Bochecha, campeão superpesado e absoluto. Foto: John Cooper/Divulgação.

O Mundial Sem Kimono pegou fogo no sábado na Califórnia, onde mais de 900 atletas brigaram, mas somente um saiu com o trono principal. Marcus Vinicius “Bochecha”, da CheckMat, foi o grande campeão absoluto faixa-preta e tornou-se rei de Long Beach pela primeira vez, ao fechar com João Assis, companheiro de equipe que ficou com a vice-colocação após acordo entre os dois.

O Mundial teve outros destaques no adulto faixa-preta, como você confere a seguir. No absoluto feminino, Michelle Nicolini tirou onda ao finalizar Beatriz Mesquita na final, com uma chave de pé ao estilo de Rodrigo Cavaca, seu treinador. No resultado geral, deu CheckMat, com Gracie Barra em segundo. No master, Fabiano Pega-Leve foi o campeão absoluto.

Para os resultados completos, cheque IBJJF.org.

Lovato venceu Popovitch na final dos meio-pesados. Foto: John Cooper.

Galo: Brandon Mullins venceu Joseph Capizzi por 5 a 0

Pluma: Caio Terra venceu Laércio por 3 vantagens (4 a 4 no placar)

Pena:  Rubens Cobrinha finalizou Justin Rader (estrangulamento pelas costas a 12 segundos para o fim)

Leve: Lucas Lepri venceu Augusto Tanquinho por 1 vantagem (0 a 0)

Médio: Victor Estima venceu Thiago Aragão na chave de pé

Meio-pesado: Rafael Lovato venceu Pablo Popovitch por 4 a 0 (punição e raspagem)

Pesado: Lucas Leite venceu Roberto Tussa por 1 vantagem

Superpesado: Marcus Bochecha finalizou Antonio Peinado com um triângulo de mão

Pesadíssimo: Roberto Cyborg finalizou Ricardo Feliciano no triângulo

Feminino:

Absoluto: Michelle Nicolini finalizou Bia Mesquita na chave de pé

Pena: Michelle Nicolini finalizou Nyjah Easton com uma chave de braço após montar e pegar as costas

Leve: Bia Mesquita derrubou Tracey Goodell e venceu por pontos

Médio: Rachel Leigh finalizou Emily Kwok na chave de joelho

Pesado: Emily Wetzel venceu Katrina no mata-leão

Marcus Vinicius, aka Bochecha, took first place in the open class. Photos: John Cooper.

The No-Gi Worlds went down in California this Saturday, with 900 taking to the mats but just one leaving with the main throne. Marcus Vinicius “Bochecha” of CheckMat was the grand champion of the absolute black belt division and became the king of Long Beach for the first time, closing out with João Assis, Bochecha’s teammate who agreed to be runner-up between the two.

The Worlds had other standouts in the adult black belt division, as you can see below. Michelle Nicolini won the absolute among the women with a submission over Bia Mesquita. In the overall team contest, CheckMat took first and Gracie Barra came in second. In the master division, Fabiano Pega-Leve won the absolute.

For complete results, check out IBJJF.org.

Absolute: Marcus Vinicius (CheckMat) and João Assis (CheckMat) closed out the bracket.

Rooster: Brandon Mullins def. Joseph Capizzi (5 – 0)

Light feather: Caio Terra def. Laércio Fernandes by 3 advantage points (4 – 4 on points)

Feather:  Rubens Cobrinha choked Justin Rader from the back, with 12 seconds to go

Light: Lucas Lepri def. Augusto Tanquinho by 1 advantage point (0 – 0)

Middle: Victor Estima def. Thiago Aragão (footlock)

Medium-heavy: Rafael Lovato Jr def. Pablo Popovitch by 4 – 0 (penalty and sweep)

Heavyweight: Lucas Leite def. Roberto Tussa by 1 advantage point

Superheavy: Marcus Bochecha subbed Antonio Peinado (arm-and-neck choke)

Ultraheavy: Roberto Cyborg subbed Ricardo Feliciano (triangle)

Lovato (on top) against Pablo Popovitch. Photo: John Cooper.

Female

Absolute: Michelle Nicolini subbed Bia Mesquita (footlock)

Feather: Michelle Nicolini subbed Nyjah Easton (armbar)

Light: Bia Mesquita def. Tracey Goodell by points (takedown)

Middle: Rachel Leigh subbed Emily Kwok (kneebar)

Heavy: Emily Wetzel subbed Katrina Weilbacher (rear-naked choke).

