Santiago e mais uma batalha agendada no UFC. Foto: Carlos Arthur/GRACIEMAG

Um duelo Brasil x Argentina foi marcado para o UFC. Mas a rivalidade clássica no futebol tem sabor diferente dentro das oito linhas do últimate. Isso porque o gringo em questão é Santiago Ponzinibbio, o argentino gente boa que ficou conhecido no Brasil após o “TUF Brasil 2”.

Em sua batalha, no UFC 175, Santiago encara o duro Ildemar Marajó, ex-campeão do Jungle Fight e irmão do também atleta do UFC Iuri Marajó. Ele se juntam aos brasucas Thiago Marreta, que encara Uriah Hall, Bruno Santos, que enfrenta Chris Camozzi, sem falar nos principais nomes da noite, Wanderlei Silva e Lyoto Machida, que encaram Chael Sonnen e Chris Weidman, respectivamente.

Mas a leva de brasileiros com lutas recém-agendadas no UFC não para por aí. Temos mais alguns guerreiros em nossa lista. Confira:

No dia 28 de junho, Hacran Dias terá pela frente o ex-desafiante ao cinturão peso-pena Ricardo Lamas. Hacran se une aos também brasileiros Antonio Braga Neto, campeão mundial de Jiu-Jitsu que encara Clint Easter; Luiz Besouro, que volta após desclassificação, contra Sean Spencer; Marcelo Magrão, que encara Andy Enz; Carlos Diego Ferreira, que estreia no UFC contra Colton Smith, e Cezar Mutante, escalado para enfrentar Andrew Craig.

Já no dia 16 de julho, Edson Barboza, que vem de derrota para Donald Cerrone, atua no card que o Cowboy faz a luta principal contra Jim MIller. Barboza enfrenta Evan Dunham. Junto a ele, teremos Lucas Mineiro estreando na divisão de pesos-penas do UFC, ao encarar Jim Alers. No mesmo card, ainda teremos o combate entre Gleison Tibau e Pat Healy. Para agosto, Bethe Correia busca manter sua invencibilidade contra Shayna Baszler.

E você, leitor, está mais animado para qual luta brasuca no UFC? Comente conosco!

Ricardo Evangelista, sweeper from GFTeam. Photo: Rafael Carvalho/GRACIEMAG

Ricardo Evangelista was just one fight away from a perfect performance at the Brazilian National. But not even the defeat to Rafael Lovato Jr. in the black belt absolute final takes the mood away from the GFTeam athlete.

“It was good, a lot of people must have been surprised with my performance in the competition, huh,” laughs the black belt. “In the absolute final, I thought about submitting quickly, that’s what I did wrong,” he acknowledges.

Evangelista talked about the lessons learned in Barueri, analyzed the strategy used to beat Rodrigo Cavaca in the final of the ultra heavy division, and also taught us one of his favorite positions — useful for light and heavy guys. Check it out:

GRACIEMAG: How do you feel about your performance at the Brazilian National this year? Are you happy or upset?

RICARDO EVANGELISTA: I really enjoyed my performance, and many people must have been amazed and surprised with it (laughs)! I tried to fight forward and play my game. Today I managed to use a more aggressive game, but what made the difference was the heart and will. People don’t know, but today I teach in five different places and have to adapt my training and physical preparation in between. It is not easy to do it all the time, but I got the title.

Let’s talk about the ultra heavy gold first, the fight that came before the open final. What did you do there?

I’m a big fan of Cavaca and when the fight was over I talked to him. I went to fight with a strategy, in case he pulled guard first, but I managed to close the guard first and started ahead. I managed to sweep from the closed guard twice. It was an honor to have fought him. I felt very comfortable when I closed the guard and the victory began there. In the end, he scared me when he went for the foot lock, but those were the final seconds and I could resist. I think Cavaca is very flexible. With all that size, I couldn’t mount, and we got into a battle of mounting attempts and defense.

And the absolute final with Lovato. You almost passed, tried to get the back, but in the end you tapped out. Did you make any mistakes?

Lovato came from a long distance and took our medal, but it was deserved. He had a superb championship performance and every one of us would be congratulated. Unfortunately I lost. I think it was a very long time since I fought so many matches. Starting at the weight semifinal I felt my muscles fatigued. I had opportunities during the fight and thought about submitting soon — that’s what I did wrong. He knew how to use the strategy and play his game at the exact moment that I made a mistake. He deserves congratulations for the title.

