the end of the story, think again. After being outed as a fraud, Ralph Bartel(Rafiel Torre) got into weird sex parties.
At one of these parties, Bartel hooked up with Angelina Richards. Angelina was a married wife of two cheating on her husband with Bartel.
Brian Richards(Angelina’s estranged husband) had a $1 million life insurance policy. The two lovers made a hair-brained scheme to kill Brian and collect the money.
Torre’s first idea was to offer former UFC fighter Gerald Strebendt $10k to kill Richards, which Gerald turned down.
Rafiel’s next idea was to lure Brian to his MMA gym, which Angelina was paying for unbeknownst to Brian. Torre managed to get Brian to the gym where he put him in an RNC and killed him.
After Brian was reported missing, people saw Bartel driving his truck around. They later discovered the truck abandoned in a parking lot with Brian’s body in it.
Rafiel Torre was quickly arrested, and the mountain of evidence against him earned him a life sentence.
It was a wild end to one of the craziest stories in combat sports history.
Bobby is martial artist for almost 20 years with a BJJ black belt under Professor Sergio Miranda. He is also a karate black and former combat sports athlete, who loves all things grappling.