Erberth Santos após raspar Jaime Canuto, na final do absoluto. Foto: Gustavo Aragão

Ao descer do pódio do Rio Winter International Open 2015, o torneio de inverno da IBJJF no Rio de Janeiro, Erberth Santos estava 99% satisfeito – apesar das duas medalhas de ouro conquistadas neste domingo, 26 de julho.

“Ser vaiado é ruim”, admite o jovem campeão da academia Guigo Jiu-Jitsu, com olhar tranquilo e a voz serena. “Eu acho que sou muito jovem ainda, tenho 21 anos, e o que o pessoal vê como marra é apenas vontade de vencer. Sei que vou amadurecer, e já pensei em ser um cara diferente, em não reagir como reajo olhando para a torcida. Mas é o meu jeito de lutar. O pessoal por vezes não sabe, mas estou há oito meses sem ver minha mãe em Roraima, tenho um filho pequeno que não abraço há meses, tudo pelo sonho de ser um grande campeão. Hoje provei novamente que sou o melhor faixa-preta em ação aqui no Brasil, com mais um ouro absoluto para juntar com o Brasileiro deste ano”.

Sem mostrar marra nem voz de coitado, Erberth prossegue contando o que sentiu durante a vitória contra Jaime Canuto (GFTeam) por 8 a 2 na final do absoluto faixa-preta, com direito a uma raspagem e uma passagem de guarda fatal. No superpesado, ele finalizou Pedrinho Moura (Ribeiro JJ) nas costas.

“Eu vim sozinho lutar o torneio, meu professor não pôde vir, e não vou deixar alguns gritos da torcida contra me abalar. Tenho um sonho, e nada vai me tirar do meu caminho”.

Erberth contou que agora vai dar uma parada, “para curar algumas pequenas contusões antes que se agravem”. Ao retornar, a fera de Roraima já tem planos bem traçados:

“Vou subir de peso, com a ajuda de meu preparador físico, e lutar o Mundial 2016 como pesadíssimo. Quero ser o mais rápido da categoria”, disse a fera, que este ano parou no evento da IBJJF para duas feras: João Gabriel Rocha no peso, e Bernardo Faria no absoluto.

“Não é demérito nenhum perder para esses dois, bem mais experientes e em grande fase. Mas acho que no pesadíssimo posso surpreender. Meu professor Guigo lutava lá e acho que posso repetir seu feito e ser campeão mundial naquela categoria”, conclui.

Nas disputas por equipe, deu GFTeam novamente:

1. GF Team – 182
2. Nova União – 117
3. Alliance JJ – 84

Confira os demais campeões do Rio Open 2015, na faixa-preta:

Absoluto: Erberth Santos venceu Jaime Canuto por 8 a no

Galo: Raul Marcello venceu Guilherme Hideki por 4 a 0

Pluma: Philipe Freitas venceu Douglas Rufino por 3 vantagens a 2 (0 a 0)

Pena: Isaque Paiva venceu Gilson Nunes após 8 a 8 no placar – 3 a 1 nas vantagens

Leve: Sandro Vieira venceu Fabio Caloi por 6 a 0 (passagens de guarda)

Médio: Jaime Canuto fechou com Vinicius Marinho

Meio-pesado: Pedro Pimenta venceu Romulo Azevedo por 2 a 0

Pesado: Marcus Moraes “Morcego” venceu Marcos Júnior na decisão (0 a 0)

Superpesado: Erberth Santos finalizou Pedro Moura nas costas

Pesadíssimo: Kauê Damasceno venceu Otavio Serafim por 9 a 0

Barbara Gomes passando a guarda: campeã absoluta no Rio Open 2015. Foto: Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG

Faixa-preta feminino:

Absoluto: Barbara Gomes venceu Fabiana Santos

Pluma: Alliny Santos venceu Carla Franco

Pena: Andressa Lídia venceu Kenia Lopes

Leve: Libia Christal venceu sem luta

Médio: Barbara Gomes foi campeã sem luta

Meio-pesado: Bruna Marques foi campeã sem luta

Pesado: Fabiana Santos foi campeã sem luta

Superpesado: Samela Leite venceu Luana Fiquene

Veja todos os campeões, aqui.

Erberth Santos at the 2015 Rio Winter Open. Photo by Gustavo Aragão

The 2015 Rio Winter Open wrapped up this Sunday in Brazil.