More on IBJJF.org. Full results here!

In Fabiana’s first Gi match, she faced Kiri Liao of Ribeiro JJ whom she lost to last year in the open class. This year was different for a couple of reasons. Fabiana normally competes at feather weight, but this year she fought at light weight. So, she met up with Kiri in their division instead of the absolute. The other change was that this year, Fabiana won.

Fabiana in battle with Kiri / Photos: Deb Blyth

In their match, Fabiana pulled Kiri to her guard and swept her, but then Kiri swept her back. Fabiana was able to lock her guard and get Kiri in an armbar. “She fell down, but I kept her arm,” Fabiana says, “She tapped out.”

In her second match, Fabiana fought Ana Maria Soares of BJJ Revolution. “She won by an advantage and we fought again in the finals,” Fabiana says, “I won two to zero with two sweeps: one from the closed guard and one from the half-guard.” That gave Fabiana a gold medal for her efforts in her division.

In the Gi open class on Saturday, it was only Emily Wetzel of BJJ Revolution and Fabiana in the bracket. “She jumped guard and I was working to pass her long legs,” Fabiana laughs, “I almost got on her side, but she recovered and then she got me in a triangle.”

On Sunday, Fabiana fought in the No-Gi tournament. Fabiana and Ana Maria had another war, with Ana Maria tapping Fabiana out with a Guillotine.

Fabiana says the American Nationals was a good tournament for her. “I’m not doing as much conditioning as I was doing in California,” Fabiana laments, “I was at Juggernaut in California and that gave me a lot of strength and confidence. Since moving to Texas, I’m focused on teaching and growing the women’s program here. I am the only female black belt at my school, and I was happy to get a gold medal to bring back.”

Fabiana is currently back in Texas helping grow women’s Jiu-Jitsu around the state and preparing for the 2012 Pan and Gi Worlds.

In other news, Gracie Barra brown belt Felipe Guedes, Master middleweight brown belt, won his Gi division at the American Nationals. Felipe had three matches in his division and won them all by points.

This was especially gratifying for Felipe because he has not been competing nor training as much as he normally does. “Since last April I’ve been focusing on GB San Clemente, GB Dana Point, and the GB Association,” Felipe says, “I don’t have as much time to devote to myself. I want to improve other people’s lives through Jiu-Jitsu and make it available to everyone. That’s my goal.”

Felipe came to the American Nationals because he loves competing. This was the first time he signed up for a tournament with no training. “Oddly enough, I felt no pressure,” Felipe says, “I didn’t have butterflies or anything. I just had fun. I was looser today and my techniques felt really fresh in my mind.” Felipe says he’s going to try to recreate that feeling at every future tournament he attends.

Felipe Guedes and crew

Felipe says he normally puts a lot of pressure on himself to perform, but not this time, and he thinks this is the winning formula he needs to tap into for all his future competitions. “I thought about this story that Professor Flavio (Almeida) told us this week in class,” Felipe says, “His grandfather took him to the horse races when he was a kid and told him to watch the horses run. ‘They just run,’ his grandfather said, ‘they will run until they die. That’s the only thing they know how to do. They run for first place.’ There’s something to learn from that. If you want something, you gotta keep pushing for it.”

Samir Chantre pegou Megaton e venceu o Americano, peso pena. Fotos: Deb Blyth.

Além de Caio Terra, campeão absoluto do Campeonato Americano de Jiu-Jitsu, muito faixa-preta teve motivo para se orgulhar no último fim de semana, com o apagar das luzes do ginásio em Carson, Califórnia.

No feminino, Emily Wetzel (BJJ Revolution) foi a grande campeã absoluto, ao vencer a faixa-marrom Kiri Liao (Ribeiro) na final, por 6 a 4.

Laércio Fernandes festeja com Giva Santana. Foto: Deb Blyth

No peso galo masculino da faixa-preta, Caio Terra não conseguiu vencer o desgaste no absoluto e sucumbiu frente a Laércio Fernandes (Lotus), por 4 a 2. O aluno de Givanildo Santana vai com moral agora para o Mundial Sem Kimono, em novembro.

No peso pena, Wellington Megaton e Samir Chantre fizeram a final. Deu Chantre (Gracie Fighter), com uma chave de braço. “Puxei para a guarda, raspei e caí montado. Ao tentar empurrar, ele me ofereceu o braço. Esperei antes o juiz dar os pontos da montada, e aí apliquei a chave”, disse Samir.

