Tournament Review Tuesday: Liga Nacional De Submission, Santiago, Chile
August 31, 2010
All photos courtesy Dev Kostal.
by Dev Kostal
I’ve come to find out that outside Brazil, a lot of the emphasis in Latin America – at least as far as competitions go – is on no-gi jiu jitsu, or “submission.” I stumbled on a competition during my time in Chile where all the guys at the gym seemed to know about it, but I couldn’t find any information online.
The Chilean National Submission League was formed, as I was told, to provide a place where the inordinately large number of amateur wrestling students could meet and compete with the thriving Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community, with a mixed set of rules. So at the inception, they assumed some slightly different standards than the IBJJF-approved no-gi rules. One of the main differences, aside from time of rounds (3 minutes for novice, 5 for advanced) was that they allowed wrestling shoes. Although my fear of seeing (or getting) a toe mangled was heightened, it didn’t end up being an issue. This particular competition was held at the University Of Santiago, in a multistory sports complex.
My main problem with the tournament was finding ANY information at all online. Google just isn’t helpful when the majority of the advertising is being done word-of-mouth and through restricted-access Facebook pages. The league just is not set up for wandering visitors, such as myself, to happen upon. That said, when you travel, if you link up with a good school, they tend to let you know.
If you can move past the advertising snafus and the slightly different rules – and there’s no reason you shouldn’t – it becomes, as their motto indicates, a place where “the sport is central.” Everyone was there to have a good day of rolling, plain and simple.
As was the case with other small competitions, signups were done the morning of, and then we waited for the organizers to arrange the brackets. Because there were only about 40 guys there, it didn’t take too long. Weight divisions were in 10kg increments, which I personally thought might have been a bit much, but with the number of people it gave everyone a good fight and still had a couple brackets with 3 fights.
Experience levels were either novice or advanced. I don’t know what the cutoff was between the two, but as a sub-2 year blue belt (normally intermediate), I was shuffled into the advanced division (appropriately, I think, given the level of the majority of the competitors, who were novice and competing for the first time). There were three guys in my category (<85kg, advanced): me, a purple belt, and a brown belt.
Brackets were done by drawing numbers, which I thought was fantastically objective. On the other hand, it did lead to a couple guys from the same school on the same side of the bracket, which is always unfortunate.
Prior to starting, the organizers sat all the competitors down and conducted a thorough rules briefing, which in my opinion really set this competition apart. Because most of the novice fighters were competing for the first time, this allowed them to ask questions and see demonstrations of what was allowed and what wasn’t. I was impressed at the detail they used in this briefing, and impressed that they did it – this is far from the standard, and a welcome addition to any tournament, as far as I’m concerned.
There was one competition mat and some small gymnastic pads pushed together to create a warmup area. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was enough, and the fights went quickly enough that the one mat was sufficient – the waits weren’t long at all, as the refs kept the matches moving along with short breaks in between.
The brackets were run bottom-to-top, with all the first round fights going before the second round. This allowed the first round winners plenty of time to recuperate, something I always pay attention to.
The reffing was solid and attentive, as was the timekeeping. There weren’t huge LED scoreboards or anything, but they had a nice big manual scoreboard on the table by the mat, one official timekeeper, and a scorekeeper. Additionally, the mat was set up with a barrier around it, and coaches’ chairs in the corner, another nice touch.
The level of fighting was impressive, although unobjectively I’m happy to say that the BJJ practitioners generally trounced the pure wrestlers. Lots of excellent takedowns, reversals, mental toughness, and general strategery were on display throughout the day.
This wasn’t a gigantic IBJJF event, but it wasn’t meant to be. It wasn’t perfect – the locker rooms/bathrooms were 4 floors down from the mats, and it seemed to take a little while to get going despite the proclaimed 1 PM start time (which was actually the “show up and get your name on the list” time), but aside from some small quibbles, I have to say that this was exactly the type of small tournament that I think is vital to progressing and encouraging BJJ around the world. It brought together a group of people for the sole purpose of experience and camaraderie. It was professionally organized and run, and I was truly impressed with the organizers’ efforts to keep everyone informed throughout the day.
Thanks to Sensei Victor Vásquez at Real Fighting Club (http://chilejiujitsu.cl) in Santiago for the invitation, and thanks to the Liga Nacional De Submission for a quality event.
Devlin Kostal is a blue belt under Daniel Thomas at Zeus BJJ (http://montereyjiujitsu.com) in Monterey, California, who is currently traveling through Latin America. Thus far, he’s trained in Lima, Peru; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; and Santiago, Chile. His blog, Fueled By Fear, can be found at http://devbjj.blogspot.com.
This is an installment in our Tournament Review Tuesdays column, where FightWorks Podcast listeners submit reports about Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling competitions that happened the weekend prior. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of The FightWorks Podcast. Through the rest of 2010, if you submit a Tournament Review Tuesday piece, you might win an Isami gi!
- Caleb
Tournament Review Tuesday: 2010 Master/Senior World Championship
July 27, 2010
Tijuca Tenis Clube in Rio, site of many historic Brazilian jiu-jitsu matches. All photos courtesy Dev Kostal.
by Dev Kostal
I competed at the Master/Senior World Championships in Rio De Janeiro, which is held concurrently with the Rio Open Championship. Both are IBJJF events.
I competed in the blue belt master division, which ran Friday morning and Friday afternoon, so this review is based on that day’s events, for the most part.
Walking into the Tijuca Tênis Clube evokes some pretty strong feelings for me. I love history, and I’m particularly enamored with the small stories, the ones that not many people get to hear.
Quite a few years ago now, Francisco Mansor was the Chief of Police in Rio. As such, he had connections all over the city. And when the first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Chapionships were held in 1996, Grand Master Mansor used his connections at the Tijuca Tênis Clube. The Mundials were held there until 2007, I believe, when they moved to Los Angeles.
Suffice to say, my apprehension upon entering the Club was significant. But it’s a pretty unassuming place. Concrete steps comprise the upper level seats, and simple plastic chairs – many of them broken or missing – are the closer ones. But it’s that simplicity that’s attractive about the place. There’s no presumption here – just amazing jiu jitsu.
You hear story after story about training and competing in Rio. Competing for the first time in Rio is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. It’s the same as any other big tournament…except it’s not the same. You really do have to get over a mental hurdle – at least I did. Here you are, in Brazil, doing what you love, this Brazilian sport, fighting the best athletes in Brazil. It’s pretty significant. And you can feel that quiet energy when you walk in.
The tournament itself, from my perspective, was fantastic. Quite honestly, and I’ve only competed in 15 or so tournaments in my roughly 2 years in this sport, this was the most efficiently-run tournament I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of.
The brackets ran exactly on time, and once started, there was hardly any empty mat time between fights. All of the check-in details were done to IBJJF standards, with weigh-ins, gi checks, and ID checks.
Interestingly, the mat coordinators announced their divisions on the microphone individuals, which I hadn’t seen before – ordinarily there’s one or two announcers who make all the calls. For the gringo who doesn’t speak fantastic Portuguese, though, this helped me by being able to focus on one mat coordinator, so I knew roughly when I was going to get called.
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What I found to be the best part of the tournament administration, though, was the consideration shown by the mat coordinators for the fighters’ efforts. Time in between matches didn’t seem to be too long, or too short. Most of the time I got 10-15 minutes, and I really appreciated that.
As per usual, the refereeing was excellent. Having spent most of the day there, I can’t recall seeing a single disputed decision. There may have been some, but it wasn’t nearly as prevalent as at Pans this year.
Later in the day, during the absolutes, there seemed to be a lot more injuries on the mats, so the medics were definitely earning their pay. But they were out in force, and I for one really appreciated their efforts.
I don’t have to tell you that the level of jiu jitsu being displayed (on Friday, it was blues, purples, and browns, both male and female) was unbelievable. For me, by far the best display was the women’s purple belt absolute match where (I apologize, I don’t have the names) a tiny little competitor overcame a much larger girl, who was physically throwing her around the mat, and ended up choking her out. Both competitors were phenomenal, and the entire arena was watching that fight.
All in all, my day at the Master/Senior Worlds lived up to my fairly high expectations of what my first competition in Rio would be like. The energy, the camaraderie, and the ridiculous level of jiu jitsu made for an unforgettable experience, one that I will carry with me for the rest of my BJJ career.
Devlin Kostal is a blue belt under Daniel “Ventania” Thomas at Zeus BJJ in Monterey, CA. He has been traveling through South America, and has been fortunate to train in Lima, Peru, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. His blog, Fueled By Fear, can be found at http://devbjj.blogspot.com. He took a gold medal in his division (blue master middle) and a bronze medal in the absolute division (blue master) at the Master/Senior Worlds.
This is an installment in our Tournament Review Tuesdays column, where FightWorks Podcast listeners submit reports about Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling competitions that happened the weekend prior. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of The FightWorks Podcast. Through the rest of 2010, if you submit a Tournament Review Tuesday piece, you might win an Isami gi!
- Caleb
The author (second from left) with his new gold medal.
Tournament Review Tuesday: Buckeye Border International Grappling Championship
July 27, 2010
by Brian Hemminger
The tournament was the Buckeye Border International Grappling Championship and it took place Saturday, July 24th in Toledo, Ohio at St. Francis High School. There were over 300 competitors of all ages, sexes and skillsets who competed in both the gi and no-gi competition. Competition began at 10:30 am and ran for just over 6 hours.
The tournament was smoothly run, with 6 different stations on both sides of the large wrestling mat. There was very little delay between each match. The refereeing was top notch, I didn’t see any complaints from any of the competitors and they all displayed good sportsmanship after the bouts.
The highlight of the tournament were two superfights between high level blackbelts. The first was a match between Sean Bansfield (Pan Am gold medalist) and Don Richard (multiple Arnold Gracie champion). The match was very much a stalemate for the first 6 minutes, but all the excitement happened at the end. Down 3 points, Bansfield swept Richard into mount with 5 seconds left in the fight to neck out a dramatic victory.
The other superfight was a match between Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros (7x world champ) and Tyrone Gooden (Pan Am medalist). Comprido was the much bigger man but Gooden started strong by shooting in for a takedown to gain an early 2-0 lead. Comprido eventually swept him, but Gooden had excellent defense and never allowed Comprido to submit him, although Comprido did win a decision by a large margin.
