Caio Terra against Bruno Bastos in photo by Deb Blyth

The fourth installment of the American Cup tournament promises plenty of great matches this weekend in San Jose, California. On the list of submission wizards on the roster are two top black belts: Caio Terra and Rafael “Formiga”.

Caio generally competes in the rooster or light feather weight divisions, where most diminutive athletes face off, but he always catches the fighters at the other end of the weight spectrum off guard in the absolute. Hence his being dubbed a “fiesty little ant” by his bigger victims. At the 2010 American Nationals Caio plowed through the competition, winning gold in the open weight class. Now his ant counterpart (“formiga” means “ant” in Portuguese) competes at either middle or lightweight, and he won the open weight group at the recent New York Open.

There may be some surprises standing in the way of a showdown between “ants,” though, like Cassio Werneck black belt Marco Torregrossa.

Stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com, and keep up on all the goings-on at the event here.

Laércio celebrates with Giva at American Nationals. Photo: Deb Blyth.

A light featherweight with a pesky guard, Laércio Fernandes has been standing out in international competition. In 2010, the Lotus black belt and Givanildo Santana student conquered his second American national title, with a win over Caio Terra, as well as having won the Honolulu Open. Now the fighter warms up his engines for another gold-medal run, at the European Open.

I’m getting ready for this November’s European Open. Giva and I are training together every day and we managed to correct some mistakes I made last year. Now, in January, I’ll stay put in Brazil, since Giva is focused on his MMA training. So during this period I’ll train at Lotus Osasco and Cia Paulista, Guigo, and Barbosa academies. I have a lot of friends in these places and can only thank them for having helped me so much,” he says.

“This year I intend to compete at all the IBJJF competitions. Besides the European Open, I want to be at most of the Open events, the Brazilian Nationals, the Pan, and the Worlds,” adds the black belt.

Of these targets, the Worlds is his dream. Laércio knows it won’t be easy winning the light featherweight division, but his triumph over one of the big names of the lighter weight categories in 2010 makes him more confident.

“There are a lot of tough athletes out there, and I can name ten who can become world champions,” he says.

“After beating Caio, a lot more people came to know who I am and appreciate what I do, since he’s an excellent athlete and was a world champion. However, the win is now in the past and I’m focused only on my training,” he says in closing.

Do as Laércio does, participate at IBJJF events.

To find out more about the European Open, click here.

To find out more about the Houston Open, click here.

Caio Terra literally upside down to beat superheavyweight Bruno Bastos at last American Nationals / Photo: Alicia Anthony.

Caio Terra was one of 2010’s big standouts on the mats. The roosterweight caught attention by securing gold in the absolute division in two major events, the American Nationals and the Las Vegas International Open.

However, the rivalry with three-time world champion Bruno Malfacine, his great rival at roosterweight, drew attention too.

“At my weight, he’s the toughest, he’s really strong. At the 2008 World, I submitted him; at the 2009 Worlds, I sunk a triangle but he left the mat and won by points; and in 2010 I’m certain I won the match, although he took it by an advantage point,” says Caio in an article by reporter Deb Blyth featured in GRACIEMAG 165.

There’s another Worlds coming up in 2011 and the matchup may arise again. To achieve his desired result: Caio gives the recipe:

“I’m going to train hard to submit him in 2011.”

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A dupla do pluma no Mundial No-Gi ensina a guarda aranha. Foto: John Lamonica.

Em destaque na GRACIEMAG #165, Caio Terra vem aprontando nas principais competições, seja nas divisões de peso – Caio costuma lutar de pluma e de galo – ou no absoluto, como ocorreu no Las Vegas Open e no American Nationals, recentemente.   

Na revista GRACIEMAG, o faixa-preta comenta uma das grandes rivalidades do Jiu-Jitsu atual, entre ele mesmo e o tricampeão mundial Bruno Malfacine. Além disso, conta como faz nos treinamentos para derrotar os oponentes mais pesados. 

No vídeo abaixo, com os faixas-pretas Matheus Henrique e Samir Chantre, seu parceiro no título mundial sem kimono, Caio ensina boas variações da guarda aranha, com uma raspagem e uma finalização. 

Confira e aprenda:   

Quer saber mais, então assine a sua GRACIEMAG clicando aqui.

The light featherweight duo at the No-Gi Worlds teaches the spider guard. Photo: John Lamonica.

Featured in GRACIEMAG #164, Caio Terra has been wreaking havoc in the big competitions, whether in the weight groups – Caio tends to compete either at light feather or at roosterweight – or in the absolute, as he did at the recent Las Vegas Open and the American Nationals.

