Herbert Burns (grey sleeves) with his buddies in Sweden, where he even helped train UFC light heavyweight Alexander Gusfasson (Personal archive photo)

One of the most hotly disputed qualifiers for the April main event in Abu Dhabi, the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil leg of the WPJJC Trials will be held Jan. 19 and 20 at Caio Martins Gymnasium in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State.

The tournament is sure to go off, as world champions Rodolfo Vieira and Gabi Garcia are set to hit the mats there.

Another big name confirmed for combat is Herbert Burns, brother to Gilbert “Durinho”, who is traveling Europe and will return home raring to win an all-expenses-paid trip to the United Arab Emirates.

What do you expect at the Trials in Niterói?

I expect the best. I always go in it to win it, and this time will be no different. With six-minute matches the action becomes more dynamic, much more explosive, but that’s how I fight. Anyone who wants to win has to stay ahead on the scoreboard the whole time.

How’s your training been going, with this tour of Europe and all?

I arrive in Brazil on the 10th because I’ve got a series of seminars to teach in Sweden. Truth is, here I’ve been training more MMA and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu, but as soon as I return I’m going to tune up my gi game with my teacher Casquinha at Top Brother and Oriente academies in Niteroi. Here in Sweden I managed to keep in shape, and I even competed at and won a grappling tournament. Check out one of the matches.

You’re coming off a blemishless campaign at the 2012 Brazilian National No-Gi Championship. Do you consider yourself to be a firm favorite to win at the Trials?

I never enter a competition for competing’s sake; if I don’t think I have what it takes to win I don’t even sign up. I feel this business of there being favorites only exists before the match begins. I’m going to give it my all and gun for my objective, which is to make it to top spot on the podium. I always work on everything and try to be prepared for any situation I might encounter, so my game is always free-flowing and attacking, with lots of movement. I’m going to fight like I always do—going for the finish, which is Jiu-Jitsu’s essence.

What about you, gentle reader, how about competing in the United Arab Emirates with all expenses paid? Click here to get in on the WPJJC Trials in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State.

Paulo Miyao at Brazilian No-Gi Nationals / Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG

The domestic cream of the Brazilian crop took to the mats this weekend at the Tijuca Tennis Club in pursuit of medals and glory.

Some of the first to succeed in this endeavor were light featherweight brothers João and Paulo Miyao, who won their division at purple and brown belt, respectively. Another was Rodrigo Aquiles, a brown belt on team Alliance, and there was Faisal Al Kutbi, who flew in all the way from the United Arab Emirates to compete, as well.

The black belt contest took place at breakneck pace, with no special pause or time for the finals.

At roosterweight, Raul Marcello of Gracie Humaitá took gold. At light featherweight, the title went to CheckMat’s Douglas Rufino. Featherweight gold went to Herbert Burns, the brother of world champion Durinho, who was at matside throughout.

For the complete results, check out the CBJJ website here.

Were you in Tijuca for the championship? Let us know what most impressed you on the day.

“I did all my conditioning work at Associação Oriente and was feeling great. In the three matches I was in, the first I was winning 9-0 when I got back mount and finished with a rear-naked choke; in the semifinal I got the taoput with an arm triangle; and in the final [against André Luis Siqueira], I got the takedown, passed, mounted, got back mount and still finished with a rear-naked choke. I had an excellent campaign; I had three matches and got three submissions without dropping a point or advantage point,” he recollects, trying to ignore the pressure of having a world champion brother.

Photo: Gustavo Aragão

“Well, there is that pressure, because of everything Durinho has won and what he represents in Jiu-Jitsu these days. I feel people are always demanding more of themselves, but I try to deal with that as best I can. And there’s the good side, because my brother has opened a lot of doors for me in Jiu-Jitsu,” he says sincerely.

But the brothers haven’t been seeing each other as often as they used to. Blame it on success, of course.

“With so many commitments we don’t get to train with each other like we used to, since he’s been mostly in Las Vegas with Vitor Belfort, and I’ve been teaching class in Singapore. But we swap information and get to train together whenever we have free time,” says Herbert, who’s already on to his next plan.

“I have a six-MMA-fight contract with OneFC. I was going to fight in January but it was postponed till February, in Jakarta, Indonesia. So I’ll try and get back to Singapore to teach Jiu-Jitsu and train boxing and Thai boxing. Now, my focus is on my MMA debut, but I’ll compete in Jiu-Jitsu whenever I get the time,” he says in closing.

