Sponge Bob: CheckMat Paraíba athlete has been training with Ricardinho Vieira in Rio since November, and is one of the favorites. Publicity photo.
The rules and initial matchups for the December 17 Copa Pódio in Porto Alegre have been released. Part of the novelty of the event is that fans will be given a table to fill out over the course of the contest.
The 20 fights in the first stage will last 20 minutes, while the duration for the opening match, semifinals and finals will be 10 minutes, with a special rule: no points will be counted during the first five minutes.
For next year, the organization is putting together a middleweight GP. Athletes Guto Campos (Guetho) and Augusto Tio Chico (Renzo Gracie), who are in the event opener, have already guaranteed a place as seeds, according to event organizer, Jeferson Maycá.
Check out below who fights who in Copa Pódio:
| 19:15 | Opening | Guetho/Atos (Guto Campos) | Renzo Gracie (Tio Chico) | |
| 1st GP ROUND | ||||
| 19:30 | Green | GFTeam (Denilson Pimenta) | Atos (Ed Ramos) | |
| 19:38 | Green | Cícero Costha (Leandro Lo) | Alliance (Moacir Mendes Jr.) | |
| 19:46 | Yellow | Checkmat (Bob Esponja) | Soul Fighters (Vinicius Marinho) | |
| 19:54 | Yellow | Nova União (Eduardo Pessoa) | BTT (Leonardo Cascão) | |
| 2nd GP ROUND | ||||
| 20:02 | Green | Cícero Costha (Leandro Lo) | Lloyd Irvin (JT Torres) | |
| 20:10 | Green | Alliance (Moacir Mendes Jr) | Atos (Ed Ramos) | |
| 20:18 | Yellow | Nova União (Eduardo Pessoa) | Gracie Barra (Caloquinha) | |
| 20:26 | Yellow | Soul Fighters (Vinicius Marinho) | BTT (Leonardo Cascão) | |
| 3rd GP ROUND | ||||
| 20:34 | Green | Alliance (Moacir Mendes Jr) | GFTeam (Denilson Pimenta) | |
| 20:42 | Green | Atos (Ed Ramos) | Lloyd Irvin (JT Torres) | |
| 20:50 | Yellow | BTT (Leonardo Cascão) | Checkmat (Bob Esponja) | |
| 20:58 | Yellow | Soul Fighters (Vinicius Marinho) | Gracie Barra (Caloquinha) | |
| 4th GP ROUND | ||||
| 21:06 | Green | Atos (Ed Ramos) | Cícero Costha (Leandro Lo) | |
| 21:14 | Green | Lloyd Irvin (JT Torres) | GFTeam (Denilson Pimenta) | |
| 21:22 | Yellow | Soul Fighters (Vinicius Marinho) | Nova União (Eduardo Pessoa) | |
| 21:30 | Yellow | Gracie Barra (Caloquinha) | Checkmat (Bob Esponja) | |
| 5th GP ROUND | ||||
| 21:38 | Green | Lloyd Irvin (JT Torres) | Alliance (Moacir Mendes Jr.) | |
| 21:46 | Green | GFTeam (Denilson Pimenta) | Cícero Costha (Leandro Lo) | |
| 21:54 | Yellow | Gracie Barra (Caloquinha) | BTT (Leonardo Cascão) | |
| 22:02 | Yellow | Checkmat (Bob Esponja) | Nova União (Eduardo Pessoa) | |
| SEMIFINALS | ||||
| 22:30 | Fight 1 | 1st place of Green Group | 2nd place of Yellow Group | |
| 22:45 | Fight 2 | 1st place of Yellow Group | 2nd place of Green Group | |
| FINALS | ||||
| 23:00 | 3rd PLACE | Loser of the fight 1 | Loser of the fight 2 | |
| 23:15 | FINAL | Winner of the fight 1 | Winner of the fight 2 | |