In GRACIEMAG magazine, the black belt comments on his current rivalry in Jiu-Jitsu, between he and three-time world champion Bruno Malfacine. Furthermore, he speaks of how he goes about training to beat much bigger opponents.

In the video below, including black belts Matheus Henrique and Samir Chantre, the co-holder of his No-Gi world title, Caio teaches some great spider-guard variations, with a sweep and finish.

Watch and learn:

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Samir catches Barata's foot. Photo: personal archive.

Runner-up at the 2009 No-Gi Worlds Samir Chantre would be excused for being a bit disappointed taking silver again this year. Far from it. He celebrated taking second as though it were first. Although he and Caio Terra went through with the final, they had agreed to the result beforehand. The truth is that the teammates from Gracie Fighter closed out the light featherweight final.

“It still hasn’t hit me 100%. I’ve been training for this since I was a kid and I’ve been just missing. You never know when your time has come, but thank God, it came. It was really rough, I’d never made weight at light featherweight without the gi before. Last Worlds I didn’t make it and ended up going in as a feather at the last minute. This time I made it, and it was very gratifying to be able to close out with Caio,” he told GRACIEMAG.com.

The black belt comments on his competition campaign:

“I got a by and then had a great semifinal with Rafael “Barata” de Freitas. It was a great and lively match; we didn’t stop for a second. I had two really good foot attacks. I tried some sweeps and in the end it was decided on an advantage point. After that I was already overjoyed because I was sure Caio would win the other bracket. He got the finish and we shut out the division. Another dream come true!”

Samir and Caio Terra. Photo: John Lamonica.

The year has been bountiful for Samir. Besides the American national title and the double with Caio at the No-Gi Worlds, the black belt took second at the Rio Open.

“Now I want to rest. I trained hard and cutting weight was stressful. There were people who helped me train, like Caio, Matheus André, and the whole gang at Gracie Fighter, as well as my master in Brazil, Alan Moraes. I thank God for this title and want to congratulate Caio Terro on winning the event for the third year in a row,” he says in closing.

GRACIEMAG was there when Samir got his black belt. Photo: Carlos Ozório

A black belt under Alan Moraes at Carlson Gracie team, Samir Chantre moved to the USA, where he teaches at Gracie Fighter academy, Cesar Gracie’s team. At this year’s American Nationals, the black belt took top spot in the featherweight division after beating beasts like Baret Yoshida and Wellington Megaton. Now his sights are on the No-Gi Worlds to take place November 8 in California.

Get to know a little more about the top competitor, here on GRACIEMAG.com.

Tell us about your American Nationals campaign.

This win was really important to me. I was in three finals in a row and came out runner-up in all three. It was a relief. I fought Baret Yoshida, who beat me at the 2009 No-Gi Worlds. I was bent on beating him. He’s a really experienced and flexible opponent with some really strong positions. I did the right game plan and managed to get him this time. I was in the final against Wellington Megaton, who I admire a lot, is great people. We went against each other at this year’s Worlds and I won in a tight, stale match. This time I let my game flow more and, thank God, I managed to sub him.

You’ve been competing in a number of competitions in the USA. What do you think of the level of the events over there?

The events are great; the organization and structure makes all the difference. The IBJJF keeps outdoing itself. The level of the North American athletes too is getting better and better and there’s no lack of examples of that. The gang here loves the sport and just dedicates more and more to it. A lot of the top Brazilians migrated here.

Samir going strong at black belt. Photo: Mike Colón

What are your upcoming challenges?

My next challenge is a competition in Arizona and then the No-Gi Worlds, which I was runner-up in last year as a featherweight. I’m unhappy about taking second place, but God knows what he’s doing. This year I’m going to make it up to that top step on the winners’ podium, I just haven’t decided in what division yet (light featherweight or featherweight).

At the American Nationals you won at featherweight. Do you intend to remain in that division?

I spent a bit of time in Brazil, back to my origins, training with my master Alan Moraes at Carlson Gracie academy. I did some tournaments and then relaxed. Recently I’ve been training real light. I had an injury that kept me out of training for a few weeks. When I came to, I was well over weight and I didn’t want to drop for the American Nationals, because there wasn’t much time and it wouldn’t be healthy. I’m always faced with this dilemma because I feel good at featherweight, but at the same time, it’s easy for me to drop to light featherweight.

Up next, the No-Gi Worlds. Photo: Personal archive

What’s your day-to-day life in the USA like?

