Léo Nogueira in action in the 2012 South American Championship absolute division / Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com

Last Saturday, current heavyweight champion of the world Léo Nogueira closed out the absolute division at the 2012 South American Championship with his Alliance teammate Léo Leite. He took silver in the open weight division, but on Sunday he came up with gold in his weight group.

“I feel I had a solid campaign. I got the tapout in all my matches at weight and open weight except for in the final [against Gracie Barra’s André Alberto]. In the gold-medal match the truth is that I prioritized strategy and chose not to expose myself much,” recalled Léo Nogueira in a conversation with GRACIEMAG.com.

“It was a different sort of competition for me,” he said. “Normally I stick to a game plan; this tournament I fought for the finish no matter what position I was in. I let my Jiu-Jitsu flow, and I enjoyed it.”

One of the Alliance black belt’s matches to cause the biggest buzz around the Centro Multiuso de São José arena was the one against Guto Campos of Guetho JJ in the absolute semifinals. Nogueira kept his game unfettered there too:

“I sunk a forearm choke as I made it to mount. Guto tried replacing half-guard and ended up leaving his neck open,” he explained. “You should use the forearm choke when the opponent tries sliding under you or replacing half-guard. It’s a habit: when the opponent tries replacing, as a consequence he ends up forgetting about his neck, and that makes it easy to sub him,” he advised.

What about you, gentle reader? Were you there at the South American Championship? What position or technique did you learn from the big stars at the CBJJ event? Share your thoughts with us in the comments field below.

Click here for the full results from the championship.