Robert Emerson, on “The Savage Dog Show,” discussing his training with Marco Ruas:
“Every muay Thai school, especially Brazilian muay Thai school, should have a picture of Marco Ruas up on the wall. I was the first American to get a black belt from him. Those guys, they would spar hard. I would go home with concussions every day. Marco literally made me cry, throw up, bleed and pee my pants during training. He got me so tired and beat up, I lost all bodily function. My body just wept. I peed myself at one practice. I was that tired. Breaking me like that at such a young age just made me stronger and tougher. Now no one can break me.”