Gracie Fighter team is great. I’m at Body Architecture MMA gym in San Jose every day at night doing my physical conditioning work with Lori Henderson. Jiu-Jitsu training with Caio Terra at Ultimate Fitness in San Ramon is real tough, which has helped in my evolution. Matheus André and André de Freitas are also always with us. The MMA part Cesar Gracie takes care of. Training is real tough and we have a great group. Thank God, I can’t complain about the training here!

Do as Samir Chantre does and participate in IBJJF events.

Faça como Samir Chantre e participe dos eventos da IBJJF:

To find out more about the Miami Open, click here.

To find out more about the No-Gi Brazilian Nationals, click here.

To find out more about the No-Gi Worlds, click here.

Vinicinho and Alan Moraes. Photo: Carlos Ozório

Caio Terra has been turning heads for being a roosterweight (Jiu-Jitsu’s lightest division) who beats the big guys in the absolute division, like he did recently at the Las Vegas Open and American Nationals.

However, brave little fellows successfully venturing into the absolute division is not a recent phenomenon. A Carlson Gracie representative who won the world championship as a brown belt and was world runner-up at black, Vinícius Cruz ran amok against the thick-framed fighters of his day.

Towards the end of the nineties, Vinícius won the open weight class at a major tournament in Rio de Janeiro. The fighter tapped out two opponents before closing out the final with teammate Vitor Dórea. In the match that caught the most attention, Cruz brought his bout against now-IBJJF referee Maurício Russo to conclusion with his weapon of specialty, the collar choke.

“The collar choke is an excellent weapon against heavier opponents. It’s saved my skin a bunch of times!” recalls the stalwart competitor.

In the video below, the black belt teaches two variations on the position: the traditional way of performing the collar choke and then a method the specialist on the subject himself came up with. Watch and learn here on GRACIEMAG.com.

Check out the action as captured by the lenses of Mike Colón and Deb Blyth.

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On Saturday, in the adult super heavy brown belt division, James Puopolo, from Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu was the big winner of the day, winning gold in both his weight class and the absolute.

Puopolo, Saulo, and his father. Photos: Deb Blyth

In the adult brown belt absolute, Puopolo had three matches on Saturday. In his first match, he won by submission. “I was able to get a triangle right off the bat,” Puopolo says. In his second match, Puopolo fought Sean Roberts. “He gave me some problems,” he says, “He swept me and tried to submit me. It was 4-4 when I caught him with an armbar and submitted him.” In his third and final match, Puopolo was victorious with a 9-0 win.

On Sunday, he fought Brett Aldrich from Rodrigo Teixeira in his divisional final. Puopolo had two matches in his weight division and he did not mess around. In his first match, he went up against Ricardo Buffara from BJJ Revolution and got him in a triangle choke. In his final match with Aldrich, Puopolo pulled guard and got a deep collar grip in. “I opened my guard, and worked the pass,” he says, “He had a good pass defense. I got around, got into mount, and submitted him with a choke from mount.”

This gave him two gold medals for the weekend. “That was the goal,” he says, “I love these tournaments. They aren’t too big or too small, and I always get good matches.” Puopolo says he loves the American Nationals and won gold at both blue and purple belts as well.

Runez with his teacher Bruno Bastos

In the lightweight, adult brown belt division, Peter Runez of Nova Uniao and Noah Tillis of BJJ Revolution met in the final match, with Runez pulling off the big win. He had three matches and a bye on Sunday.

In his first match, Runez says he fought a “great kid.” Runez says he won the fight 10-0, but “I couldn’t get a submission on him. He was a really tough guy.” In his second match, he won by guillotine and in his third and final match, he faced off with Tillis. Showing true jiu-jitsu sportsmanship, Runez says, “He’s (Tillis) a wrestler. I was lucky to hang on.”

The final match was very aggressive and explosive. Both players tried to take each other down, sometimes ending up out of bounds or beyond the mat borders.

Peter Runez vs. Tillis

Runez says, “He (Tillis) was great. It was a good tournament.” Runez trains at three schools, Peak Performance, Team Lutter, and Octagon, and can next be found at the No-Gi Worlds in November.

In the adult medium weight brown belt finals, Sean Roberts from Ralph Gracie and Tim Peterson from Lotus Club BJJ promised to put on a good show. Roberts was in Peterson’s guard the majority of the match. Peterson swept and mounted Roberts, but Roberts eventually escaped. Peterson ended up taking gold, beating Roberts by points.