Two-time Brazilian national No-Gi champ Kleber "Buiú" Oliveira in photo taken by Gustavo Aragão at No-Gi Brazilian Nationals 2011

Gracie Barra professor Kleber Buiú took top spot at the No-Gi Brazilian Nationals last Saturday at Canto do Rio club in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro state.

Before winning the absolute division after closing out the final with his buddy Frederico Zaganelli, Buiú also won the medium heavyweight division, and commented on the conquest: “I really did expect to win,” he told GRACIEMAG.com,

“because I was well trained and really focused.”

It’s the second time Buiú wins the title, explaining when it was that he started believing it was indeed his day:

“I started believing I’d win the absolute as well after winning my first match, which was really tough,” said the black belt, who feels his game flows better at No-Gi competitions.

“I really feel my game is better without the gi, but even in competition I prefer to wear the gi. It’s with the gi that a refine my technique,” he explained.

Head teacher at Gracie Barra alongside Jefferson Moura, Buiú had planned to be at the No-Gi Worlds next week in Long Beach but had let his visa expire.

“I didn’t manage to renew this year, so my main objective now is the 2012 Gi Worlds. Expect me there,” he said in closing.

Learn a sweep by the ever-more famous Buiú, and comment below.

“I felt I did well, was pleased with the result. Truth is, I wanted to do the absolute too, but I competed one day earlier in Brasilia and was really worn out. There, I had nine matches, four in my division and five in the absolute. I won my division but ended up losing the absolute semifinal to Bochecha. It was really high level, a war. There were awesome guys there, like Bochecha, Claudio Calasans, Ricardo Evangelista, Alexandro Ceconi, Alexandre de Souza, Igor Silva, José Carlos and a number of others,” he recounted, referring to the Pan-American championship help in Brazil’s capital, where the absolute winner, Marcus Vinícius “Bochecha” took home a car as his reward.

Leandro in final with Theodoro Canal (GFTeam) / Photo: Gustavo Aragão

“But even though I didn’t do the absolute, I’m really happy to have won the Brazilian national lightweight title. The final was against Theodoro Canal, a really tough and experienced fighter. My game relies a lot on gi grips, so I felt there was a difference, but thank God everything worked out and I won. Murilo Santana helped me a lot in training. He’s really great at both Gi and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu,” said the Cicero Costha student, who sees the No-Gi game as a complement to his Jiu-Jitsu.

“I feel one complements the other. The no-gi game lets you flow more, while the gi game makes you tighter,” he says.

Now Lo is preparing for the December Copa Pódio in Porto Alegre, where he’ll take part in the lightweight GP. “I’ll be at Copa Pódio for sure, but I’ll be at any good championships that come up in the meantime,” he said cheerfully.

Check out the complete results from the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals by clicking here.

Lazaro is one of the Mendes brothers' great hopes. Publicity photo.

At the No-Gi Brazilian Nationals, there was a purple belt drawing attention in the light featherweight division. His name is Lazaro Antonione, an Atos athlete and the divisional champion.

Atos has high hopes for the fighter’s future, as world champion brothers Rafael and Guilherme Mendes state:

“He’s one of the best purple belts we’ve ever trained. You’ll see him winning a lot more in the future. We’re really happy about his win and for sure it’s just the beginning,” said Rafa and Gui.

Buiú in photo by Carlos Ozório

This Saturday at Canto do Rio Club in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro state, the No-Gi Brazilian Nationals unfolded. Among the standouts of the competition, Gracie Barra duo Kleber Buiú and Frederico Zaganelli won their respective weight divisions and closed out the absolute.

In action at medium heavyweight, Buiú took on Roberto Gordo black belt Victor Bonfim. Victor started out well, but Buiú adjusted a foot attack and pulled off the finish. It’s the second year in a row that Buiú wins the event.

Now Espírito Santo native Frederico Zaganelli defeated Antonio José (Gracie Humaitá) in the super heavyweight decider. Zaganelli dominated the match and sunk an arm-and-neck choke to win on points. In the absolute, he celebrated team victory by shutting out the final with Kleber Buiú.

In the middleweight final, Murilo Santana (Barbosa JJ) attacked Sandro Vieira’s (CheckMat) foot for the gold. Leandro Lo (Cicero Costha) took on the game Theodoro Canal (GFTeam) in the lightweight final and added yet another title to his mantel. Meanwhile, Bruno Bastos (Nova União) again showed why he’s at the top of the heap, earning gold at ultra heavyweight.