BJ Nelson from Relson Gracie jiu jitsu in Columbus, Ohio won the Absolute Gi tournament which earned him a plasma screen TV for his efforts.
Brian Hemminger runs WorldExtremeFighter.com.
This is an installment in our Tournament Review Tuesdays column, where FightWorks Podcast listeners submit reports about Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling competitions that happened the weekend prior. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of The FightWorks Podcast. Through the rest of 2010, if you submit a Tournament Review Tuesday piece, you might win an Isami gi!
- Caleb
Tournament Review Tuesday: Manchester Open Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
June 22, 2010
by Jon Broster
Manchester, in north west England is famous for many things: Manchester United (the world’s most famous football team), Oasis (leading exponents of Brit-Pop music), it is home to a number of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academies and is also the location of the British Amateur Wrestling Association’s headquarters, as well as being only a short distance from Wigan, the home of Billy Riley’s Snake Pit the legendary catch wrestling gym. As such, it is perhaps surprising that it has not held a BJJ competition over the last few years. Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that this competition was organised by Gus Oliveira of Grab & Pull who is based in Brighton on England’s south coast, some 200 miles away. Gus has been running the Grab & Pull Brighton Open for some time now, so I was expecting a well run event.
Sugden Sports Centre is part of the University of Manchester and is a very pleasant venue – it was clean, airy and spacious enough for the number of competitors involved. The competition was run over six mats and started pretty much on schedule. Right from the start it became clear that although there were six mats, there were not six referees in attendance. In fact, anyone used to attending competitions held further south would have been surprised to see no black belts refereeing at all – the highest ranking referee was Oli Geddes who is a brown belt under Roger Gracie. The standard of refereeing was, however, good, with very few complaints about bad decisions. The lack of referees did mean that the event progressed a little more slowly than was expected and meant that there were no absolute divisions contested. The event was well organised, with relatively clear announcements and divisions running when the organisers said they would.
As is becoming the norm at UK competitions, the standard of competition was high, with some excellent displays of skill in all divisions. It was good too to see a large number of academies represented on the results table.
One thing that must be mentioned is the excellent medals, specifically designed and cast for the event – truly worth competing for. Overall, I had a thoroughly enjoyable day and will almost certainly compete again next year.
Jon Broster trains under Victor Estima at Gracie Barra Midlands. He placed 2nd at senior middle heavy.
This is an installment in our Tournament Review Tuesdays column, where FightWorks Podcast listeners submit reports about Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling competitions that happened the weekend prior. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of The FightWorks Podcast. Through the rest of 2010, if you submit a Tournament Review Tuesday piece, you might win an Isami gi!
- Caleb
Tournament Review Tuesday: 2010 BJJ World Championship
June 15, 2010
Bruno Malfacine received by his Alliance teammates after his victory over Caio Terra for the 2010 rooster weight gold medal. All images courtesy Cohost Dan.
by Philippe Balmant
I traveled from New York City with the (mG)inaction team to Long Beach California for the 4 day Mundials event for my first time ever. I found myself in a feeling of Jiu-Jitsu Nirvana. When first arriving at the Walter Pyramid I was blown away. This looks like something out of the movie Stargate. I said to myself, “What a perfect venue to host the Mundials.” Once inside the electricity is running through my body. I felt a great festive atmosphere inside the Pyramid. This event marks my first time linking up with the entire Alliance team. Meeting Mestre Jacare and the General Fabio Gurgel to me was worth the trip alone. Watching the white/blue belts competing in 8 rings at the same time kept me looking everywhere.
The acai stand was my source of a much needed refreshing energy boost when one was needed. I limited myself to two acai bowls per day. One thing was obvious from jump street, that this energy I felt was only going to go up, till the black belt finals on Sunday exploded in full effect! From Friday through Saturday the matches were coming and going non stop. One thing I found hard was when there were 3 or 4 world champions fighting in different rings all at the same time, now that was crazy. When Sunday June 6th arrived, where there were 8 rings are now only two.
There is a connection at the Mundials, like to the BJJ life source we all share, within your own team, between academies from fighters to supporters. It’s a high dose of Jiu-Jitsu on its biggest platform with a sprinkle of a carnival type atmosphere. I fell in love with it. My best experience was meeting Rickson. My favorite moment was when my professor Marcelo Garcia won his 4th black belt Mundial title, even though the last 8 seconds had me on Skype with God. Yes!!!!
Great matches, great victories, gracious defeats, quick submissions, a back and forth war, by 1 point, by 1 advantage, or by judges decision, with BJJ history being made. Mega props to Roger Gracie. The 2010 Mundials had it all. By the end I had pretty much lost my voice, was running around on pure adrenaline and hollering at Caleb and Dan from The Fightworks Podcast. Podium, medals, pictures. That’s all folks. Except for the voice of Tony Torres still in my head saying, “You have now been DQ’d………” Nobody says it better than that guy.
A few hours later with a celebratory dinner for team Alliance, the General gives us our first toast in which he brings to light that today June 6th 2010 marks 28 years since the legendary Mestre Rolls Gracie passed away. With Alliance winning its 5th World title, and Mestre Jacare receiving his red & black belt, our entire Alliance team ended this amazing night with joy, laughter and happiness.
Philippe Balmant is a BJJ purple belt under Marcos Santos/Rigan Machado. He is currently a student of Marcelo Garcia, training in New York City.
This is an installment in our Tournament Review Tuesdays column, where FightWorks Podcast listeners submit reports about Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling competitions that happened the weekend prior. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of The FightWorks Podcast. Through the rest of 2010, if you submit a Tournament Review Tuesday piece, you might win an Isami gi!
- Caleb
The author and his Alliance teammates.
2010 BJJ Mundials Retrospective by J-Sho
June 8, 2010
Tarsis Humphreys celebrates his first gold medal as a world champion after defeating Romulo Barral.
From the proverbial “thirty-thousand foot view” to examination of microscopic details that others miss, not many are able to put together a review as detailed as this piece volunteered by J-Sho on the men’s competition at the 2010 BJJ World Championship. (If anyone would like to contribute a review of the women’s brackets, please get in touch.) All photos courtesy of cohost Dan. Enjoy! – Caleb
With the free live web stream provided by Budovideos and the live blogging of Caleb on the FightWorksPodcast giving many 1,000s of BJJ fans a window into proceedings, this, the 15th Mundials of the modern era did not disappoint. Upsets, submissions, controversy and the crowning of the greatest player of our generation.
10 male Black Belt finals, 2 advantage decisions, 1 referee’s decision, 1 close out, 1 injury, 2 submissions, 3 points victories – that was what this weekend came down to.
Some numbers to start us off…
28: Brazilian quarter finalists (from a possible 36). Well, it is called Brazilian Jiu Jitsu…
16: Roger Gracie’s row of submissions in these past 2 Mundials ended by a game Ricardo Abreu
15: The numbers of Black Belt medals Roger has picked up at the Mundials since 2003; the number of Mundials that Wellington “Megaton” Dias has competed in.
10: Roger Gracie’s black belt gold haul since 2003
8: The number of absolute finals Roger has been in since 2003
7: Number of degrees on those Red & Black belts now worn by Mauricio Gomes and Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti (2 of Rolls Gracie’s “Famous Five”) and Sergio Penha.
6: Felipe Costa now has six bronze medals in his division.
5: The absolute silver medals that remind us Roger is human too sometimes; the number of men’s titles Alliance took this year, matching their haul last year – still some way short of the 8 Gracie Barra managed in 2002 (admittedly after Nova Uniao removed themselves from CBJJ competition).
4: The absolute semi finals that Xande Ribeiro has faltered in (2004 Jacare Souza, 2005 Braulio Estima, 2007 Romulo Barral, 2010 Romulo again); the number of Gracies contesting black belt divisions (3 of whom were in Medio); the number of Americans quarter-finalists (Rafael Lovato Jr, Bill “The Grill” Cooper, JT Torres, Ryan Hall)
3: The number of absolute gold & double golds Roger has won; the number of Gracies contesting Medio Black Belt this year (Clark, Kayron, Kron); the number of Japanese quarter-finalists (Naoya Uematsu, Makoto Sawada, Matsumo Yoshihiko); the number of major finals Rafael Mendes has now beaten Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles in (World Pro Gi, ADCC, and Mundials).
2: The number of records Cobrinha missed out on (most titles in one division in a row; most Pan Ams and Mundials in the same year in a row);
1: Closed out finals. Granted a small number of but still 1 too many in my opinion; the number of Gracies other than Roger to have medaled at Black Belt since Royler Gracie in 1999 (Kayron); the round that saw the shock exit of the reigning champ Guilherme Mendes to Paulo Melo; the number of Australian quarter-finalists (Mick Wilson); the number of non-Brazilian Medalists (Lovato).
Tarsis Humphreys’ leg attack ends the Mundials aspirations of Romulo Barral.
Meio Pesado
Tarsis Humphreys (Alliance) vs. Romulo Barral (Gracie Barra)
A repeat of last year’s final (and with the prospect of more déjà vu for Romulo to come) saw Romulo control much of the match from the top before Tarsis caught Romulo’s foot and twisting his leg in all sorts of seemingly unnatural positions. Romulo was forced to submit due to his injury and hobbled past Roger waiting for his own match. Tarsis was ecstatic to get what some may be surprised to learn is only his first black belt Mundials gold. Fans would be left waiting to see if Romulo could possibly recover for the Absolute final or if Roger would get a walkover.
Tarsis wins by leg lock @ 6m23s.
Roger Gracie refrains from snapping Demente’s arm in two.
Super Pesado
Roger Gracie (Gracie Barra) vs. Ricardo “Demente” Abreu (Nova Uniao)
Déjà vu for Roger as well, a repeat of last year’s finals on the cards for him as well. Gracie has submitted all en route to both finals. Would the end of this match be the same as last year? Abreu (no relation to Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu) pulled guard and seemed to try to sweep Roger but Roger’s base was proof against this initially. Another attempt and he swept Roger to get some points on the board but Roger promptly reversed, Demente then reversed, almost took Roger’s back (had the hooks in but no control) forcing Roger to regain his composure and successfully defend the position.