Peterson had three matches that day. In the first match he finished his opponent with an arm bar from guard. The second match he tried to take his competitor’s back from the closed guard. “I worked in half-guard then went to a 50/50,” Peterson says, “I swept him and he tried a foot lock, but he made an illegal move and was DQ’d.”

As for the final match with Roberts, Peterson says, “he likes to submit from closed guard. I pulled guard because I wanted to feel him out. I wanted to make the right decisions.” With time running out, Roberts tried a foot lock, but Peterson waited him out and won gold on points. “The experience was great,” Peterson says, “the IBJJF tournaments are so well run, and organized, and the refs are great. It was fun.”

Seraile and Yoshida

In the adult brown belt ultra heavy weight division, Raymond “Kong” Seraile of Undisputed prevailed over 42-year old, former NFL football player Jarrod Bunch of Werdum Combat Club. These, surprisingly agile, 250-pound giants shook the building as they each tried to win the gold medal in their division. They definitely did not spar by using judo grips and pushing each other back and forth. These two were standing up, going for takedowns, and fighting hard from the ground.

They had one match, which Seraile won by points. “I’ve had a match with Jarrod at purple in the 2008 No Gi Worlds,” Seraile says, “I know he’s tough. He’s an ex pro football player. He’s very active. There are not a lot of guys out there competing like that. I knew it would be intense and hard.”

Seraile was happy to fight Bunch at a lower weight. “He was much bigger at the No-Gi Worlds,” he says, “He’s smaller now and it’s gi fighting. I felt like had the advantage. I took what I was given.”

Seraile trains with Baret Yoshida, who’s 135 pounds. This helps him perfect his techniques and requires him to use less strength. “I have to be technical and have finesse,” he says, “That’s where my agility comes from.”

Seraile says it can be frustrating for someone in his weight class because he can train really hard for a tournament and then show up and have no one in his bracket, so he’s happy to have Bunch around to challenge him. “I would like to see how I match up against him this year in the No-Gi Worlds since he beat me last time,” he says. We have a big rematch on the horizon.

In the master’s brown belt division, Scott Carr of Gracie Barra Costa Mesa, was the big winner of the master’s absolute.  In the open, Carr had three matches. In his first fight, he won on points. In his second, he submitted his opponent from half-guard with a straight armbar.

His third and final match was against fellow Gracie Barra competitor, Felipe “the brown brick” Guedes of Gracie Barra Dana Point. Guedes took Carr down, but Carr then locked in the armbar from the guard, submitting him to take gold.

As for his divisional matches, Carr just shrugs his shoulders, “I won and then I lost. I got silver in the final.” So Carr went home with a gold in the absolute and a silver medal in his weight class.

“It’s been a great experience,” Carr says, “All my competitors were excellent. It was nice to have a Gracie Barra final open match. I felt really confident at this tournament. I trained really hard for it.”

As for Felipe Guedes, he had a big day himself. After winning silver on Saturday, he came back to his master’s medium brown belt division and took gold on Sunday.  Guedes had three fights that day. He won the first and second matches by points and the final by Ezekiel choke.

Felipe Guedes and his GB crew

“I was on top trying to pass guard,” Guedes says of his final match, “and I sunk in the Ezekiel from half-guard. Then he recovered full guard, but the choke got tighter and I finished him.”

This is Guedes’s second tournament and first gold medal as a brown belt. “I’m very happy right now,” Guedes says, “Professor Flavio (Almeida) came to coach me in my weight class. He said I was good, but I need to make some improvements to my game. I’m happy to go back to the gym to work on my mistakes now.”

Caio Terra in photo by Deb Blyth

Following his conquest of two absolute titles, at the Las Vegas Open and the American Nationals, Caio Terra teaches his secrets in two seminars.

This Thursday, BJJ Conquest academy will receive the black belt for a no-gi seminar. Activities go from 6 pm to 9 pm in Crofton, Maryland. The price to attend is US$ 75 and contact can be made via the websites www.caioterra.com and www.bjjconquest.com. Or by telephone (443) 668-9769.

Then, the champion will don his gi on October 3 in Claymont, Delaware, at XS Combat academy. The price is the same and, again, it is open to all. The contact information iswww.caioterra.com or (410) 599-5750.

Caio against Bruno in photo by Deb Blyth

Caio Terra and Bruno Bastos had the most important match of the IBJJF’s American Nationals. The roosterweight faced off with the super heavyweight in the absolute decider and was crowned champion, in a true David and Goliath showdown.

The owner of a pesky guard, Caio caused some discomfort with his omoplatas and threw a wrench in Bastos’s pass attempts.

Check out how it went in the video below: