Juliana Silva was the champion in the under 62kg division. Photo by AJP

The weekend of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Rio had its opener this Friday, June 9th, with master bouts in the purple, brown, and black belts. Even though all five fight areas had memorable duels, the highlights of the day go to the action-packed master 1 divisions, which landed the athletes a nice cash prize in addition to the glory of conquering the gold medal at the event.

One such highlight was the 69kg final between Thiago Marques and José Thiago Barros. In a duel fought by two outstanding athletes, both with equal chances to come out on top, Thiago Marques attacked with precision on the foot to tip the scales. With his toehold locked, Thiago put pressure until José tapped, landing another gold for the Commando Group.

 

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Uma publicação compartilhada por AJPTour (@ajptour)

Also noteworthy is the ace Hiago George, who tore through the bracket and submitted all the opponents on his way to the 62kg division gold. In the final match against William Chavez, Hiago quickly went for the triangle and then switched to an armbar during the spin, submitting on the arm and taking the title.

 Other athletes who came out on top after tough battles were Victor Bomfim, who submitted Gustavo Borges with a guillotine, and Yago Espíndola, who had a close victory against Alexandre “Buda” Ribeiro with a 2-0 score.

Check out the Master 1 black belt champions below, and for the complete results, click here!

MALE BLACK BELT

56kg
Fabiano Cleto

62kg
Hiago George

69kg
Thiago Marques

77kg
Yago Espindola

85kg
Leon Brito

94kg
Victor Bomfim

120kg
Felipe Bezerra

FEMALE BROWN/BLACK BELT

55kg
Sofia Amarante

62kg
Juliana Teixeira

70kg
Pamela Boveda