Abreu found himself defending from the half guard, with Roger briefly passing, taking the back, trapping an arm and leg and then engaging in some seemingly armbreaking armbar attempts from different positions. Demente, living up to his name perhaps, did not tap even though from some angles the arm seemed clearly hyper-extended. The commentators speculated Roger was being a good sportsman by not cranking it on further. With a scramble ending out of bounds, Roger pulled guard and then dragged the arm, looking for the back (as per his earlier match vs. Bruno Bastos). Taking the back again and stretching out Ricardo, he secured 4 points to take it to 4-2.
Demente’s attempts to protect his neck were initially successful but Roger then underhooked an arm, rolled to his back and then worked for a choke. Demente had put on a very solid defense, proving more game than any other competitor Gracie had faced this weekend but Roger worked to transition to the mount and started looking for his trademark choke from mount. Demente was again able to put up some very solid defense and Roger was not able to repeat his feats of last year (winning all matches by submission and beating Demente in the final by submission), winning by 13-2. Roger secured his 7th weight division black belt gold in a row and 9th Gold overall and would be left waiting to see if he would contest the Absolute final for his 10th.
Roger wins 13-2.
Galo
Bruno Malfacine (Alliance) vs. Caio Terra (Gracie Elite)
Another rematch from last year saw Malfacine looking to continue his domination of this weight, having won both the CBJJ and CBJJE Mundials last year and the Pan Ams and Brasilieros this year. The match saw Terra, representing the newly formed Gracie Elite team, on the bottom and Malfacine on the top for the majority of the match, doing an excellent job of negating Caio’s guard. Terra’s sweep attempt and scramble to take the back at the death almost unseated Bruno, but the advantage awarded was not enough to snatch victory.
Malfacine wins 0-0 (3-2).
Pluma
Samuel Braga (Gracie Barra) vs. Pablo Silva (Gracie Barra)
The shock exit of Guilherme Mendes to Paulo Melo in the first round was unforeseen; the closing out of the bracket was not. Braga bowed out to Silva, taking his first gold, with Samuel giving up the opportunity to take his third. Braga gets to take this silver home though, having been DQ’d last year after showing disdain at Guilherme Mendes’ post fight celebration.
Silva wins by gentlemen’s agreement.
Rafael Mendes’ hand is raised in another defeat of his rival Cobrinha.
Pena
Rafael Medes (Atos) vs. Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles Maciel (Alliance)
The king vs. the pretender to his throne. With Cobrinha having already submitted former champ Mario Reis again and looking to surpass the kind of featherweights Royler Gracie and take his 5th consecutive gold, Mendes shot straight to pull half guard and then started working for a leg or foot lock rather than going for his trademark 50/50 guard. With Mendes and Cobrinha tied 3-3 in head to heads so far and Cobrinha’s avowed intention to retire from competition (temporarily at least), would the king leave on a high, or would he be forcibly dethroned? Mendes was 2-0 up for an early sweep but Cobrinha returned the favour for 2 points of his own at the 4 minute mark.
Leg spaghetti (trademark Caleb) ensued with both men jockeying for position and both men then going for toeholds. Cobrinha’s flexibility was defense enough but Rafael managed to score another sweep and 2 advantages in the meantime. Cobrinha threatened a kneebar and used that to get another sweep to tie the match on points if not advantages. Cobrinha snapped on a wickedly tight footlock, Rafael took one too but neither man could finish.
A kneebar by Mendes also went nowhere but 2 points appeared and then disappeared from the board for Cobrinha, 4-4 (3-1) for Mendes so far with 90 seconds left and all to play for. Cobrinha looked for another footlock, Mendes replied in kind, the clock ticked on, less than 30 seconds to go. More footlock attempts, Mendes lost his but Cobrinha is dethroned, 4-4 (5-3) and Mendes and Atos have finally stopped the relentless Alliance medal haul this weekend. Let us hope Cobrinha changes his mind and we see these two continue their rivalry.
Mendes wins 4-4 (5-3).
Leve
Michael Langhi (Alliance) vs. Celso Vinicius (Gracie Elite)
With Langhi looking for his 2nd gold and Celsinho his 4th, the number 0 figured heavily here, with no points or advantages scored in the first 9 minutes. A sweep attempt by Langhi saw some frantic attempts by Celsinho to seal his victory as this one went to the referees. Almost nothing to call between them! Would Langhi get it for the near sweep or Celsinho for maintaining his top position? Langhi had done enough with the sweep and took his second gold. By Michael’s own reckoning, he has not lost in more than 2 years. Celsinho will no doubt be looking to break that run at the next suitable juncture.
Langhi wins by referee’s decision.
Marcelo Garcia works to escape the closed guard of Claudio Calasans.
Medio
Marcelo Garcia (Alliance) vs. Claudio Calasans (Atos).
A very strong field this year with all 8 quarter finalists confident of victory (3 CBJJ world champions and 2 world champions under other federations amongst them). The final was another Atos/Alliance contest, with Calasans looking to maintain his momentum of 2010, having beaten ADCC and Mundials champ Braulio Estima twice at the World Pro Gi this year (and under BJJ math, if Calasans beats Braulio and Braulio beats Marcelo, can Claudio beat Marcelo too?). Garcia, who has dominated middleweight since 2004 and the disappearance of Terere from the competition scene, was looking for his 4th black belt gold here and probably some personal redemption having lost out to Pablo Popovitch in the ADCC final last September. He had been impressive en route to the final, but so had Calasans. Calasans attempt to launch Roger into orbit in the absolute of last year was not totally successful, but his top game was initially match for Marcelo’s guard game. Claudio pulled off a butterfly guard pass on no one in particular and then got wrapped up for a footlock sweep by Marcelo.
Calasans worked from guard and looked to work a cross collar choke, but to no avail. Wristlock fans were briefly elated then disappointed. You won’t see Marcelo’s posture in guard advocated on his instructional videos, but when you make the rules, you can break them too I guess (don’t try this at home kids). Calasans working grips to try set up an unconventional looking omoplata, tried to threaten the sweep but could not fix the requisite grips and with the clock moving regularly (even if the competitors weren’t) he would still need to score to prevent the online BJJ community inventing new superlatives to describe Garcia. Calasans shot his leg out but Garcia stuffed it and went for his high step over guard pass. Claudio worked from open, then half guard and was rolled by Marcelo in a scramble. 8 seconds to go. A takedown would be needed to draw. An awesome flurry of sweep and throw attempts by Claudio was not enough and Marcelo’s ownership of the title best Middleweight in the world continues, for the moment at least.
Marcelo wins 2-0.
Alliance’s young title hunter Bernardo Faria defeats Xande Ribeiro.
Pesado
Xande Ribeiro (Gracie Humaita) vs. Bernard Faria (Alliance)
Garcia was all smiles after his final, by contrast when the camera panned to Saulo and Xande, they were deep in thought, Xande not having not had a great day yesterday, tested by Antonio Braga Neto and then beaten by Romulo Barral in the Absolute division. Pesado has seen a number of young guns emerge recently, with Alexandre Ceconi, Cyborg, Faria, Rodrigo Pinheiro adding to the elite ranks of Braulio & Xande. With Braulio injured and Cyborg campaigning successfully at Ultra Heavy this year it was Faria (who has taken double gold at the Pan Ams this year) who made it to the final hurdle. He started brightly, shooting for half guard and starting to look for his omoplata game. Xande’s day seemed brighter on Sunday, storming to another final, the last person to beat Xande in a weight category here was Roger and that was back in 2005 when Xande stepped up to Super Pesado to go after Roger.
Faria working mostly from the bottom and Xande on the top, Faria worked hard for a takedown with Xande desperately defending; Faria even pulling Xande back into the centre of the mat to try to launch the throw. Faria went back to the deep half guard, from the other side this time, 0-0 (2-1) in favour of Xande with little time left. Xande looked to flatten out Faria and work for mount, but with a double underhook Faria managed to sweep and get 2 pts. 0-2 (2-1) with 2 minutes left. The Alliance cheering squad prepared themselves to explode. 90 seconds and Xande trying to work his legs in, but Faria took control and prevented his game plan. Faria then pulled Xande back into the centre of the mat to maintain his momentum and prevent the restart. Xande indicated Faria was stalling to win the match, but he himself has probably benefited from riding out the clock before and he could not break Faria’s grip on his belt, his gi pants, or on the title.
Faria wins 2-0 (1-2).
Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu peers from the depths as Rodrigo Cavaca seals his fate.
Pesadissimo
Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu (Carlson Gracie Team) vs. Rodrigo Cavaca (Checkmat)
An oft-maligned division with few serious competitors, not this year, a very deep talent pool this year with the presence of Peinado, Cavaca, Braga Neto, Abreu, Luiz “Big Mac” Teodoro, Gabriel Vella, Roberto Tozi, Marcio “Pe de Pano” Cruz and Marcio Corleta (4 of them World Champions) making for some intriguing match ups. The surprise of this bracket surely the giant Australian “Big Mick” taking the back and choking the versatile “Big Mac”.
The final came down to Cyborg, seeking revenge for Cavaca beating him by footlock in the absolute quarter finals yesterday and Cavaca having easily triangle one legend of the game (Pe de Pano) on his run to the final, seeking a gold to help blot out the memory of another (Roger) manhandling him yesterday. Cavaca has already won this category at the Brasilieros this year and his run must have left him confident. A different Abreu (in case anyone (Caleb) wasn’t sure) from the one who went the distance with Roger earlier, had triangled Braga Neto in the semis and looked to continue a successful campaign at a weight 2 above his normal division. Cavaca fighting from guard, Cyborg looking to pass, but Cavaca with a sweep to go ahead. Cavaca eying Cyborg’s foot hungrily like Pe de Pano & Big Mac at a churrascaria, he set his grips slowly then changed his mind and went for a straight footlock. Fixing his position, then arching back and Cavaca has his first Mundials black belt title, 6 wins from 7 this year and the memory of his defeat to Vella in the final erased.
Cavaca wins by leg lock @ 2m49s.
Absolute
Roger Gracie (Gracie Barra) vs. Romulo Barral (Gracie Barra).
