12.12.2006 BJJ Worlds' HistoryIn chapter two of the Almanac, GRACIEMAG.com tells the story of the competitions held from 1998 to 2000
Photos by Gustavo Aragao, Levy Ribeiro, Lia Caldas, Luca Atalla and Ricardo Azoury
1998
Shake it up, Sperry!
The saga of Roleta and Sperry in one of the most emotional World Championships in history
After tearing Roleta’s worn out pants (detail), Zé Mario chooses to play on top and shake his adversary up becoming absolute champion.
Sperry’s sleeves are being controlled. So he shakes it up. More than two years have passed since Roleta beat Wallid, in the first World Championship, but his guard is still undecipherable. Earlier that Sunday, July 26, Roleta was responsible for ending the 11 year invincibility of Carlson's fighter (today the leader of the BTT) in his Jiu-Jitsu career, in the super-heavyweight category. And now, in the final of the open class division, the two fighters, in the primes of their careers, meet yet again.
The time limit for the black-belt division is ten minutes. But, from the moment the match began to Sperry’s hand being raised in victory, twenty minutes passed, at least. Around the ring, dozens of fighters watched and pressured the fighter Paulo Caruso, who was chosen as head arbiter. The timer, which was installed to inform the spectators, goes out at the very beginning.
With a strategy meant to nullify what Roleta had that was most worrisome, Sperry starts by pulling guard. The super-heavyweight champion, like a squid, neutralizes his adversary’s strong legs and obliges him to give his back so as not to be mounted. To prevent the last hook from going in and the points with it, Zé Mario pulls Roleta's pant leg. Worn out, the whole side rips. The fight stops. Pants are changed and the fight starts again standing. Now, Roleta comes at him from below, Zé Mario shakes him off.
After taking Gurgel down, Saulo positions himself on top to win the heavyweight division.
The commotion happens when the two leave the ring and Sperry adds time to the clock. The arbiter told them to stop, but who besides the two could hear? The crowd hollers, celebrates, boos. The toughest spectators on the planet invade the fight arena. End of discussion, the battle begins anew, advantages were inadvertently added to the scores of both athletes. The crowd is made up of specialists, but nobody understands exactly what happened.
The breakdown, crude as it is, which is inescapable even with the videotape, is this: Ze “Machine” Sperry shakes Roleta. And shakes Roleta. In the end, by four advantages to three, in a score without points, the verdict: Sperry is, for the first (and only) time, world open class champion.
The invasion of the ring after the open class decision.
The two protagonists of the story of the open class final were the big names of the third world championship. But it’s not so easy to come to that conclusion as the fact that they got to the most important final suggests. It was a championship marked by great fights, images, and standout individual performances. Saulo Ribeiro was consecrated heavyweight champion. It was a great year for him, the best in his career. And despite his absence in the open-weight category, Royler’s student wrote his name in history by getting by Murilo Bustamante and Fabio Gurgel one after the other on the same day.
 Royler was consecrated three-time champion, undeniably, Leozinho managed to have his revenge on Marcio Feitosa, in a hotly disputed lightweight final. Fernandinho Vasconcellos came from California to get past Jamelão and take the middleweight title.
Roberto Traven beat Johnny Machado in the super-heavyweight category and Nino Schembri was a show apart, shutting out the middleweight Rafael Gordinho before plowing through the rest of his adversaries like a tornado.
 Fast paced movement contrasts with a little break where an arbiter is asked: “May I choke him with my belt?” Notable absent from the open class category, Schembri leaves the tough task of facing Carlson's duo Murilo and Sperry to his partner Roleta, without helping, nor explaining. But the inventor of ski-jitsu, who also held the gold and silver to his name that year, had nothing to complain about. Nor did Sperry, the greatest shaker on the planet!
Leozinho does a somersault and grabs Feitosa’s foot on his way to the lightweight title (above left). Nino shows why one should do stretches in one of his blitzes to conquer the middleweight division (below right).
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