Would you do anything differently?

I’ll try to make fewer mistakes and prepare myself better. When we meet again, it will be different. I’ll be better prepared physically and will push my pace of the fight, as I did at the beginning of this one. The lesson is: “No matter how many times you’ve been put to the test, believe in yourself.”

Tell us more about your sweeps. What is your favorite that is useful to our readers?

What I like to do, and my students in Rio like it too, is the “balloon sweep.” I could only do it once during the tournament, but it is always useful. I call it the “six-points sweep” (laughs) because you sweep and mount.

Video in Portuguese

Lovato defending his open guard against Ricardo Evangelista in the finals at the Brazilian National 2013. Photo: Rafael Carvalho/GRACIEMAG

In a great absolute final at the Brazilian National 2013 in Baruri, Sao Paulo, Rafael Lovato Jr. and Ricardo Evangelista began the match squaring off on their feet. When Lovato pulled guard, “Jegue” from GFTeam went for the pass right away against the black belt from Oklahoma, a student of Saulo and Xande Ribeiro.

He wasn’t able to pass and the American defended himself well, even when Evangelista almost got to the back. Lovato kept calm, got on top and, at the last minute, passed the guard and submitted the Brazilian ultra heavyweight.

Check out how he did it in the video below:

João Gabriel goes for the foot of Leonardo Nogueira, in the super heavy final of Brazilian 2013. Photo: Rafael Carvalho

With all his weight and absolute medals, João Gabriel Rocha (Soul Fighters) reached the incredible mark of 18 titles in 20 years at the Brazilian National that the CBJJF has held since 1994.

The young black belt from Rio, a champion since he was four, has gold medals from his years at yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown and now black belt with an epic final over one of Alliance’s aces, Leonardo Nogueira.

“If I’m not mistaken, he didn’t win only two times. One he lost while a yellow belt. The other, at orange belt, he didn’t take part because the championship was on the belt examination day at our gym,” says Bruno “Tanque” Mendes, a leader of Soul Fighters.

In the final, João beat Leo. He opened the score of 2-0 by attacking Nogueira’s foot (photo). Then he passed the tough guard of the Alliance ace, took the back, scoring 9-0. Leo defended his back and swept, but then the champion swept back, 11-2.

“And he didn’t want to fight the weight after losing the absolute, Tatu and I pressured him to go. That classic Jiu-Jitsu psychology worked,”  says Tanque.

The pupil of Leandro “Tatu” talked to GRACIEMAG about his best moments in the championship in Barueri, and also the worst. Check it out:

GRACIEMAG: After 17 gold medals at the Brazilian National at all belts, you finally win a gold at black belt. Was the feeling any different?  

JOÃO GABRIEL ROCHA: It was unforgettable but I think in the end I went to fight very relaxed, as in all belts. I took all the pressure of having to win and trusted a lot in my game and myself. And it is not easy to fight with a good mind after losing the absolute. I fought on Saturday against Roberto Tussa (GB), a great athlete, but I think in the end I lost to myself. At the time of the match I didn’t do the things I trained for and he used his experience to his favor. After this fight, however, I learned that in the black belt division you have to be patient. There aren’t seven or eight minutes, it is ten minutes now.

What was your biggest mistake in defeat, and the big lesson?

I think I learned to pace myself during a Jiu-Jitsu match, and to play with time in my favor.

How was the feeling of getting to the final of super heavy and looking at the double world champion Leo Nogueira on the other side?  

Needless to say, Leo is a great athlete. He is very complete, plays well on top and bottom and is very dangerous. I knew that the fight would be complicated. The solution was pacing myself throughout the fight, and always putting him in danger. I couldn’t focus only on his half guard; I had to pay attention to everything because he is such a complete fighter. I attacked a lot, but I also defended myself when he got his sweep, which worried me. But everything worked out. Before the final I just thought I got what it takes to be the champion. It only depended on me.

What was the main factor of your victory?

The mental part. I changed my mind completely from the absolute on Saturday, to the weight division on Sunday. Competing since I was very young helps a lot, I didn’t get lost. But the coaching is key. (Leandro) Tatu was on me all the time. He believes in me more than myself.

What goes on in your mind after winning the Brazilian National at all belt levels since you were 4 years old?

It is a complete cycle. There were many years of learning and hard training at Soul Fighters in Tijuca to get here. For the next championships, however, I will be the same João, always playing forward to submit.