Travis Stevens replaces Lovato in the middleweight GP. Photo: IOC

The level of talent in the second installment of Copa Pódio’s middleweight GP remains very high. With Rômulo Barral, Keenan Cornelius and Alexandro Ceconi already confirmed, the organization has now announced Travis Stevens as a replacement for Rafael Lovato Jr.

The event will mark Stevens’ return to Rio de Janeiro, where he took gold in the 2007 Pan. “I’ll be a real threat to the Brazilians in the GP,” said the confident Renzo Gracie Academy brown belt.

And he did prove a real threat even to elite Brazilian athletes as recently as last year when he defeated world No. 1-ranked fighter Leandro Grilheiro at the London Olympics, later taking fourth place.

“Travis Stevens’ Jiu-Jitsu is very high quality. Even as a brown belt, he was given the right to open a school bearing the Renzo Gracie name, as Renzo knows he has great talent. In Judo, Stevens got the best of every single Brazilian opponent at the major competitions. But in Jiu-Jitsu, how’s it going to play out? The answer will be known at the next Copa Pódio GP, and fans won’t want to miss it,” said promoter Jeferson Maycá.

The middleweight GP will be one of the attractions of the next edition of Copa Pódio, to be held in Tijuca Tennis Club on Sept. 8. Six spots remain open for the GP, and the organizers intend to announce who’s filling them over the next few weeks, as well as Leandro Lo’s adversary for the event’s superfight.

(From a press release.)