Erberth Santos and Barbara Gomes were the standouts in the adult black belt division.

Santos beat Jaime Canuto for the open class gold medal and Pedro Moura for the superheavy title.

After receiving his medals at the podium, he told GRACIEMAG’s Marcelo Dunlop about his feeling during the weekend: “It’s bad to be booed. The crowd was rooting for my opponents but that’s ok. I have a dream of becoming a big champion. I haven’t visited my mother in the last eight months and I haven’t seen my son for six months. I came here alone once my coach couldn’t make it. I won’t let a few boos from the crowd take me off of my course.”

Barbara came back from a defeat to Leanna Dittrich in the middleweight division to beat Fabiana Santos for the absolute gold.

The other results in the adult black belt division were:

BLACK / Adult / Male / Rooster

First – Raul Gomes Marcello – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu

Second – Guilherme Hideki Mori – Nova União

Third – Jorge Luiz Nakamura – GF Team

Third – Bruno Cesar Gomes da Silva Moreno – Nova União RN

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light Feather

First – Philipe Freitas Maciel de Oliveira – Equipe PH

Second – Douglas Rufino da Silva – CheckMat

Third – Gabriel Willcox Furley – Willcox Team

Third – Thomas Lincoln Correa Lisboa – Alliance JJ

BLACK / Adult / Male / Feather

First – Isaque Alberto de Oliveira Paiva – Saikoo Jiu-Jitsu

Second – Gilson Nunes De Oliveira Neto – GF Team

Third – João Humberto A. Ribeiro – Team Carvalho

Third – Onofre Ribeiro Lima – Fabricio International Team – FIT

BLACK / Adult / Male / Light

First – Sandro Gabriel Vieira – CheckMat

Second – Fabio Murat Caloi – Alliance JJ

Third – Lucas Benévolo Valle – Infight Jiu-Jitsu

Third – Luan de Carvalho Alves – Nova União

BLACK / Adult / Male / Middle

First – Vinícius Tavares Marinho – GF Team

Second – Jaime Soares Canuto – GF Team

Third – Jacob Williams Mackenzie – GF Team California

Third – Caio Almeida Silva – Ryan Gracie Team

BLACK / Adult / Male / Medium Heavy

First – Pedro Teixeira Alcantara Pimenta – Ryan Gracie Team

Second – Romulo de Souza Azevedo – Welton Ribeiro

Third – Rodrigo Fajardo – Gracie Barra

Third – Victor Del Corso Bomfim – GF Team

BLACK / Adult / Male / Heavy

First – Marcus Vinícius Moraes dos Santos – GF Team

Second – Marcos Aurélio Goulart Alves Junior – Game Fight BJJ/Manimal

Third – Felipe Menezes Bueno – Alliance JJ

Third – Augusto Cesar Caixeta Batista – Gracie Barra

BLACK / Adult / Male / Super Heavy

First – Erberth Santos de Mesquita – Guigo BJJ

Second – Pedro Henrique de Souza Moura – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu

Third – Luiz Felipe Teixeira dos Santos – GF Team

Third – Alex Aparecido Soares – Atrium BJJ

BLACK / Adult / Male / Ultra Heavy

First – Kauê Vitorino Damasceno – Nova União

Second – Otavio Tome Serafim – Barbosa Jiu Jitsu

Third – Kitner Mendonça de Moura – Ryan Gracie Team

Third – Thiago Gaia T. Oliveira Marques – GF Team

BLACK / Adult / Female / Light Feather

First – Alliny Karen Silva Santos – Nova União

Second – Carla Franco – Pedra 90

BLACK / Adult / Female / Feather

First – Andressa Lídia de Souza – Barbosa JJ

Second – Kenia da Silva Lopes – PRM Team

BLACK / Adult / Female / Light

First – Líbia Christal Alves Gonçalves – Braziliam Power Team – Brazil

BLACK / Adult / Female / Middle

First – Leanna M Dittrich – Fight Sports

Second – Barbara Gomes dos Santos – Universidade Católica de Brasília

BLACK / Adult / Female / Medium Heavy

First – Bruna Marques Oliveira Meneses – Barbosa Jiu Jitsu

BLACK / Adult / Female / Heavy

First – Fabiana Pereira Santos – Zenith BJJ

BLACK / Adult / Female / Super Heavy

First – Samela Shoham Lopes Leite – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu

Second – Luana Beatriz Gomes Fiquene – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu

Third – Marcelle Cantanhede de Almeida – Luciano Mendes

Third – Anna Carolina Luz Tavares – Soul Fighters BJJ

In the teams competition, GF Team took first place followed by Nova União and Alliance.

