Leandro Lo defeats Gregor Gracie in the finals for the trophy. Photo: Gustavo Aragao

The third edition of the Copa Podio Lightweight Grand Prix held at the Botafogo Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro ran for five hours on Saturday, May 10.

The event featured two special matches, a submission-only no time limit city challenge, one no-gi challenge and a full grand prix with two teams of ten athletes.

To determine the winner of the grand prix, two teams of five competitors each fought one another within their own team in six-minute matches. Whoever gains the most points fights the second place athlete of the other team. Points are determined as such: A win by submission is 4 points, a win by points/advantages is 3 points, a draw is 1 point and a defeat is 0 points.

Here is how the matches went down:

PRELIMINARY MATCHES:

Tanner Rice defeats Alexandre Vieira via armbar after securing 9-0 points.
Lucas Hulk defeats Patrick Gaudio via 2-0 points in a match largely determined by stalling while standing and in 50/50.

CITY CHALLENGE

Abraham Marte of Santo Domingo defeats Ottaviano “La Maquina” of Buenos Aires via cross choke from mount in under five minutes.

NO-GI CHALLENGE

Danny Castillo of USA defeats Haider Rasheed of Jordan via arm triangle choke from mount after securing 8 points to Haider’s 2 points.

YELLOW GROUP

Marcio Andre of Brazil and Gianni Grippo of USA both earn two advantages for a draw.
Victor Silverio of Brazil and Fernando Vieira of Brazil both earn one penalty from stalling for a draw.
Fernando Vieira defeats Marcio Andre via 6-2 points in a sweep battle.
Gilbert Durinho of Brazil defeats Gianni Grippo via armbar submission after 5-0 points from a takedown and guard pass.
Gilbert Durinho defeats Fernando Vieira via 2-0 points from a takedown.
Victor Silverio defeats Marcio Andre via quick submission after a pass straight to the back.
Gilbert Durinho defeats Victor Silverio via 2-0 points from a sweep.
Gianni Grippo and Fernando Vieira both earn two points and two advantages for a draw.
Victor Silverio and Gianni Grippo earn two points for a draw.
Gilbert Durinho defeats Marcio Andre via toehold submission.

POINT TALLIES

1 Gilbert Durinho – 14 points
2 Victor Silverio – 6 points
3 Fernando Vieira – 5 points
4 Gianni Grippo – 3 points
5 Marcio Andre – 1 point

GREEN GROUP

Luca Anacoreta of Italy defeats Simone Franceschini of Italy via 5-0 from sweep and guard pass.
Leandro Lo of Brazil defeats Hamzeh Rasheed of Jordan via armbar after 4-0 points.
Simone Franceschini defeats Hamzeh Rasheed via disqualification by knee reap.
Gregor Gracie of Brazil defeats Luca Anacoreta via 4-2 points, 3-0 advantages.
Gregor Gracie defeats Hamzeh Rasheed via choke from the back.
Leandro Lo defeats Simone Franceschini via cross choke from half guard.
Leandro Lo defeats Gregor Gracie via 8-2 points and 2-0 advantages.
Luca Anacoreta defeats Hamzeh Rasheed via disqualification by fleeing a submission, locked triangle.
Leandro Lo defeats Luca Anacoreta via forfeit due to injury.
Gregor Gracie defeats Simone Franceschini via 4-2 points.

POINT TALLY

1 Leandro Lo – 14 points
2 Gregor Gracie – 10 points
3 Luca Anacoreta – 6 points
4 Simone Franceschini – 3 points
5 Hamzeh Rasheed – 0 points

SEMI-FINALS

Leandro Lo defeats Victor Silverio via 8-0 points with a sweep and two guard passes.
Gregor Gracie defeats Gilbert Durinho via 4-2 with two takedowns over Durinho’s sweep.

THIRD PLACE MATCH

Victor Silverio defeats Gilbert Durinho via advantage with 2-2 advantages and 1-2 penalties.

FINAL

Leandro Lo defeats Gregor Gracie via 5-0 points with a sweep and a guard pass.

Diego Borges in match against Leandro Lo, at Copa Pódio. Photo: Gustavo Aragão/ GRACIEMAG

Held at Club Hebraica on May 5, the Copa Podio Lightweight GP hosted the great show of the young Diego Borges (Checkmat), who didn’t get the title, but his performance was recognized by the crowd, by analysts and other black belts.

Champion Leandro Lo, for example: “I quickly noticed in our first fight that I could not play carelessly. It wouldn’t work. You can only go focused against him, he is really very strong,” praised Leandro, who had his first fight with Diego and, hours later, the final. In both fights, he won by only one advantage.

Check out what Diego, who trains with Carlos Esquisito in Manaus, learned from the silver, and what he expects of the World Championship on May 29.

GRACIEMAG: You lost the title but being complimented by Xande Ribeiro and others wasn’t bad at all …

DIEGO BORGES: Yeah, I think it was worth it. I think my performance was satisfactory. I managed to have good results against athletes of the highest level. I had five fights in the GP lasting six minutes and missed a bit. My strategy was to combine the technique to an aggressive and busy game, seeking to score first and keep the pace until the end. I like to show a strategy of Jiu-Jitsu which is always played forward and I like to keep the pace from beginning to end in my fights. This is my style.

How was the final with Leandro in your analysis?

Lo is an amazing guy and very strategic, an excellent athlete and, above all, he is humble. The fight was tough, we had a busy final and we pleased the crowd by showing quality Jiu-Jitsu. I tried and almost managed to take his back, but I believe I failed for not having followed him as he rolled. I was concerned about defending myself from his sweep. If we fight again, I won’t change my game. I will correct the mistakes and seek the victory.

In the semifinal you faced another guy who was sweeping everyone in the competition, Vinicius Marinho. What was crucial in that decisive victory, after the takedown and mount?

I think I just waited for the right moment in his attempts of takedowns to apply the counterattack, that’s how I managed the takedown and score first. I landed in a good position and only the mount followed. He is a tough guy. I knew it would be a great fight.

And now you get to the Worlds very focused. No diet? Are you going to fight as a middleweight?

I’m going as a middleweight. It was hard to lose weight to fight at lightweight. I hope to have good results in the Worlds and exceed expectations. I will complete my training at Lucas Leite’s camp at Checkmat headquarters in California. I’m trying to recycle my training a bit and my techniques with the guys. All my teammates will be there, so they can expect the same style. The goal is to have the same performance in Long Beach.

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