Some of the others who made it to the top of the podium were Herbert Mitchell, younger brother to world champion Gilberto Durinho, winning at featherweight; Thiago Teixeira (Marcio Rodrigues) overcame Felipe Costa (Brasa) in the light featherweight final; Marcus Adriano (Gracie Barra) won at roosterweight; and Mauro Celso earned further points for GB by beating Nilson Ricardo (Nova União) in the heavyweight decider.

Check out the complete results by clicking here.

Bruno Bastos will be competing at the No-Gi Brazilian Nationals. Photo: personal archive.

Today, on the banks of Guanabara Bay in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro state, the best grapplers in Brazil will take to the mats for the Brazilian No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu National Championship.

Here are our predictions for who will take top spot:

Felipe Costa at light featherweight; Ary Farias and Hebert Mitchell at featherweight; Leandro Lo and Theodoro Canal at lightweight; Murilo Santana at middleweight; Victor Bonfim and Kleber Buiú at medium heavyweight; Diogo Sampaio and Nilson Ricardo at heavyweight; Bruno Bastos at ultraheavyweight.

Click here to check out the brackets.

The Brazilian nationals, this year in the city of Niterói, will feature Murilo Santana, absolute champion of the event and fourth-place in the ADCC absolute. Photo: Carlos Ozório.

Jiu-Jitsu stars have already started popping up on the roster. Head to the CBJJ website and secure your spot too.

To find out who’s already signed up, click here.

Victor celebrates triumph at 2010 Brazilian Nationals. Photo: Carlos Ozório.

Going with the flow of the No-Gi events season, the CBJJ (IBJJF) will hold the No-Gi Brazilian Nationals on October 29, however, it will be held across the Guanabara Bay, at Canto do Rio club in Niterói. The traditional Tijuca Tennis Club venue is under restoration.

Sign-ups last till the 21st of this month. Click here to find out more.

Davi Ramos celebrates victory in Natal. Photo: Carlos Ozório.

Following his win at the Brazilian No-Gi Natioinals, Davi Ramos headed full steam up to Natal, where he secured a spot in the under-74 kg division at the World Pro main event, after beating beasts like Helder “Bob Sponja” Medeiros. Now the Master Casquinha black belt from Top Brother team heads into a challenge in another style.

“I almost didn’t come, because I’m going to fight MMA in Mexico, at Extreme Combat. But the event was postponed till the 20th, so I decided to enter both the Brazilian No-Gi Nationals and the World Pro qualifiers,” he tells GRACIEMAG.com.

“I went in at full force. I beat Bob Sponja, a really tough opponent, for the second time and I also beat Thiago Rocha of Alliance. For me it was really great,” he says in celebration.

Davi against Cascão. Photo: Carlos Ozório.

The final was against Leonardo “Cascão” Saggioro and was evenly matched, decided by a penalty point against his opponent, who cried bloody murder.

“The final was kind of unprecedented. But the truth is, I feel he didn’t try and pass my guard at any moment. He was there stacking me the whole time and the ref could have penalized him earlier. Thank God I won and now I’m going to Abu Dhabi. I’m going to do lots of preparations and, after my MMA fight, I’ll focus solely on Jiu-Jitsu because I want to compete at the Pan as well,” he says, seeing both positives and negatives in the fact that he trained more for MMA in the lead up to his last tournaments.

“It sets you back a bit, however, your stamina improves. My physical conditioning was excellent, but I found my grip to be a bit lacking.”

Win at No-Gi Brazilian Nationals. Photo: Carlos Ozório.

In getting ready the World Pro and Pan, Davi will spend a spell with the folks at Atos, a team where he has many friends and that he even fought under at the Brazilian Team Nationals.

“I have a good relationship with the folks at Atos. Durinho even encouraged me to compete here. I believe I should be going there in February to brush up on my Jiu-Jitsu,” he says in closing.

Buiú tries to sweep Murilo Santana. Photo: Carlos Ozório

The Brazilian No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Nationals served up a generous helping of good grappling this Saturday in Rio de Janeiro (read complete coverage here). Besides big wins from Antonio Peinado, Tiago Alves, Luiz Big Mac, and Michelle Tavares, the event crowned absolute champion Victor Costa, following his win at the No-Gi Pan.

GRACIEMAG.com couldn’t miss the event and brings you the best of what went down at the Tijuca Tennis Club in images:

[flickr set=72157625155784279]