For the complete results, go to ibjjf.com.

Luanna Alzuguir puts on pressure in the Brazilian National in São Paulo. Photo: Rafael Carvalho/ GRACIEMAG

Champion of the middleweight and absolute divisions in 2013 Brazilian National in São Paulo, Luanna Alzuguir (Alliance) had to face even bigger ghost than her opponents last weekend.

First, she shrugged off the losses after leaving the WPJJC in Abu Dhabi with a silver medal in the weight division and the absolute.

After some training adjustments, however, she came back home with the fourth title in the black belt division. And in style, with an armbar on Michelle Nicolini during the absolute final. “Michelle and I have fought since 2005 and have never had any submissions, on either side,” recalls Luanna.

See what else she conquered and learned in her chat with GRACIEMAG.

GRACIEMAG: Did you have a perfect performance during the Brazilian CBJJ, Luanna?

LUANNA ALZUGUIR: This Brazilian National was one of the best championships of my career! I say it, not because of the result, but because of the mood of the competition and how I felt during the event. The championship level was very high and in the absolute, all three fights I had were against girls who are or have been world champions at black belt. Disputing a title like this is always motivating.

Did you feel it would be your day from the beginning?

At the beginning I felt stuck, but I moved on quite well from one fight to another. I’ve been building confidence and getting more comfortable to do my game. Many things have changed after the Gramado WPJJC Trial in March. In my physical preparation I spent more time doing drills. I also began to teach fewer classes. But undoubtedly the most important was the change in my thinking. I tried to compete with the greatest pleasure as possible and without feeling pressured, and it worked!

What have you learned after letting the gold slip in WPJJC Abu Dhabi in April?

This defeat has changed many things for me. I feel like I entered a new phase and I’m learning a lot with all this. I heard an interesting comment after the defeat I had in Abu Dhabi and it’s something to remember: “It’s not hard to get to the top and stay there; it is hard to be on the top, fall and get back there.” I wanted to outdo myself and win again more than ever.

What do you think you did differently from other athletes to win the weight and absolute categories?

Nowadays high-level competitors prepare well, both technically and physically and the distinctive aspect just comes from within us. It is the way of thinking, the willingness to fight and motivation. This was growing inside of me and I have no doubts that it made a difference. Also, I have Fabio Gurgel as coach, Luciano Casquinha working my physical preparation, Andresa Correa as a training partner and great friend, Alliance as a team and support from my family. Everything ends up making a difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2InxpGMZ-UI

How do you review the fight with Michelle Nicolini in the Brazilian National absolute final?

Michelle is an athlete who I really respect; I always want to be on the other side of the draw (laughs). She is experienced, technical and full of dangerous moves. Our fights are always wars, and in this fight I imposed my game the whole time and, by knowing her game well, I tried to defend what she does best. The strategy worked and I ended up ahead on points the whole match. By implementing my game and trying to submit, I ended up scoring. It was a fight where I made a few mistakes and I worried a lot about countering her game, so it would be possible to stay ahead by moving all the time. To avoid being trapped by her dangerous moves, I controlled her body well, without giving her any space. This time, the more I was evolving in the fight, the more I believed it would be possible to submit. I used the armbar from the high mount and it worked. It’s a move that I learned and sharpened with Murilo Santana in 2008, after losing the semifinal of the Brazilian National absolute against Luzia (Fernandes), where I had the opportunity to submit with this same move and I lost.

At the final of the middle weight, you faced Barbara Gomes and even took her back, but didn’t submit. What was missing?

Barbara is strong and is the type of person who fights until the end. I did my best to seize the moment and submit, but she resisted and defended herself. I’m not sure what went wrong at that time, but this week the first training I did was about the back (laughs). Repetition is the key to build confidence.

How many Brazilian National titles do you have as a black belt?

Four black belt titles and seven among all belts. It was my first absolute in the Brazilian National as a black belt and that was the only title missing in my career. I’m glad to have conquered it during these years of black belt. I’ve got all titles of our sport in weight and absolute. It’s the result of the commitment I have with my profession and my dreams.

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