Whats the story with all these Brasilian world champions?

[Thumper]

Maybe someone with knowledge in this topic can clue me in, every time I open the grapplers magazine or visit someone's website, it seems like everybody and their mama is a 5 time Brasilian state and world champion!! How can there possibly that many world champions? For example:

One of the Machado's website says he was a 10 time middleweight champion.

I think Relson says he was middle weight champion 22 years straight!!

Mario Sperry states that he was a 6 time heavyweight champ

Royler is a 5 time state and world light weight champion.

Now if all these claims are true, than theres noway anyone else could have been champ in Brasil in the last 5 years, all the weight classes are covered. But go to any number of dozens of BJJ websites and every brasilian whoever touched a gi is now a 8 time world champ!! Somebody help me understand how you can have 8 middleweight champions in the same freakin year!!

[tuffguy]

#1: there are 10 different weight class'
#2: there are 4 different belt levels(10 weight class' in each)
So there can be as many as 40 champions in each tournament.
#3: soem of the older guys claims are not 100% honest. The Brazilian Nationals has only been held since '93, the worlds since '96, not sure abour the sate tournaments(probably '93). So they peopel that claim they are 26 time national champ actually means they won 26 tournaments. There were no national champs before '93.