With Romulo badly injured in his final against Tarsis, and the women’s absolute final closed out by Alliance team mates Luanna Alzuguir and Gabi Garcia, the day’s proceedings were bought to a close. Roger as three time Absolute, 3 time Double Gold winner and now ten time black belt world champion, his 2010 campaign ending on a whimper and not a bang this time, but not before making clear that closing out a division is not an option in his world and additionally that he is going to be back on these mats for some time to come. Barral was clearly disappointed to have not contested the Absolute final, but can take heart in having put on some amazing matches this weekend; we wish him a speedy recovery.
Roger wins by walkover.
And the aftermath
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, like it says on the tin, it’s Brazilian: Still only two non Brazilian gold medalists in 15 years and based on this year, no stand out likely to join them soon. Of the 36 quarter finalists, only 8 were non Brazilian with 4 Americans, 3 Japanese, and 1 Australian all adding up to 1 medal this time around. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu continues to go from strength to strength in the United States and elsewhere and there are many talented and accomplished players, particularly from Japan and the US, but it seems we are still some way from breaking the Brazilian domination of the sport.
Anti-Venom: Mendes proved again he can win by taking Cobrinha out of his comfort zone, albeit the place he takes them to is sometimes light on action. Cobrinha will surely not let the advantage of 4-3 lay with his rival for too long and I think their rivalry will continue shortly.
Many could quickly dismiss this as another 50/50 stall-fest, restating that the goal of BJJ is to positionally dominate and/or submit your opponent, but that is predicated on you actually being able to do that to them. That does a disservice to this particular final, which I think was an intriguing technical battle. Perhaps the casual observer is spoiled by getting to see Roger and others dominate and finish their opponents in short order and this raises an unreasonable expectation as to how a match should look – if you are submitting or dominating your opponent at the black belt level, it is probably because there is a gulf in skill and/or fitness between you and your opponent.
In many combat sports, when two very similarly or evenly matched people are competing, it is probable that the ensuing match will not be visibly spectacular. By the time you reach the semi finals, one should assume that the competitors are all likely to be reasonably matched. An additional consideration, to quote the old chestnut “styles make fights”, not every match is going to be the perfect visual feast of 100 mile an hour acrobatic top game vs. tricky inverse rolling guard game. Sometimes with a clash of styles or where two people with the same style meet, the resulting match will be hard on the eye. This does not mean it is not a skillful affair, just not perhaps to your taste – if you don’t like watching this style of match, then don’t.
Let us give credit where it is due; Mendes handily beat most of his opponents with the exception of Ryan Hall, in part because Ryan Hall plays a similar game to Mendes. Cobrinha blitzed all his other opponents, including a former world champ Mario Reis, seemingly able to impose his game pretty much at will. But he had to engage in the “leg spaghetti” of the final because Mendes is just as good as he is – you don’t become the only black belt to beat Cobrinha (and 4 times at that) just by being able to stall. Cobrinha in this one instance does not possess the necessary incremental skill over his opponent to impose his game or to prevent Mendes from playing his own game. Evolution in positions and movement and tactics and counters is a key facet of BJJ; the 50/50 is just one such evolution that Atos’ opponents are still coming to terms with.
Can’t tap this: Ricardo “Demente” did something improbable this weekend, somehow defending an armbar from Roger Gracie on a hyper-extended limb and thwarting multiple other submission attempts from Gracie to deny him another perfect Mundials. Reports he rushed outside to buy a lottery ticket and discovered the Higg’s Boson on his way to the store are unverified at this time.
All your base belong to us: Alliance repeated their feat of 2009 with 5 of a possible 10 male black belt golds winging their way back to Atlanta. But for Mendes, it could have been 6, a recent record, albeit still short of Gracie Barra’s 8 in 2002 after Nova Uniao pulled out of CBJJ competitions. With champions like Garcia, Malfacine, Faria, Tarsis & Langhi and strong supporting cast in Peinado, Nogueira, Lepri, Moraes & Cobrinha, let alone the small army of warriors at lower belts, they are THE dominant force on the competition scene. They took a very good new addition to the team (Malfacine) and helped him become the most dominant rooster weight in a decade, the first back to back champion at that weight since Omar Salum in 1999/2000.
That having been said, there are still a few gaps in their armory. With the departure of Gabriel Vella, they have lost a decorated veteran campaigner in the Ultra Heavy and Absolute divisions With Leo Leite turning out for his cameo appearances for Brasa these days and Comprido a). also part of Brasa but even so b). retired, they miss their other active Super & Ultra Heavy players of previous years. For a team which can claim 2 of the best 3 or 4 players in the world in Leve and Medio, they are still reliant on one elite individual in Feather and Medium-heavyweight and have arguably had no serious contender in Light Feather since Ricardo Vieira in the early 00’s.
Quibbling over this is may be like trying to point out a small speck of dirt on a fine cashmere jumper, but the Absolute title defines these games to an extent and Alliance have not had a viable challenger for the throne since Comprido back in 2000. Other teams can, for the moment rest easy knowing that there is still gold to be struck out there.
Atos Jiu-Jitsu’s cheering section celebrates Rafael Mendes’ gold medal.
A New Act: Guilherme Mendes was surprisingly defeated in the first round when many (myself included) considered him a shoe-in for the final. Melo deserves full credit for the win, although some will wonder if the weight cut for Mendes was in some way a factor. Regardless, Atos Jiu Jitsu have been consistently showing us that at major tournaments that they have strength in depth in the lighter weights, with their team of Claudio Calasans, Rodrigo Caporal, Bruno Frazatto, Jonatas Gurgel, Gustavo Campos, Gilbert “Durinho” Burns, Eduardo Ramos, Rafael Mendes, Guilherme Mendes. Alliance will have worthy competitors from this team for some time to come.
Gracie Humaita’s cheering section at the 2010 BJJ Mundials.
Look on my works ye mighty and despair: In stark contrast to the riches on their teamsheet for much of the past 15 years, Gracie Humaita have shrunk to having only a handful of potential medalists, one, granted, is one of the best of the last decade, but even he has off days as evidence by this weekend and the next best chance is his student, also in his division, limiting their options for Gold.
Royler, Saulo & Xande make up the most dominant teacher/student force in the history of the sport, with 26 black belt gold and 44 medals at the Mundials, ADCC and Copa do Mundo between them. But with the former two retired, of Humaita’s 8 golds in the last 7 years, Xande alone has won 6 and if he retires to focus on MMA or if training for MMA prevents him from recapturing his past form, does that spell the end of Gracie Humaita as a force at the Mundials at this level?
Lonely at the top: The stats are impressive: 1st 3 time absolute champion; 1st 3 time double champion; 8 absolute finals in a row; 7 weight class finals in a row; 7 weight class gold medals in a row; 2009/2010 run of 16 submissions; 15 black belt medals at the Mundials (10 Gold, 5 silver) and submitted 2 of the other champions at the weekend (Cavaca and Tarsis).
With the records books updated, we must reflect that often a Mundials will be made by Roger being taken to the wire, being beaten, even if just by the tiniest of margins, but with Xande in a poor (for him) run of form, with no Jacare prowling the mats, with Pe de Pano now gone as a force on the mats and despite the emergence of a lot of talent in the Pesado ranks, no other real contender on the scene, how long will the sport hold his interest? For Ali to be the greatest, he needed Frazier, Norton, Foreman to propel him to that peak and keep him there. Roger similarly needs at least one great rival to make next year compelling since this year was another Godzilla vs. Tokyo affair. Either Tokyo needs to learn to fight back, or one of the rival teams needs to perfect their Mecha-Godzilla and fast.
Close outs, a necessary evil?: The odds are stacked against such things happening, but some teams do have real depth in a given division – thankfully we only saw one this weekend, but to many fans it tarnishes the victory of the “winner”, regardless of the arguments that sometimes when people are team-mates and friends, they don’t want to compete against each other. At least Braga didn’t ask for a game of Rock/Paper/Scissors.
(Left to right) Sergio Penha, Mauricio “The Bear” Motta Gomes, and Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti receive certificates for their red and black belts from the IBJJF.
The Three Seven Degrees: Certificates commemorating their elevation to the small group Black and Red belts were presented to Mauricio Gomes and Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti (2 of Rolls Gracie’s “Famous Five”) and Sergio Penha. These men have been living and breathing Jiu Jitsu longer than many competitors this weekend have even been alive. For their legacy, Mauricio has produced (both literally and through coaching) the greatest BJJ player of our age; Jacare, created one of the strongest sport BJJ team’s of the decade and Sergio, also a very successful coach, will always been known as the person who came closest to the impossible feat of defeating Rickson Gracie.
A Free Lunch: An amazing gift to BJJ fans, a free live stream for both days of the weekend. Gone are the days of brief text messages from people at Tijuca Tennis Club to the outside world, now with the FightWorksPodcast live blogging by Caleb, the Live stream and the Twittering by Graciemag and others, technology has helped revolutionise how we enjoy the Mundials, in as much as those not there can actually enjoy it without relying on terrible hand shot footage on YouTube or waiting a few months for the DVD.
Shawn and Caleb again did a great double act presenting the Budovideos live stream and we must all thank Budovideos for that. Having said that, with only one camera and the matches selected at the whim of the producers, often changing mid match, I wonder if there is an opportunity for Budovideos to enhance this offering, maybe have multiple cameras to choose from and to charge an appropriate fee for this service. Few might quibble with paying 20 or 30 dollars for premium access to action over the weekend.
Hail to the Chef: It would be remiss to remark about the free lunch and not mention all those who pulled together this feast of BJJ. From the organization and direction of Marcelo “Siriema” Araújo, Alvaro Mansur and others, to the referees and judges, desk staff, mat officials, first aid team, to the unmistakable voice of Tony Torres and those poor souls he DQ’d and of course to all the competitors, coaches and supporters… well done.
See you next year.
Tournament Review Tuesday: Tayta Submission Championships in Lima, Peru
June 8, 2010
The Tayta Submission Championships in Lima Peru. All images courtesy Dev Kostal.
by Dev Kostal
I missed seeing (and competing in) the Mundials in LA this year. I am currently training in Lima, Peru at Sniper Fight Sports under black belt Leandro Torres. Sunday saw the second annual Tayta Submission Championships, held in the Nacional Videna (Sports Complex) in Lima.
Facility
The Videna is a sprawling complex that was originally built for national-level training for various sports in Peru. Over the past years, it’s seen its fair share of usage, and sadly, it shows. There are still dozens of soccer fields, and a bunch of other facilities, but the building they use for grappling (wrestling, BJJ, submission (how they refer to no-gi), judo, etc) is fairly worn.
