Caio Terra against Queixinho / Photo: Andrew Koeller

Tempe, Arizona, saw its fair share of action last weekend, when Gustavo Dantas’s Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu State Championship rolled into town. Three thousand dollars was up for grabs between the winners of the two black belt divisions, further upping the already scalding hot temperature in the region.

Among the big standouts was 2011 Pan-American champion Caio Terra (Gracie Fighter), who took the decision over Osvaldo Augusto “Queixinho” (Soul Fighters) in the light absolute decider. Now number one in the heavy absolute was Marcel Fortuna (Ralph Gracie), who overcame Brazilian champion Daniel Garcia (Nova União) in the grand finale.

But there was a host of other gentle art aces putting on shows. At brown belt, Daniel Madrid (Gracie Fighting Systems) took the medium heavyweight division and the absolute.

At purple, Gustavo Dantas disciples Issa Able and Christian Broadnax did well in their respective weight classes and then closed out the absolute.

At blue, Alex Centner (Lopez Jiu-Jitsu) took top spot on the super heavyweight and absolute podiums for the double gold.

Check out all the action in the photos by Andrew Koeller below:

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Caio Terra contra Queixinho. Foto: Andrew Koeller.

O último final de semana contou com muita ação em mais uma edição do Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships, na cidade de Tempe, evento organizado pelo faixa-preta Gustavo Dantas. Em jogo, o total de 3 mil dólares para os campeões das divisões na faixa-preta, o que esquentou ainda mais o verão escaldante na região.

Entre os destaques, o campeão do Pan 2011 Caio Terra (Gracie Fighter) bateu Osvaldo Augusto “Queixinho” (Soul Fghters) na decisão do absoluto leve. Já o número 1 do absoluto pesado foi Marcel Fortuna (Ralph Gracie), que venceu o campeão brasileiro Daniel Garcia (Nova União) na final do absoluto pesado.

Mas muitas outras feras da arte suave fizeram bonito. Na faixa-marrom, Daniel Madrid (Grace Fighting Systems) foi o melhor no meio-pesado e absoluto.

Na faixa-roxa, os alunos de Gustavo Dantas Issa Able e Christian Broadnax foram bem nas suas respectivas categorias e fecharam o absoluto.

Na faixa-azul, Alex Centner (Lopez Jiu-Jitsu) subiu no alto do pódio no super-pesado e absoluto para faturar duas medalhas de ouro.

Confira abaixo toda a ação nas fotos de Andrew Koeller:

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Atraiu também as lentes atentas de John Cooper, que registrou a vitória de Roberto Tussa no absoluto, a ousadia de Rafael Barata contra Bruno Bastos e a molecada que é o futuro do esporte nos EUA, entre diversos lances. Confira!

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It also attracted the attentive lens of John Cooper, who caught Roberto Tussa’s win in the absolute division, Rafael Barata’s brazenness against Bruno Bastos, and the kids who are the future of the sport in the USA, among other highlights.

Check it out and get ready for complete coverage in the upcoming issue of GRACIEMAG! Subscribe here.

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Daniel Madrid and Ben after their respective wins / Photo: John Cooper

Henderson trains Jiu-Jitsu under John Crouch at MMA Lab in Glendale, Arizona. He’s been training Jiu-Jitsu for about four years. Although he does not have time to compete much in Jiu-Jitsu because of his rigorous UFC training schedule, he did take a day out of his busy schedule last weekend to compete at the 6th Arizona International Open, where he won his adult Medium Heavy division.

“I don’t compete a lot,” Henderson says, “I wish I had more time to do it, but I need to make a living with MMA. I have fun doing jiu-jitsu and I try to do good with it.” Henderson trains in all the basic MMA staples, Jiu-Jitsu with Crouch, boxing with George Garcia, and muay Thai, and he’s been a wrestler for more of his life than not. “At MMA Lab we do it all,” he says, “Our whole thing is Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Sambo, wrestling, we just say, ‘let’s do it.’ We just want to do well and have fun.”

Henderson says when he’s in the cage God is his biggest weapon. “God’s in my corner and I’m content with that,” he says. As far as his skills, it’s not his martial arts background or the other disciplines that set him apart from the rest. “Skill-wise, I work on everything,” Henderson says, “But my greatest weapon is my heart. I never give up. I will fight ‘til the end.” Henderson says when you’re a fighter of any kind, you have to open up your heart and expose yourself. “You have to put yourself out there to be judged,” he says, “All that’s a part of being a fighter I think.”

Whether Henderson is fighting on the mats or in the cage, he considers himself a very low-key, “chill” guy. “It’s why I do well in any kind of competition,” he says, “I’m relaxed. I naturally have a Jiu-Jitsu frame of mind. I adapted well to the sport.”

Henderson says he never gasses out during competitions because he doesn’t experience that over-kill adrenaline rush that many complain about. “I like to use a high school analogy,” he says, “If you’re ready for a test; if you’ve done all you could have done – you started studying three months ahead, and you’re ready for it, it’s fine. But if you didn’t study, and you know you should have, then you’re nervous as heck. For me, I look at it like I’m as physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally prepared as I can be, so I’m not nervous.”

Henderson says it’s the same with Jiu-Jitsu. “I train hard,” he says, “I know I’m ready and have trained all the positions. It’s the same with everything in life. If you’re not prepared, that’s when the nerves come in, I try to always be as prepared as possible.

