Proof the European Open just keeps getting bigger and more international, among the 1,800 athletes there was the infamous caravan from Japan.
And one of the standouts from the land of the samurais was Brazilian/Japanese Roberto Satoshi (Bonsai), who conquered an unprecedented title at lightweight brown belt after beating another very promising athlete in Jordan Schultz (Alliance). In the absolute, Satoshi took third – the winner was superheavyweight Alexander Trans (CheckMat).
“Shoot, thanks to you guys at GRACIEMAG.com everyone knew who I was when I got here, they came up and talked to me about my matches, my titles and all the articles on the site. It was worth the trip, I had four matches in the division, getting the finish in three. In the final I faced Jordan from Alliance, who was purple belt world champion in 2010 – and I managed to submit him with a choke. In the absolute I had four matches and lost to the champion, unfortunately,” remarked Satoshi, thanking his sponsors and celebrating the title he hadn’t yet had for his mantel.
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