Nonetheless, it was sufficient for the number of competitors there (probably 200 or so), and it provided the backdrop for some fantastic displays of submission wrestling. There are a total of 4 mats in the facility – 2 set up for wrestling, and 2 tatame that are used for karate and judo classes. In fact, when we got there (and through part of the tournament) a judo class was going on.
Level Of Competition
They had separate divisions for novice, intermediate, and advanced, as per usual, but in the end it seemed like the novice and intermediate divisions got kind of crushed together to make fights. Because of the size of the competition, I thought this was pretty realistic, and it guaranteed a couple fights for people to advance in a division.
I personally had never competed in no-gi before, and had entered this competition on a whim, just to get some good experience. Part of my apprehension was my complete lack of knowledge of foot and leg locks, which, as it turned out, was oddly prescient. For me, this constitutes a large part of the difference between gi and no-gi competition, as you see a few very significant modifications in strategy that can make a world of difference.
The weight divisions were set up every 5 kg, which isn’t exactly IBJJF standard, but it was fine. There were divisions at 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, and 90 kg.
Organization
If I’m being honest, it was pretty bad. I heard about the tournament word-of-mouth through some guys at the gym, and tried finding any information on google. Nothing whatsoever. I finally got an email address for one of the organizers from a buddy to sign up. When I emailed, though, the organizer said just to show up at 9 AM for the weigh-in. At face value, I’m okay with this, since NAGA does (or used to, anyway) at-the-door signups.
So about 10 guys and I showed up at 9, and we waited. Around 1030 the food guys showed up and started prepping. A guy went around then and started cleaning off the mats, too, which was a good sign. Around 1100 some of the organizers got there and set up the PA system, and we had weigh-ins. Weigh-ins also included hand-written signups.
About 1200 they started calling people up to the announcer’s desk to pay for their entrance. It was 20 Peruvian soles (about $7) to enter, so it’s tough to complain about that.
Shortly after that, the announcer started calling divisions to confirm names. He went through all the divisions except mine, conveniently. I went up and asked, then 2 other guys from my gym, including the coach, went up and asked about the 85 kg division. He waved us all off, saying he’d get to it. It didn’t inspire confidence, needless to say.
About 2 PM, fights finally started, 5 hours after I’d been told to be there. Again, for $7, it’s tough to be hugely critical, but the guys were touting this as a pretty high-level competition in Peru, which I don’t know that I’d agree with.
The rest of the tournament went okay, or at least as well as one could expect with one guy doing the announcing, the bracketing, and the timekeeping.
Officiating
Again, I’m trying to be fair here. This was, for all intents and purposes, a local competition, sort of an “in-house.” So they pulled “refs” from the guys that were there. A couple of the guys were really good, and obviously knew what they were doing. On the other hand, a couple were completely out of their element. Time was kept from the head table, not on each mat, so most of the refs had no clue how much time was left, and if fights went out of bounds, the clock just kept running. The reffing was really just ad hoc. It was, I suppose, sufficient for a friendly in-house tournament, but no more than that.
Additionally, I was astonished to see two of the refs out there in their shoes on the mats. I haven’t had too much of a problem so far with mat cleanliness, but that was a bit silly.
I’m unclear as to which rules they were actually following, but each match was five minutes, except the advanced division, which I think was 8. If a fight was tied after time was called, they had a 1-minute overtime. If it was still tied after that, it went to “first point.” Honestly, I couldn’t see a reason for the 1-minute round. Almost none of the overtime fights were decided in that period – they all went to the “first point” round.
My Matches
I had three fights in total. My first two fights went into overtime, and then to “first point.” In the finals, during a scramble, I got caught in a footlock that I never saw coming. Good job to my opponent.
Overall Thoughts
I was obviously the only gringo in the building, and as I cruised around in my American Standup fight shorts with a big American flag on the front, I was definitely the subject of some side conversations. That said, everyone was fantastically nice and accomodating for my terrible Spanish and my exceptionally average grappling.
At the end of the day, all problems with organization aside, $7 for a full day of grappling – and a whole new experience – wasn’t a bad deal. Yeah, I missed seeing the Mundials finals, but I saw some excellent grappling on display, and I met a bunch of fantastic, energetic guys all of whom just wanted to train and compete.
Dev Kostal is a wandering blue belt who began training under Daniel Thomas at Zeus BJJ in Monterey, CA. He is currently training with Leandro Torres at Sniper Fight Sports in Lima, Peru.
This is an installment in our Tournament Review Tuesdays column, where FightWorks Podcast listeners submit reports about Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling competitions that happened the weekend prior. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of The FightWorks Podcast. Through the rest of 2010, if you submit a Tournament Review Tuesday piece, you might win an Isami gi!
- Caleb
The author in second place.
Live Blog of the 2010 BJJ World Championship Finals
June 6, 2010
9:54 Hey Mighty 600,000! We are here at the Long Beach Pyramid again!
9:55 I misremembered how things would go for me today (shocker). I will be doing the live blog here for you until the Finals. At that point I will go join BudoVideos.com/online and help commentate the finals with Shawn Williams.
10:00 So Tony Torres has used his big voice to announce the beginning of the Rooster and Featherweight Quartfinals.
10:02 Looks like we’re starting off with Caio Terra (Gracie Elite) against Makoto Sawada (Paraestra).
10:03 Sawada makes a point to go lay down face up on the mats before the match begins.
10:03 In under 8 seconds Terra slaps on a deep triangle!!!
10:04 Sawada knows he’s in the quarterfinals now! He’s stacking Terra….
10:05 Sawada still stacking Terra trying to relieve the pressure of the triangle. Terra will have to be careful not to use all his energy right now going for this one submission.
10:05 We’re now 1m45s in and Sawada’s still trying to get out of the triangle.
10:06 Terra’s trying to push the arm across Sawada’s throat to finalize the triangle.
10:06 Sawada still on his tip toes to stack Terra and prevent the end of the match.
10:07 Terra’s adjusting to see if he can tweak the attack…
10:07 Laercio Fernandes vs Samir Chantre is beginning on the second mat.
10:08 Sawada’s still in that triangle after 5m27s…
10:09 On the other mat Chantre has begun in open guard against Fernandes.
10:10 Comment From Mike M.:Good to see you this morning at the FightWorks coffee get together. I e-mailed you those widescreen photos. M.
10:10 Terra has switched the legs in his triangle looking for a different pressure on Sawada, and to give his legs a break.
10:11 On the other mat, Chantre is turtled and Fernandes is attempting to penetrate the defense.
10:11 Terra’s still working that deep triangle on Sawada after 8 minutes! How is Sawada resisting that long?!?
10:12 Terra’s face now showing signs of wear after holding on so long.
10:12 Fernandes is up 2-0 over Chantre.
10:12 Less than one minute left between Caio Terra and Sawada..
10:13 Terra’s reversed and now he’s on top with the triangle. He gets two points, and Sawada rolls him over. Time expires and Sawada laughs as he’s let out of that triangle.
10:13 Terra eliminates Sawada.
10:15 Fernandes remains up 2-0 over Chantre after 5m39s on mat 2. On mat 1 we now have Rafael Freitas (Gracie Barra) and Bernardo Pitel (Nova Uniao).
10:16 After 7 minuters Fernandes is still up 2-0 over Chantre. Chantre has the 50/50 guard on Fernandes, who’s standing over Chantre defending the sweep.
10:17 At the 2 minute mark, Pitel and Freitas are tied 0-0.
10:18 Dueling footlocks between Chantre and Fernandes in the final moments…!
10:19 Both are cranking their opponents’ feed so hard!
10:19 Time expires and Laercio Fernandes (Lotus Club) is up 2-0, eliminating Samir Chantre.
10:20 You will notice the coaches this year accopmanying their athletes to the mats. They’re wearing the bright flourescent green vests.
10:21 Sebastian Lalli and Pablo Silva are up on mat 2.
10:22 Still tied 0-0 between Pitel and Freitas after 5m40s.
10:22 Comment From Nori: When is the light division??
10:22 The schedule today is right here: http://www.ibjjf.org/cronomundial2010.htm
10:23 Pitel is playing open guard, defending Freitas high paced passing attempts.
10:25 Pitel drives Freitas out of bounds on a takedown attempt.
10:26 In the bullpen, Lucas Lepri and Michael Langhi clasp hands in greeting as they prepare for their matches.
10:27 Freitas is up by one advantage with 25 seconds left over Pitel.
10:27 Rafael Freitas defeats Bernardo Pitel by one advantage as time expires.
10:27 Comment From Max: Caleb where are you sitting with respect to the mats right now?
10:28 I’m to the left of the IBJJF table.
10:28 Felipe Costa is now up against Rogerio Taborda on mat one. Costa is being coached by Ryan Hall.
10:29 Costa pulls guard but is now up on top. He’s given two points for the takedown. He looks up for confirmation by the ref and he’s back on the attack.
10:30 Sunday brackets are here for those who want to follow along: http://www.ibjjf.org/mundial2010/index.htm
10:30 Felipe Costa is almost mounted on Taborda…
10:31 But he gets swept just before getting the points and now he’s got Taborda in closed guard.
10:33 Time expires on mat 2 and Pablo Silva wins 6-0 over Sebastian Lalli.
10:34 Daniel Beleza is now up against Paulo Melo on mat 2. Melo is the one who eliminated Gui Mendes yesterday!
10:34 Felipe Costa is now winning 8-0 over Rogerio Taborda at the 4m50s mark.
10:36 Costa’s now up 10-0 after 6m15s.
10:36 Costa’s in side mount over Taborda and now winning 13-0. He’s now taken the back and is up 17-0.
10:37 Paulo Melo and Daniel Beleza continue tied 0-0.
10:38 Paulo Melo and Daniel Beleza continue tied 0-0 after 4m41s.
10:39 Costa is working a rear naked choke on Taborda with 15 seconds remaining and a solid 17-0 lead.
10:40 Felipe Costa eliminates Rogerio Taborda 17-0 when time runs out.
10:41 On mat 1 we now have Bruno Malfacine (Alliance) against Marcelo Pereira (Nova Uniao). Alliance’s cheering section greets Malfacine with loud whistles, claps, and footstomps in the bleachers.
