Vitor Oliveira vs. Marcelo Mafra
It was fast, but thrilling.
The Long Beach BJJ Pro crowned its champions in the black belt division after awesome matches in the Long Beach Pyramid.
Here’s how each division came to be defined.
Male
Featherweight
Teammates Samir Chantre and Osvaldo Moizinho were the only two registered and as the rules prohibited a close out, Chantre advanced to the final to earn the prize and Moizinho placed third.
Middleweight
The most crowded division started out with Marcelo Mafra outscoring Magid Hage IV on the advantages.
Then, a freaky accident after a takedown at the beginning of the match took Nathan Mendelsohn out of commission with a dislocated elbow and granted Vitor Oliveira a spot in the final.
The second semifinal put Mafra against Rodrigo Freitas in another close match, but Mafra was able to finish it ahead, with a 4-2 score.
The gold medal match was short-lived, with Oliveira being able to get Mafra’s back and get a hold of the lapel to finish with a choke.
Heavyweight
With four athletes registered, Eliot Kelly first faced off with Gabriel Kitober. More aggressive, Kelly got a 4-1 lead on advantages to make it to the final.
The other semifinal was between Lucas Rocha and Vinicius Silva. Lucas controlled the match to get to a kimura lock and win.
The final was a close match with Rocha and Kelly fighting for sweeps. The final score was 4-4 and the referees unanimously decided that Rocha deserved the gold.
Ultra-heavy
Yuri Simões got his spot in the final with a dominant performance against Carlos Farias. A takedown, a gaurd pass and a knee to the belly built the 8-0 score.
The final was against James Puopolo and Yuri wasted no time to get a ezequiel choke in place to get the tap and take the gold medal home.
Female
Open Class
The only two women registered to compete were Mackenzie Dern and Ana Laura Cordeiro.
The duo met in the open class final and Dern had her best moment with a foot lock that Cordeiro had to spin to escape.
As the match went on, Cordeiro imposed her game to pass and finish with a kimura lock.
Click here for the full results.
Here are the best images of the day.
