After a victorious tour of Japan, on June 28, where he conquered the lightweight category at the Rickson Cup, Nova Uniao black belt Gustavo Dantas is already back in the United States and rolling up his sleeves in preparation for the Arizona BJJ State Championships, to be held this July 11 and 12.
And just as Jiu-Jitsu is spreading across the globe, GRACIEMAG.com is too. The team of journalists will be at the event put together by Dantas and will be doing special coverage of the tournament expected to bring in around 500 athletes.
Competitors (except for kids) will receive a copy of GRACIE Magazine and the chance to win a 32” LCD TV, an Ipod Touch, Nintendo DS and DVDs, plus US$ 1,000 in prize money to the winner of the absolute black belt category.
Discount-rate sign-ups end today. Anyone to register by midnight Pacific US time will enjoy the rate of US$ 50. Anyone to leave it till the final deadline of July 8, will have to shell out US$ 60. There will also be a children’s competition, with the same sign-up deadlines. To sign-up or for greater information, click here.
On the Rickson Cup, Gustavo Dantas says he is happy with his participation in the championship, which he feels was wonderfully organized by Taka Watanabe (president of the Japanese Jiu-Jitsu Federation). The fighter feels, however, his performance in the Rickson Cup was the most tiring of his life.
Gustavo Dantas at top of podium at Rickson Cup / Photo: publicity
“My performance was ok. It was the most tiring Jiu-Jitsu experience of my life. I arrived on Saturday, to fight on Sunday. I was jet-lagged. I won my matches on points. It wasn’t pretty, but the result was positive,” said Dantas, who confirmed his intention of disputing the Jiu-Jitsu Pan-American and No-Gi Worlds, both organized by the IBJJF.