10:42 Malfacine pulls guard a moment into the match.
10:42 Paulo Melo and Daniel Beleza continue tied 0-0 after 8m25s.
10:43 Cobrinha is getting ready to compete next on mat 1. He’s calmly pacing and singing a song to himself.
10:44 Malfacine is up 2-0 over Pereira.
10:45 GB’s dark horse Paulo Melo has been eliminated by Daniel Beleza *by just one advantage* in an otherwise tied match.
10:45 On mat 2 we have Samuel Braga (Gracie Barra) against Matsumoto Yoshihiko.
10:45 Comment From Jim: Did Victor Estima enter?
10:45 No Jim he did not.
10:46 Comment From Jim: Thanks. Great job you’re doing. Caleb for President!
10:46 lol Don’t tell cohost Dan that!
10:47 Malfacine is up 7-0 over Pereira and is in side control after 4m12s. JT Torres‘ name was just called from the bullpen.
10:48 Malfacine sneaks Pereira’s lapel around the back of his neck from side mount as he begins threatening the mount.
10:49 Malfacine’s now up 10-0 as he and Pereira are restarted in the center.
10:49 Malfacine and Pereira are paused as the medics are called over, perhaps for a scratch on Pereira that the ref saw.
10:50 Samuel Braga and Matsumoto Yoshihiko remain tied 0-0 after 4m42s but Braga has one advantage.
10:53 Braga’s playing closed guard against Yoshihiko but otherwise there’s no real change over there.
10:53 Robson Moura is coaching Pereira telling him he doesn’t have much time left, but with just one minute remaining against Malfacine and being down 8 points it doesn’t look too good.
10:55 The midsections of both Pereira and Malfacine look like scales on a lizard! Those two are ripped.
10:55 Time expires and Malfacine’s declared the winner.
10:56 Cobrinha now enters the mat against the very tough Teodoro Canal of Gracie Fighter. Alliance begins chanting, “Co-Bri-Nha! Co-Bri-Nha!!”
10:57 Samuel Braga defeats Matsumoto Yoshihiko by a lone advantage point.
10:58 Michael Langhi (Alliance) now faces Rafael Barbosa (Soul Fighters) on mat 2.
10:59 Mario Reis is warming up on the side, with his coach Fabricio Werdum.
11:00 Cobrinha and Canal remain tied across the board after 2m57. They’re restarted in the center where Cobrinha is playing open guard.
11:01 Langhi is setting up an omoplata over Barbosa after 3m16 in a tied 0-0 match.
11:02 Alliance’s cheering section begins chanting “oo! Vai pegar!” (“Oo! He’s going to tap!”) cheering on Barbosa’s omoplata attempt!
11:03 Barbosa frees himself and is now in Langhi’s closed guard.
11:04 Canal and Cobrinha are tied 0-0 across the board after 6m35 seconds, but Cobrinha’s jsut set up an omoplata…
11:04 At 7m21 Cobrinha taps Canal by omoplata!!!
11:05 Cohost Dan got an awesome photo of that one!
11:05 Comment From J sho: Hey caleb great job, am travelling today so will miss most of this 
werdum and reis are both friends think thy both come from Porto alegre. Reis has had more teams than I have bjj stats 
11:05 Mario Reis now enters the mat against Renan Borges (BTT).
11:05 Langhi is up 2-0 over Barbosa.
11:07 Langhi and Barbosa are now tied 2-2 at the nine minute mark! Langhi is up by one advantage!
11:08 Rafa Mendes is warming up next to mat 1 with his coach and brother Gui Mendes.
11:08 Langhi’s sinking a triangle in the closing moments of his match against Barbosa!
11:09 Barbosa defends until the end and the timer sounds. Langhi wins by the narrowest of margins – one advantage! The level here is so tight!
11:10 Mario Reis is no top trying to pass but Borges won’t have it. Still tied 0-0 there after 4 minutes. On mat 2, we have Atos‘ Gilbert “Durinho” Burns against JT Torres (Lloyd Irvin). These two have history! Torres lost by an advantage last time they met if I remember correctly.
11:11 Durinho pulls guard and JT begins passing after 30 seconds.
11:12 Mario Reis defeated Renan Borges with a collar choke at 6m17s.
11:13 Rafael Mendes (Atos) is entering mat 1 against Ryan Hall (Brasa).
11:13 Durinho and JT were exchanging foot locks but they’ve both escaped. Now Torres is looking to take Durinho’s back!
11:14 Ryan Hall and Rafa Mendes are in…
11:14 leg spaghetti!
11:14 Durinho is angling for a kneebar on Torres but Torres seems safe for the moment.
11:15 The flexible Hall rolls over his shoulders to regain guard and prevent Mendes’ pass.
11:16 Torres and Durinho remain tied at 0-0 but Torres is leading by one advantage.
11:17 Durinho wants that kneebar on Torres again but Torres is defending.
11:18 Rafa Mendes is up 2-0 over Ryan Hall.
11:18 50/50 guard in action on both mats right now!
11:19 After 8m30s Torres remains up by one advantage over Durinho.
11:20 Rafael Mendes is up 4-0 over Ryan Hall now.
11:20 Now Torres and Burns are tied 0-0 with two advantages each!
11:21 Team Lloyd Irvin cheers louder and *louder*!
11:21 It’s time for a ref’s decision! Uh oh!
11:21 That match was so close!
11:21 The 3 refs convene to decide the winner.
11:21 Torres motions for his cheering section to turn up the volume!
11:22 The athletes are summoned to the center, and the referees give the green light to Gilbert “Durinho” Burns.
11:22 Celso Vinicius and Bruno Frazatto (Atos) begin now on mat 2.
11:23 Ryan Hall is now losing 5-0 to Rafael Mendes with just 30 seconds left.
11:23 Hall gets two points of his own, and it’s now 5-2 as time runs out against Mendes. Time’s up, and Rafael Mendes advances.
11:24 Naoya Uematsu is now up against Denilson Pimenta on mat 1.
11:25 Pimenta is up 2-0 over Uematsu.
11:26 Pimenta secures side mount and is up 5-0 over Uematsu.
11:27 Comment From dokomoy:Caleb what do you think of the JT/Durinho decision? I couldn’t really form an opinion because they kept on switching back and fourth between matches oy
11:28 I can see it being justified maybe based on those kneebar attempts. *So* close though.
11:28 Pimenta nails a big fireman’s carry sweep on Uematsu and he’s now winning 7-0. The two are restarted in the center.
11:29 Felipe Costa and Caio Terra were just called to the bullpen.
11:30 Comment From Silverfox: what was the score for the Hall Mendes match again? How do you go from 4-0 to 5-0?
11:30 Could be an error on my part there, Silverfox.
11:31 The final was 5-2 if I remember correctly between Ryan Hall and Rafael Mendes.
11:31 Comment From Silverfox: cool thanks
11:31 Comment From Alliance Europe: Jt/Durinho decidion looked like a fair one. JT was no robbed. Durinho spent most of the match trying to attack while JT spent most of the match defending. nce Europe
11:32 It’s 0-0 between Celso Vinicius and Bruno Frazatto with no advantages after 8m15s.
11:34 Frazatto and Celso is a ref’s decision! And Celso Vinicius’ hand is raised!
11:35 Uematsu is down 9-0 to Daniel Pimenta on mat 1.
11:35 Wow here comes Lucas Lepri (Alliance) against Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes on mat 2.
11:36 Comment From J sho: Plenty of records lookng to be broken today: roger goig for his 9th and tenth golds, his 3rd absolute and 3rd double gold; cobrinha going for a fifth straight win in the same division and 4 mundial/pan am titles in the same year, other guys going for their 3rd and 4th golds, xande for his 7th. Check out the efnsports link caleb twittered for more facts and stats
11:37 Uematsu has 36 seconds to change things in a big way or else Pimenta advances.
11:38 Lucas Lepri just got 2 points for a throw, and then another 2 points for another throw!
11:38 On mat 1, Denilson Pimenta eliminates Naoya Uematsu.
11:39 On mat 1 we now have Rafael Freitas (Gracie Barra) against Caio Terra (Gracie Elite).
11:40 Lepri remains up 4-0 on mat 2 over Tanquinho.
11:41 Terra goes hard for a foot lock on Freitas and is given an advantage. They’re 80 seconds into the match.
11:41 Felipe Costa will be coached by Demian Maia in his next match.
11:42 Wow Caio locked a *nasty* toehold on Freitas. Freitas resisted perhaps a little too long. He grimaced in pain and tapped. He’s now being attended to by the medics.
11:42 Comment From J sho: People have mentioned the hard cut for GUI mendes down to light feather, but freitas has cut from his normal light feather to rooster!!
11:42 Comment From Silverfox: seriously, what does Maia know? LOL
11:43 So on mat one our winner is Caio Terra!
11:43 Lepri continues up 4-0 over Tanquinho on mat 2.
11:43 Comment From spidersweep: Thanks for that one Caleb
11:44 Bruno Malfacine now faces Felipe Costa!
11:44 The last time they met, Malfacine did well against Costa.
11:46 Malfacine’s now in side control on Costa and winning 3-0 after 1m45s.
11:48 Malfacine is really bringing the pressure to Costa. They’re still in the same position though.
11:49 On mat 2 Lucas Lepri defeats Tanquinho 6-0.
11:49 Ramon Lemos is now standing next to Rafael Mendes, ready to coach his next match. Now we have Cobrinha up against Mario Reis!!!!
11:50 Cobrinha’s relaxed as he enters the mat, and Reis has his game face on, intense and amped up.
11:50 Malfacine is up 6-0 over Costa now with a little less than 5 minutes remaining.
11:51 “Jacare” Cavalcanti leads Alliance in shouting, “Co-Bri-Nha!” Cobrinha is working the pass on Reis. I believe the last time these two met, it ended in Reis being bow and arrow choked.
11:52 Reis has submitted all of his opponents so far in this event.
11:52 Caio Terra yells support from the stands to Felipe Costa.
11:53 Comment From Arash: does Reis have an illegal pants grip?
11:53 Can’t see too well from here Arash, sorry!
11:53 Cobrinha and Reis remain tied 0-0 across the board after 3m46s.
11:54 The stadium stands are quickly filling here in the Pyramid.
11:55 Malfacine has Costa’s back now!