That’s good advice from a man who currently holds a 12-2 record in the UFC and wants to become the best fighter on the planet pound for pound – no ifs, ands or buts about it and will work as hard as he has to, to get there. “I don’t like to lose,” he says, “I like to finish everything. I’m competitive about everything, almost to a fault. Doesn’t matter what it is – Tic Tac Toe, Chess, Jacks or Pong…whatever it is, I want to win. I really love competing. I have that competitive drive. I don’t like losing, but you should be smart enough to take something away from the experience and learn from it if you do.”

Henderson’s definitely taken something away from his last fight with Anthony Pettis. “I was completely confident and ready to go,” he says, “The fight was in Glendale and all my friends and family were there for the fight. The winner of that fight was going to fight for a belt on the Maynard / Edgar fight card. I’m known as a Jiu-Jitsu guy, so I wanted to show my boxing and kickboxing skills. I took him down, but wanted to stay standing up now. It wasn’t the best game plan. I veered away from my coach’s game plan. I wanted to show Maynard and Edgar and the media what I could do. Pettis’ stand up was just really good. It was 2-2 going to the 5th round. It is what it is. I hated to lose, but I got something out of it.”

Henderson says his long term goals are to win the Pan, the Europeans and the Worlds, “But sadly that will all have to take a back seat to my MMA,” he says.

Next up for Henderson is his April 30th UFC 129 fight with Mark Bocek. “I’ve seen him fight,” he says, “But I only watch an opponent one time, and then leave the rest up to my coach, John Crouch, to do the studying of the film. He puts together the game plan for me.”

Henderson says his strengths in this fight will be whatever he decides they will be. “One of my strengths is instilling my will,” he says, “If I want to stand up, that will be my strength. I don’t like to be concerned about my opponent, but only how I’m going to instill my will. I’m just going to show up as the same guy who’s always been in the cage and do whatever it takes to get my arm raised.”

As for the Arizona International Open, Henderson had a really good experience. “This is a great tournament,” he says, “I love coming to these smaller local tournaments. This event has grown in size a lot. It’s a testament to Gustavo (Dantas). He brings great guys, great black belts here. I always have a great time at his tournaments.”

You can follow Henderson at: JCBJJ.com and on FB and Twitter: @smoothone155.

Madrid shares a non-competitive moment with his rival of the day, Benson Henderson. Photo: Deb Blyth

This medium heavyweight brown belt from Grace Fighting Systems started his day with two matches in his weight class. Because there were only three guys in his weight class, he had another fight after his first loss. “I ended up taking third place,” he says, “In my first match, I lost to Ben Henderson who beat me with a cross choke and ezequiel (forearm choke), and then in my second match, Phillip Aguilar beat me on points.”

The three met up again in the absolute, and the results were completely opposite. “I beat the two guys who beat me in my division,” he says, “In my first match, I beat Phillip Aguilar with a guillotine choke, and in my second match, I beat Ben Henderson by points, 6-4.”

“My final was a good match,” he says, “It was a really steady pace. We were guessing about what each of us was doing. Ben was doing a lot of ankle picks, so I had to square up my defense. It caused me to be slower.”

Madrid says Henderson had him in his guard at the end, but Madrid was able to roll and mount him to get to a score of 6-2. “I had a cross choke on him but couldn’t finish because of his wonderful locks of hair,” he laughs, “I didn’t want to pull it.”

From there, Henderson swept Madrid and got two points, closing the gap between them. “We got up to our feet,” he says, “He tried to push me back down. It was a scramble. He tried to get knee on belly to get the 3 points, but I was able to hold him off for the remaining five seconds.”

Madrid, who only received his brown belt a couple of months ago from his professor, Israel Juarez, says he competes a lot, and that this is not the first time he’s fought Henderson. “I lost to him in the open before,” he says, “Ben is an awesome fighter. One of the best people I’ve ever competed against. He’s in your face all the time. If you’re unprepared for him, just stay home.”

Like Henderson, Madrid also fights MMA as a professional and his record currently stands at 9-2. “My MMA career is my first priority,” he says, “I’m trying to make it my career. I’m trying to make my way to the UFC. I did ‘Art of War’ in China and fought Daijiro Matsui. I finished him with an inverted reverse triangle choke.”

Daniel and Friends / Photo: John Cooper

Madrid trains in both gi and no gi. “I believe if you train gi, it makes your no gi game so much better,” he says, “I want to become a Jiu-Jitsu black belt.” Although MMA is his priority, Madrid says he loves Jiu-Jitsu and that it’s changed his life. “It kept me from a path I didn’t want to go down,” he says, “It’s kept positivity in my life.”

Along with training and competing in Jiu-Jitsu, Madrid also instructs on the mats. “Jiu-Jitsu has allowed me to understand how to teach the gentle art as well as continue to better my own technique as well. I like to teach. It’s challenging and rewarding at the same time.”

As for the 6th Arizona International Open, Madrid says the tournament is a really great way for him to get some high-level competition experience. “This tournament is really good,” he says, “The structure gets better and better each year. I’m proud and honored to say I can be a part of this. Thank you to Gustavo Dantas for putting it on and letting us compete at the highest level.”

You can follow Madrid on Facebook and twitter to keep up with his MMA fights and Jiu-Jitsu tournaments.