With the dream of performing in the biggest grappling event in the world, over 300 athletes went at it at the second Brazilian ADCC trials, which took place Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. Five athletes — one from each weight class — won the gold and the trip to Finland. Check out the final results.

The 66kg favorite, Paulo Miyao, beat Bruno Silva via RNC.

At 77kg, Checkmat teammates Marcelo “Lapela” Mafra and Gabriel Rollo went to war. It went to Lapela by decision.

At 88kg, purple-belt Kaynã Casemiro won most bouts by submission and finally defeated Patrick Gáudio on points.

At 99kg, Alliance representative Salomão Ribeiro beat Vinicius Castro via RNC.

In a clash of generations, young Victor Honório and veteran Leonardo “Chocolate” Lúcio did a great fight above 99kg. Honório won on points.

The podia turned out thus:

*66kg*
1st Paulo Miyao
2nd Bruno Silva
3rd Pedro Nobre

*77kg*
1st Marcelo “Lapela” Mafra
2nd Gabriel Rollo
3rd Lucas Araujo

*88kg*
1st Kaynã Casemiro
2nd Patrick Gaudio
3rd Ted Márcio

*99kg*
1st Salomão Ribeiro
2nd Vinicius Castro
3rd Henrique Garcez

*+99kg*
1st Victor Honório
2nd Leonardo Lúcio “Chocolate”
3rd Gabriel Lucas “Fedor”

In its next stop, the ADCC will hold on Feb. 11 in Sao Paulo a superfight between UFC fighter Charles do Bronx and BJJ world champion Celsinho Venícius over ten minutes, under ADCC rules. The same day and venue will see Rodolfo Vieira’s MMA debut at Arzalet Fighting Globe Championship.

[Based on a press release.]

Gabriel Vella attacks Glover. Photo: Mauro dos Santos www.olutador.com.

One of the black belts with the most mileage in world Jiu-Jitsu’s top flight, Gabriel Vella is still at it making life hard on his opponents. This time, the Ryan Gracie rep took top honors at the Brazilian tryouts for the ADCC, this past weekend in São Paulo. On Saturday, the fighter’s birthday, Vella secured a spot in the semifinals. But his present came on the following day, when he won the event after beating the hard-nosed Glover Teixeira in the over 99 kg division.

“All the fights were really tough and I had to keep focused to not make mistakes. At the tryouts for the last ADCC I ended up in a really thorny bracket and ended up losing to Antoine Jaoude. But now it’s my time!” he told GRACIEMAG.com.

“The final was truly the most hotly disputed one and is the most satisfying. I had to face a great opponent, Glover Teixeira, and I was happy about it. I made it to a dangerous position and only won in overtime. I managed to defend his attacks and always counter-attacked. I took his back and tried for the finish. He escaped, and it was an exciting 15 minutes,” he says.

Now the fighter’s full attention is turned to the ADCC.

“If I were back in the old days I’d compete in everything. But these days I divide my time as a husband, athlete, teacher, psychologist… So I’m going to make a priority of what I don’t have yet. I’ve never won the ADCC, so I’m going there to win,” he forewarns.

But what’s this business about being a psychologist?!

“To be a Jiu-Jitsu teacher you have to be that too. Of course, it’s just a joke I like telling, but in adding polish to professionals in this sport you have to be a complete teacher!” he said in closing.