11:55 Malfacine’s going for the bow and arrow choke on Costa and gets it at 9m35s!
11:56 On mat 2, Reis is in trouble as Cobrinha sinks a deep choke! Cobrinha ends it with a choke from behind at 5m56s!
11:56 Alliance is not doing badly here!
11:57 Daniel Beleza (SAS) now faces Gracie Barra’s Pablo Silva on mat 1.
11:57 On mat 2 we have: Rafa Mendes against Denilson Pimenta (Gama Filho).
11:58 Comment From BJJGuy: Alliance #1!! y
11:59 Rafael Mendes is seated in front of Denilson Pimenta after one minute. Pimenta moves in and now has a kneebar set up on Mendes, who’s being coached by Ramon Lemos.
12:01 Mendes appears to have escaped the kneebar attack. He’s now on top and was given 2 points for the sweep.
12:01 Kayron Gracie and Otavio Sousa are getting warmed up under the bleachers, where they’re chatting a bit with Carlos Gracie Jr..
12:01 Comment From Kk: This is so exciting goo mendes
12:02 Mendes remains up 2-0 after 3m30s and is trying to pass on top.
12:05 Rafael Mendes is winning 5-0 at 6m00s when he gets the gi choke from behind. Denilson Pimenta’s day is over.
12:05 Michael Langhi is now up against Gilbert “Durinho” Burns on mat 2!
12:07 Langhi appears to shoot but ends up facing in guard. Along the way Durinho grabs a foot. Langhi escapes. At some point Langhi earned 2 points and he’s up 2-0 over Durinho.
12:08 At least 50 people from Alliance in their team t-shirts in one bloc in the stands are standing now, cheering for Langhi as he works the pass against Durinho.
12:08 Comment From Silverfox: Durinho sat back for the foot and Langhi came up for the two
12:09 Comment From Mike M.:Thank you Caleb and Dan for covering this years Mundials. Your time and efforts are also VERY appreciated for the best jiu-jitsu podcast on the internet! M.
12:10 Durinho comes up! He’s now tied 2-2 at 3m18seconds!
12:10 Pablo Silva has defeated Daniel Beleza on mat one. Now on mat one we have Samuel Braga against Laercio Fernandes (Lotus Club).
12:11 Big sweep from Langhi and now he’s beating Durinho 4-2!
12:11 We’re now at the half way point between Langhi and Durinho.
12:12 Samuel Braga is being coached by Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhaes of Gracie Barra,
12:12 Durinho has tied it! It’s 4-4 between him and Langhi!
12:13 Braga now leads Fernandes 2-0 after 2m20s.
12:14 Looks like Murilo Santana may face Marcelo Garcia on mat 1 soon.
12:15 Langhi’s now leading by one advantage. It’s tied 4-4 otherwise between him and Durinho.
12:16 Comment From renoze_jjb: Go langhi
12:16 Comment From Sav: how did Burns get 4 pts?
12:16 Sav, two sweeps I believe.
12:16 Durinho is going hard for a sub attempt in the closing seconds!!!!
12:17 But Langhi escapes *just* as time runs out! It’s 4-4 each, but Langhi leads on advanatages.
12:17 Comment From Silverfox: pay attention Sav
12:17 Comment From Sav: thx..I must’ve missed 1
12:18 Michael Langhi is announced the winner, eliminating Gilbert “Durinho” Burns.
12:18 On mat 2 we now have Celso Vinicius against Lucas Lepri!
12:19 Samuel Braga continues up by 2 points over Laercio Fernandes. Less than 3 minutes remain there.
12:20 Tarsis Humpheys (Alliance) appears to be facing Nivaldo Oliveira (Check Mat) down on mat two next.
12:21 Braga’s defending the pass from Fernandes as we enter the last minute of regulation time.
12:21 Comment From dokomoy:are they still running only 2 mats at a time?
12:22 Yes, only two mats are going at once here.
12:23 Time runs out and now Samuel Braga defeats Laercio Fernandes.
12:24 Braga’s unfurling a giant Gracie Barra banner with Pablo Silva, indicating perhaps that they will close the bracket together?
12:24 Marcelo Garcia is now up against the very tough Murilo Santana, who eliminated Abmar Barbosa yesterday.
12:25 Wow and after this we will see Bill Cooper against Kayron Gracie if I am not mistaken.
12:25 Celso Vinicius leads Lucas Lepri 2-0 now on mat 2 after 5 minutes.
12:27 Marcelo Garcia’s going for the single leg on Murilo Santana and gets 2 points. On the other mat it looks like Lepri almost had Vinicius’ back, but they found themselves out of bounds.
12:27 Comment From dokomoy:speaking of closing out brackets, gotta root for Celso so we don’t see Langhi/Lepri close out again
12:28 Marcelo appears to nearly have his back taken but he’s free now.
12:28 Murilo Santana is going after Marcelo Garcia with a dense, fixed determination.
12:29 Santana is now working to pass Garcia’s open guard.
12:29 Santana and Garcia are tied 2-2. with no advantages after 3m38s.
12:30 Celso Vinicius maintains a 2- 0 lead over Lucas Lepri with 75 seconds left.
12:31 Marcelo Garcia appears to be setting up the arm drag against Murilo Santana from butterfly guard. Now Garcia might be setting up his x guard.
12:32 Lepri gets two points with less than 10 seconds left!
12:33 They are tied 2-2 with two advantages each, according to the scoreboard.
12:33 Comment From J Sho: come on celsinho!! no rock papers scissors or closing out today please…
12:34 The ref adjusts the score card, and now it’s 2-0 in Celso Vinicius’ favor. Lucas Lepri is eliminated.
12:34 Comment From csimamora: Looks like the live stream is down! = / Caleb, you’re the main source of info for now. No prressure. ; )
12:34 Comment From hobert: My feed went down….is anyone else having problems?
12:35 Tarsis Humphreys is now on mat 2 against Nivaldo Oliveira!
12:35 Marcelo is winning 4-2 and now almost has Santana’s back!
12:35 Tarsis pulls guard on Oliveira on their way out of bounds and they’re now restarted in the center.
12:36 Marcelo Garcia ran away with it at the end and now he’s beaten Murilo Santana 8-2.
12:36 Comment From bjjargentina: budovideos is now working!!
12:37 Bill Cooper’s coached by “Franjinha” Miller and Kayron Gracie will be coached by Marcio Feitosa.
12:37 Comment From bjjargentina: sorry, i meant NOT working
12:38 On deck on mat 1 we have: KRON GRACIE and SERGIO MORAES! Big rematch on the way here!
12:38 Kayron’s settled into his tricky open guard. Cooper has double underhooks and wants to pass.
12:39 Tarsis Humphreys and Nivaldo Oliveira are tied 0-0 with one advantage each.
12:39 Comment From CJJScout: live feed back up
12:39 Kayron gets an advantage for a near sweep on Cooper.
12:40 Nivaldo Oliveira is working his tricky deep half guard on Tarsis Humphreys. It’s like quicksand – many tough fighters slowly succumb.
12:41 Nivaldo Oliveira continues working from deep half guard on Tarsis Humphreys on mat two after the 5 minute mark. It’s still tied 0-0.
12:42 Wow Bill the Grill Cooper *almost* landed a flash armbar out of nowhere but Kayron squeaked out of it.
12:43 Kayron almost nailed a triangle attempt on Cooper just now, but he made it out!! Now the two are restarted in the center.
12:44 Tarsis and Nivaldo remain where they were before, slowly ticking away the time tied up in Oliveira’s deep half guard.
12:44 Kayron is beating Bill the Grill by one advantage, in an otherwise 0-0 match.
12:45 I’m getting reports from a lot of folks tying to watch the Budo video feed that it’s still down. Hold tight I am sure they’re working on it.
12:46 Time is running out on Tarsis Humphreys and Nivaldo Oliveira. Tarsis is going for a last minute foot lock attempt in hopes of earning an advantage.
12:47 Tarsis Humphreys defeats Nivaldo Oliveira by referee’s decision.
12:47 Kayron and Kron are still tied 0-0 after 8m20s but wait!
12:48 Kayron *almost* gets mount! But suddenly Cooper is somehow in front with double underhooks again! It defies the laws of physics!
12:48 Now on mat 2 is Eduardo Telles versus Otavio Sousa.
12:49 In the closing seconds Kayron is up 4 advantages to Cooper’s two. *What a match!*
12:50 Amazing athleticism there! When you grow up you want jiu-jitsu as fun as that match.
12:50 Comment From dokomoy:Cooper/Kayron has got to be one of the best matches ever that didn’t have a point scored
12:51 Sergio Moraes is now up against Kron Gracie!
12:51 The arena went from 120 decibles to quiet as Kron and Sergio begin.
12:52 The only sound we hear is a lone female voice from Alliance shouting Sergio’s name.
12:53 We are 1m25s in and it’s still tied 0-0 between Kron and Sergio. Sergio is now workign for a single leg. Sergio gets two points for the takedown.
12:53 Now Kron returns the favor and he’s on top! It’s tied 2-2!
12:54 Comment From GracieBarraSud: Sousa x Telles ? score please !
12:55 Telles is up 8-6 on Sousa after 5m45s.
12:55 Kron is fighting from standing while Sergio appears to want to stand up into a single leg takedown.
12:56 Kron couldn’t withstand the single leg pressure and Sergio gets the takedown. It’s now 4-2 in Sergio’s favor.
12:56 All matches are stopped while they retie their belts.
12:58 For the new folks, this is a big rematch from when Sergio eliminated Kron in 2008.
12:58 Sergio Moraes remains up 4-2 after 5m32s. There are no advantages.
12:58 Now Kron comes up on top! It’s tied 4-4!!!
12:59 Sergio is now working from bottom with 50/50 guard on Kron.
12:59 Telles is beating Sousa 10-8 in the last 30 seconds.
12:59 Now Sousa’s tied it! 10-10 each! Telles is in deep half guard!
1:00 Telles ends it with a lone advantage point that will earn him the victory over Sousa.
1:00 Sergio is still working from bottom, tied 4-4 with Kron.
1:00 Atos’ Gustavo Campos is up against Fabiano Souza Junior on mat 2.
1:01 With less than 2 minutes left it’s a dead tie between Sergio and Kron!
