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.

Isaque Paiva asphyxiating Bruno Frazatto with his legs at Gramado tryouts / Photo: Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG

Life has never been easy for Isaque, Paiva, the winner of the under-64 kg division at the Gramado leg of the WPJJ tryouts.

After beating Ary Farias by referee decision, he went on to tap out Bruno Frazatto, who declared him the winner even after Isaque was disqualified (get the background story here). Now Paiva runs the risk of having his trip to Abu Dhabi nixed because of his passport, which has been at the American consulate for some time now and needs to reach the organizers of the event in Abu Dhabi soon.

But even with this holdup, the Saikoo team whiz remains confident and smiling. Back in his town of Penápolis, São Paulo State, the fighter spoke with GRACIEMAG.com.

Did you forget the rule penalizing any competitor who runs to join the crowd in the stands after winning?

Honestly, I wasn’t aware of the rule… Everyone who was there and watched the fight saw what happened; there was nothing ill meaning about it at all. I’ve been struggling for some time to make it here, to compete against the best, and I have no reason to, after winning the match, go thumb my nose at the rules and jeopardize everything. It was just an act of pure joy. I always respected my opponents, but after winning I rushed to hug my friend Guilherme Paradeda, who always supported me there in the South.

PERSISTENCE AND PERFECT STATURE FOR TRIANGLE

What did you learn from the Gramado campaign?

I learned that it’s worth doing a good job of preparing. I always kept a straight line, and now I fulfilled a dream. I also learned to pay attention to the new rules and to curb my celebrations. Let me reiterate: what happened was unintentional; I respect Bruno Frazatto and his whole team—I’ve been around them at other championships before… I just didn’t control my happiness for having won, it was never my intention to cause this whole situation. I’m sorry about it, and I now I just want to keep training, since the championship isn’t over yet.

You subbed Frazatto with a triangle with no arm on the inside. What’s different about the way you do the triangle?

It’s the position I practice most, as it’s the one I have the easiest time doing, due to my physical stature. In fact, it’s a great move for anyone with long legs. What I do to work on my triangle is just train a lot, persist in polishing it up and trying to apply the perfect move.