Another edition of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Nationals has come to a close. Since yesterday was the day the brown belts showed their stuff, today was the day for the black belts to take over the Tijuca Tennis Club to bring the crowd to its feet in what was true war.
GRACIEMAG.com was present in the gymnasium and tells of what took place in the Tijuca Tennis Club, in Rio de Janeiro. Besides the burly battle of the weight groups, the stand-out presentation was by Alexandre Souza, who in the absolute final tapped out the Amazonian Antonio Braga Neto by one advantage point, confirming the good phase he is going through that brought him to win the European Championship (absolute).
Absolute runner up, Neto submitted Tiago Gaia quickly at super heavyweight. In the women’s open class, Luzia Fernandes, Gracie Cuiaba representative, upset lightweight winner Kyra Gracie (Gracie Barra) and guaranteed the gold medal, after a 3 to 0 win (passing the guard). Check out the disputes by weight:
Black belt finals (men’s adult)
Roosterweight
Felipe Costa (Brasa) vs Bruno Malfacine (UGF)
Winner: Bruno Malfacine
Super Featherweight
Daniel Beleza (Nova Uniao) vs Bernardo Pitel (Joao Roque)
Winner: Bernardo Pitel stamped his pace and submitted his opponent with a foot lock.
Featherweight
Bruno Frazatto (Brasa) vs Marcelino Freitas (Nova Uniao)
Winner: After a tough fight that ended 4 to 4, Marcelino Freitas took the title in the judges’ decision.
Lightweight
Michel Langui (Alliance) vs Vinicius Marinho (UGF)
Winner: Michel Langui who finished third at the Pan-American, came into the dispute hungry for victory and managed to get it after beating Vinicius Marinho by 4 to 0.
Middleweight
Alan do Nascimento (Brasa) vs Otavio de Souza (Gracie PE)
Winner: Alan Nascimento
Medium heavyweight
Alexandre Souza (Gracie Floripa) vs Eduardo Santoro (Cia Paulista)
Winner: Eduardo Santoro upset favorite Alexandre Souza (absolute finalist) by a penalty point, as the fight was tied in advantages.
Heavyweight
Mauro Cesar Guilherme (Gracie BH) vs Augusto Ferrari (Barbosa JJ)
Winner: Augusto Ferrari who did well in the absolute losing only in the semi, confirmed his good phase and submitted Cesar Guilherme with a variation on the omoplata
Super Heavyweight
Antonio Braga Neto (Gordo JJ) vs Thiago Gaia (Nova Uniao)
Winner: Neto won his first Brazilian championship at black belt, going past Nova União representative Thiago Gaia with a quick submission.
Ultra Heavyweight
Gabriel Vella (Alliance) vs Rodrigo Cavaca (Brasa)
Winner: This was without a doubt the most controversial fight of the tournament. In a hotly disputed fight, Vella managed to submit his adversary with a choke from the back. However, after the fight, the Alliance representative had to be contained by his master Fabio Gurgel, as, in the eyes of the judges, the act was considered disrespect and Vella was punished by having his title taken from him, and handed to the Brasa athlete.
Absolute
Antonio Braga Neto (Gordo JJ) vs Alexandre Souza (Gracie Floripa)
Winner: Alexandre managed an advantage point for a takedown attempt and effectively defended for the rest of the fight, taking the title of the most prestigious category in the championsip.