1:01 Just one minute left between Sergio and Kron!!!!!
1:02 Kron remains on top, now Sergio turns up the heat on the sweep and almost has it….
1:02 Just 15 sedonds left!!
1:03 Sergio is given an advantage!
1:03 Many are speechless!
1:03 Alliance cheers its winner, Sergio Moraes.
1:04 Lucas Leite enters mat one against Atos’ Claudio Calasans!
1:05 Guto Campos (Atos) is up 2-0 over Alliance’s Fabiano Souza Junior on mat 2. Wait! It’s now tied 2-2!
1:05 Campos and Souza trade sweeps again and it’s 4-4 each!
1:06 Guys I am nowhere near the Budo Video crew so I don’t have any updates on the feed.
1:07 Calasans is at the end of Leite’s leg, going for the straight foot lock.
1:07 Comment From noo: Budo is back
1:07 Comment From Kop: Stream is back up, I’m connected
1:07 Comment From pesh: Caleb, feed looks ok now…
1:08 Comment From tomaz_portugal: good old reliable fightworks podcast!!!
1:08 Calasans still at the end of Leite’s legs, keeping those wily legs at a distance.It’s still tied 0-0.
1:08 Fabiano Souza Junior is up 6-4 over Guto Campos.
1:11 Fabiano Souza Junior is in side Guto Campos’ closed guard. Remember Campos armbarred Rodrigo Cavaca at the Europeans this year to win the black belt absolute division.
1:11 Calasans is now up 2-0 over Leite. He’s on top and working to avoid allowing the deep half guard to Lucas Leite.
1:12 Comment From Robert: Is Royler arguing the advantage point against kron?
1:12 Looks that way.
1:13 Uh oh, it’s going to be a ref’s decision between Fabiano Souza Junior and Guto Campos! It’s tied 8-8 and 1 advantage each.
1:13 Guto Campos of Atos is given the win over Alliance’s Fabiano Souza Junior.
1:14 Back on mat 1 we have Calasans remaining up 2-0 over Leite. Two minutes left there.
1:14 Gracie Florianopolis’ Diego Hertzog is now up against Romulo Barral (Gracie Barra) on mat 2.
1:14 Comment From waiwai: with regards to royler debating the advantage – have decisions been reversed post match in the mudials in occasions like this?
1:14 No, I don’t think they have. I would consider it a closed case.
1:15 With less than one minute left, Calasans remains up on Leite 2-0.
1:16 Romulo Barral almost had a triangle attempt on Diego Hertzog, but Hertzog shrugged it off.
1:16 Calasans defeats Leite and advances in the brackets.
1:16 Comment From alexgb72: decisions have never been reversed post match. ever. it’s not happening
1:17 On mat 1 we have Xande Ribeiro from Gracie Humaita against Alliance’s new black belt Leonardo Nogueira!
1:18 Romulo Barral is up 2-0 over Diego Hertzog I believe. Cameras are now making it hard to see the monitor.
1:18 Xande is working an omoplata attempt here against Nogueira early on, just at the one minute mark. Nogueira escapes and is now looking to pass.
1:19 Romulo Barral is now up 9-? over Diego Hertzog.
1:20 Xande is still defending the pass against Nogueira. It’s 0-0 across the board.
1:20 Roger Gracie will be on mat 1 next. Get ready!
1:20 Comment From pesh: should be 9-2, herzog had an opening foot-sweep
1:21 Xande lands a pretty half guard sweep on Nogueira and he’s up 2-0.
1:21 Romulo Barral just tapped Diego Hertzog for the win.
1:21 Nogueira has swept Xande in return and it’s 2-2 between them.
1:22 Romulo’s victory came at 6m18s.
1:22 Alliance’s big Bernardo Faria now faces Adriano Marcel on mat 2.
1:24 Xande Ribeiro and Leo Nogueira remain tied at 2-2 after 6 minutes. Xande leads by just one advantage.
1:25 Xande now has Leo in his closed guard and they’re being restarted in the center. The time is 7m01s.
1:26 Bernardo Faria leads Adriano Marcel 2-0 after three minutes.
1:27 Xande is locking up a triangle on Nogueira!
1:27 Wow Nogueira just escaped and his face was red!
1:28 On his way out, Xande comes up and is now on top in side mount, and winning 4-2.
1:28 Nogueira doesn’t have much time. Just 30 seconds remain.
1:29 Xande is going for the mount! He gets an advantage for that, and as time runs out, Xande wins 4-2!
1:30 On mat 2, Bernardo Faria is winning 5-0.
1:30 On mat 1 we have Gracie Floripa’s Alexandre de Souza against Rodrigo Pinheiro.
1:31 Bernardo Faria is now mounted on Fabiano Souza Junior. He’s up 13-0.
1:32 And Bernardo Faria gets the tap at 6m48s. He was leading 13-0 when the end came.
1:33 Joao Assis now faces Rafael Lovato Jr. on mat 2. Looks like we will see Rodrigo Cavaca against Pe de Pano there soon!
1:34 As predicted, Joao Assis begins working toward his half guard game. Lovato Jr. is on top, trying to work the pass around Assis’ right side.
1:40 Still 0-0 between Lovato Jr and Assis after 7 minutes.
1:43 Assis is now on top with Lovato playing open guard. Lovato’s got 2 advantages and now is working on a triangle. Assis is posturing out.
1:44 Rafael Lovato Jr defeats Joao Assis after a tied match. Lovato had two advantages to Assis’ one.
1:44 Alexandre de Souza defeats Rodrigo Pinheiro.
1:45 Rodrigo Cavaca is now up against Pe de Pano, and Roger Gracie is up against Walter Vital.
1:46 Cavaca already appears to be triangling PDP! He gets the tap after 56 seconds!
1:46 Wow!
1:47 Roger Gracie is on his slow, inevitable march toward the mount against Walter Vital. Alliance’s Antonio Peinado is now up against Big Mick Wilson from Australia.
1:48 Roger’s up 7-0 now and in the mount.
1:48 Roger Gracie taps Walter Vital at 3m04s.
1:49 Hey gang I have to go eat before I jump into the live broadcast. See you soon!
1:50 Thank you for joining us here today! Make sure to watch the live stream on budovideos.com/online if you’re not already and check out the most recent episode of The FightWorks Podcast, BJJ Radio!
Lloyd Irvin Black Belt JT Torres Aims for Gold at 2010 BJJ World Championship
June 4, 2010
JT Torres celebrates a victory at last year’s BJJ Mundials, when he was a brown belt.
JT Torres has one thing on his mind at the 2010 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship this weekend in Long Beach, California: helping Team Lloyd Irvin earn a team tropy by earning a gold medal in the black belt lightweight division. Torres knows that the road to the podium will not be easy. Also vying for the gold are monsters like Lucas Lepri (Alliance) and Bruno Amorim (Gracie Barra). Among other titles, Lepri won the IBJJF’s 2009 New York Open, and Amorim defeated Torres last year at the 2009 BJJ World Championships to earn the gold medal in the brown belt lightweight division.
But Torres has his sights set on two other competitors above all: Gilbert Burns (Atos) and Michael Langhi (Alliance). In a conversation this week with the FightWorks Podcast, Torres said:
Those are the two rematches I really want. They are THE guys. They are going to be number 1 and 2 seeds. I’ve fought them both. I lost to both of them by two advantages. This is my time to shine. I want to show that I am on their level. I can beat them or better than them. When I win the Worlds I want it to be because I beat the best.
Torres and the rest of Team Lloyd Irvin have been working hard to get ready for the World Championship. Torres shared that they’ve been training 3 times per day Monday through Thursday. When you include the work they do every day except Sunday, there is over 8 hours of just drilling per week. Leading them every day is Lloyd Irvin himself.
If Torres’ recent performances are any indicator, he has a good shot at reaching the podium this weekend. In 2010 alone, he’s won:
- third place at the European BJJ Championship
- NY Open lightweight and absolute divisions
- second place at the Brazilian National BJJ Championship
Torres’ first match on Saturday will be against the winner of the match between Peter Sutton (Stable Jiu-Jitsu) and Paulo Guillobel (Gracie Humaita). Be sure to watch the action live on BudoVideos.com/online, and tune in to the live blogging we will be doing right here on TheFightWorksPodcast.com!
Gracie Elite Team Debuts at the 2010 BJJ World Championship
June 3, 2010
Kyra Gracie, Rilion Gracie, and Renzo Gracie last year at the 2009 BJJ World Championship.
Careful observers of the jiu-jitsu competition scene could not have missed a new entity on the registration lists for the 2010 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship that takes place this coming weekend. Also known as the Mundial, the event is the most highly regarded competition in the gi and draws the planet’s best jiu-jitsu athletes, so fans take note when several highly regarded competitors’ affiliation this year was listed as Gracie Elite Team.
So what is Gracie Elite Team, and how did it come about? The FightWorks Podcast caught up with Cesar Gracie and got a few answers. According to Cesar, the new squad is comprised of athletes from Gracie family members Ralph, Renzo, Rilion, Ryan, and from Cesar’s own crew. The intention was to put together a more formidable team than they might individually, and “shake things up a bit”. The idea to create the new team was proposed about a month ago. When asked if this was a team that jiu-jitsu practitioners can expect to see for many years to come in high-end competitions like the World Championship or if this was just an experiment, Cesar replied that you never know and that they would just see how it goes.
Gracie Elite Team’s 2010 Mundials black belt competitors:
Black / Brown Belt Women:
- Kyra Gracie (Leve)
Black Belt Men:
- Caio Terra (Galo)
- Joseph Capizzi (Galo)
- Almiro Barros dos Santos (Pluma)
- Samir Chantre (Pluma)
- Caio Almeida (Pena)
- Celso Venicius Alves (Leve)
- Joao Paulo Bertuccelli (Leve)
- Alexandro Ceconi (Pesado)
- Luiz Gustavo Costa (Pesado)
- Marcel Fortuna (Super-Pesado)
- Gabriel Vella (Pesadissimo)
(If you’re still having a hard time remembering what the different weight classes are, here’s a list.)
Several of the competitors listed are regular winners of medals in events like the World Championship like Alexandro Ceconi, Kyra Gracie, Caio Terra, and Gabriel Vella. Expect to see similar results this weekend in Gracie Elite Team’s debut performance.
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