Lee Villeneuve in action at Montreal WPJJC Trials (photo by Afrobraz)

At the Montreal, Canada chapter of the Abu Dhabi WPJJC Trials last weekend, one brown belt caught some major attention inthe heavyweight division.

Lee Villeneuve of BTT  dispatched every opponent he faced in his weight division in earning his all-expenses-paid travel to the April WPJJC in the United Arab Emirates.

Check out the Canadian’s performance as he gets free of an attack from BJJ Best Way’s Daniel Savery and passes guard and finishes.

Thiago Reinaldo, winner of the absolute black belt division at the 8th Open Terra do Sol / Photo: Junior Samurai/GRACIEMAG.com

This June 9 was a day of Jiu-Jitsu and submissions in Fortaleza, the capital of the Brazilian state of Ceará, when the 8th Open Terra do Sol set up shop and drew 760 competitors.

Amid the hordes who flooded into the city from elsewhere in Ceará State and the neighboring states of Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco and Piauí, the big standout was the black belt from the Northern state of Amazonas Thiago Reinaldo of team Asle, who had to muzzle four beasts before snatching the BRL 3,500 prize for winning the absolute.

The athlete from the academy of Henrique Machado, the same coach who produced the star Ronaldo Jacaré, commented on the achievement. “The campaign was great thanks to the preparation I’d been doing for the big competitions,” said Thiago, a four-time Amazonas State champion.

In the black belt absolute, the fighter from Manaus first sent off André Batista of Gracie Barra Ceará with a choke. Next, he went past William Martins of Gracie Barra Pernambuco via disqualification. In the semifinal, he outpointed Bruno Ramos of Gracie Barra Rio Grando do Norte by 11 to 6. And in the final he sunk a clock choke on Ricardo Oliveira of team Evolution.

(Watch the absolute final in the video below.)

The semifinal at the other end of the bracket also caused a roar in the Católica Marista University gymnasium, but because of a disqualification. Helio Mourão of the local Gracie Barra chapter managed to get the takedown and notch 4-2 in the final minute of the final against Ricardo Oliveira, practically sealing his victory. In celebrating the achievement, however, the Pirillo Roriz black belt couldn’t contain himself and leapt over to the stands to rejoice. The rules were clear, however new: fighters may not step off the mat, and thus one of the best in the state lost by disqualification.

In the black belt absolute of the master category, Bruno Ramos of Gracie Barra captured the gold medal with authority. The silver medal went to the skillful Eduardo Monteiro of Saulo Ribeiro academy.

In the other belt groups, Davi Romcy of Saulo Ribeiro took top spot in the brown belt absolute; João Paulo of SAS won the open weight class at purple; and Rafael Vasconcelos of DBK took gold in the blue belt absolute.