Master Julio Cesar beside Marcus Bello and Alexandre Baraúna, who will also be fighting.

The next installment of the traditional Master International IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship — South America will be held on July 28 and 29 at Arena Carioca 1 in Rio de Janeiro. Lots of veterans will be present, but one name in particular caught our attention.

A BJJ coral-belt and founder of GFTeam, Julio Cesar Pereira is the only master signed up so far. His name is among those enrolled in the black belt, master 5 group, and our team reached out to Julio for comment.

“I’m arriving in Brazil on Thursday,” he warned. “I’m fighting indeed. I came to the U.S. to teach BJJ, and with the training rhythm here, also with the incentive from my students, I decided to fight in the Master International and in August in the World Master.”

Julio’s last tournament was in 2016, when he fought as a black-belt, months before getting his coral belt. The situation is atypical — few BJJ masters have ever taken part in regular tournaments with the seventh degree around their waist. Julio joked about it. “Technically I can fight. I will, indeed, fight with the coral belt. Who knows — it might bring me luck.”

Among the other big names on the sign-up list, one can find Thales Leites, Carlos Holanda, Helvécio Penna and Isaque Paiva. To see the full list for yourself, click here.

Mestre Julio Cesar ao lado do professor Marcus Bello e do professor GMI Alexandre Baraúna, que também lutará na competição. Foto: Arquivo Pessoal

O tradicional torneio Internacional de Masters da IBJJF será realizado no próximo final de semana, nos dias 28 e 29 de julho, na Arena Carioca 1, no Parque Olímpico da Barra da Tijuca. Nomes consagrados do Jiu-Jitsu e veteranos atletas do esporte medirão forças na competição, mas um nome em especial chamou a atenção de GRACIEMAG na lista de inscritos.

Faixa-coral de Jiu-Jitsu e fundador da equipe GFTeam, Julio Cesar Pereira figura como único mestre da arte suave inscrito na torneio. O nome do mestre está devidamente cadastrado na divisão faixa-preta master 5, e nossa equipe entrou em contato com Julio para que este comentasse o ingresso na disputa.

“Estou chegando no Brasil na quinta-feira”, avisou Julio. “Vou lutar sim. Vim ensinar Jiu-Jitsu nos EUA, e com o ritmo de treinamentos aqui, embalado também pelo incentivo dos alunos, decidi lutar no International Master e em agosto no Mundial Master.”

O último torneio do mestre foi em 2016, ainda como faixa-preta, meses antes de receber a faixa-coral. A ocasião é atípica. Poucos foram os mestres de Jiu-Jitsu que atuaram em torneios regulares envergando o sétimo grau na cintura. Julio, por sua vez, brincou com a situação: “Poder lutar eu posso. Vou lutar com a faixa-coral sim. Vai que ela me dá sorte.”

Outros nomes de peso também estão inscritos no torneio, como o faixa-preta e atleta do UFC Thales Leites, Carlos Holanda, Helvécio Penna, Isaque Paiva e mais cascas-grossas. Para conferir a lista completa de inscritos, clique aqui!

Aldo returns to the mats in style. Carlos Arthur Jr.

A packed Tijuca Tennis Club in Rio. Among veterans vying for gold at the IBJJF’s International Master on the 29th, somebody grabbed people’s attention. In a white gi with a Nova União patch on it, José Aldo mixed in with the other athletes to fight in the master-1 lightweight division, with five matches between him and the gold medal.

First he fought Thiago Mariano (Infight). With pressure in the takedown shots, the former UFC champion won by two advantages — one for the half-guard and the other for a sweep attempt.

His second match was against Marcos Oliveira (Pitbull). Plenty of action in this one, with Aldo working hard to get on the side but ending up with a win by 5 advantages.

Aldo’s third fight was against Antônio Crivelari (Checkmat) in the quarterfinals. This time he was unable to impose his game, however. Even fighting well stood up, with quick takedown shots and a sweep attempt towards the end, Aldo lost on advantages, 3-1.

With all said and done, it was Guilherme Iunes of Gracie Barra Recreio who took the title by beating Crivelari in a semifinal and then Vagner Azevedo (Checkmat) in the final.

Click here for the results.