Na semifinal, ele ainda precisou passar pelo havaiano Baret Yoshida. “Ele me venceu no Mundial Sem Kimono do ano passado, então foi a revanche. Venci por uma vantagem”, disse Chantre.

Rodrigo simões comemora. Foto: Deb Blyth

No peso leve, Rodrigo Simões (Gracie Barra) encarou a pedreira americana Zak Maxwell (Gracie Humaitá). Rodrigo levou a peleja por pontos, e estava amarradão. “Raspei, ele depois me raspou, mas eu raspei de novo”, disse o campeão. No fim, 4 a 2 para o brasileiro.

Simões, que no absoluto foi eliminado por uma chave de braço de Caio Terra, vai estar no Pan Sem Kimono, de Nova York, no próximo dia 2.

Clark Gracie em foto de Deb Blyth

No peso médio, a divisão terminou com Clark Gracie e Ryan Beauregard na final. Os dois são atletas da BJJ Revolution, mas decidiram se enfrentar. Clark então finalizou Ryan!

“Não chegamos a um acordo sobre quem levaria a medalha de ouro para casa, então lutamos. É dureza lutar 100% contra um amigo, mas assim que eu senti a intensidade dele no começo da luta, acordei e percebi que precisava dar tudo para vencê-lo”, disse o Gracie.

Beauregard começou vencendo por 4 a 0, até que caiu na guarda de Clark., que o finalizou com uma omoplata. “Na verdade eu asfixiei o pescoço dele dali”, explicou o Gracie, que no caminho para o título venceu também Marcelo Mafra (CheckMat).

O filho de Carley Gracie venceu o Americano quatro vezes, mas foi o primeiro ouro na faixa-preta. “Estou ficando quase pronto para encarar os melhores do mundo”, disse.

No peso meio-pesado, Marco “Sharpei” Machado (Drysdale) fez mais uma final contra Bruno Antunes (Gracie Barra), repetindo o desenrolar do Las Vegas Open. Marco venceu, novamente, com 5 vantagens à frente.

Marco Machado agora luta o Miami Open, em outubro, e o Mundial Sem Kimono no mês seguinte.

No superpesado, deu Bruno Bastos (Nova União), que venceu Alberto Vilanova (Gracie Barra). “Raspei e passei a guarda, mas no fim da luta quase que ele me pega numa guilhotina. Escutei o Gustavo Dantas berrar que só faltavam 30 segundos, então segurei e escapei”, disse Bastos.

Leandro Santos e Stephen Hall em foto de Deb Blyth

Já no pesadíssimo, o campeão foi Leandro Santos (Ribeiro), que foi bronze no absoluto. Leandro, afastado das competições por um ano devido a uma contusão no tríceps, venceu Stephen Hall na final, com uma passagem de guarda.

The first open match was between Fabiana Borges and Kiri Liao.  Liao went at Borges aggressively. Early in the match Borges had Liao in a foot lock and it looked certain that she would submit her, but Liao refused to tap and eventually escaped the hold and earned her way to a win by points.

Borges and Emily Wetzel also had a match with Wetzel submitting Borges with a triangle to arm bar. “She’s so little,” the 6’4 ½” tall Wetzel says, “I train with guys. It’s really different to compete with women.”

Wetzel says it’s not as easy for her to spar and compete against smaller opponents, as some may think. “Little people slip away,” she laughs, “When people are smaller than me, the things I normally rely on, they wiggle out of. It’s a challenge.”

The final open match was between Wetzel and Liao. Wetzel says that match was a bit of a “scramble” because Liao was so tough. “I got her in guard, which I don’t like,” Wetzel says, “She did a good job breaking my post. That position is my kryptonite.” Wetzel was stuck in that position for a while, but eventually got to mount. The fighter that she is, Liao did not give up easily, and she escaped and then swept Wetzel.

“I wrapped my legs around her at the end,” Wetzel says, “I was going to go for a triangle, but ran out of time.” Wetzel won the match 6-4, giving her the brown/black open gold.

Wetzel’s been training for about ten years. She started her training with Renzo Gracie in New York and can’t say enough good things about him. “He was really kind to me, “ she says, “He’s so supportive of women in Jiu-Jitsu. He gave me my purple belt.” When she moved to California, she began training with Nelson Monteiro of Gracie Barra Encinitas. He gave her the brown belt. These days, she’s training with and competing for Rodrigo Medeiros in San Diego.