He teaches his trademark technique, a shoulder lock nicknamed after himself.

Here are the do’s and dont’s of the baratoplata.

He has the luxurious help of also Gracie Barra black belt and Holm’s coach, Roberto “Tussa” Alencar.

Barata and Holm. Photo: Personal Archives

So you think Ronda Rousey should invest in her ground game in case of a rematch against champion Holly Holm?

Well, think again.

As this short video proves, Holm has her armbar skills on point.

Gracie Barra New Mexico’s black belt and one of Holm’s Jiu-Jitsu coaches, Rafael “Barata” Freitas shared earlier today this video of Holm showing what she’s capable of on the ground.

Just watch.

Tanquinho eliminated Leandro Lo from the lightweight contest by targetting a foot and then mounting the phenomenon from São Paulo. Photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG.

The first black belt finals have materialized this Sunday in Long Beach. Check out who’ll be squaring off for the gold at the 2012 Worlds No-Gi:

ROOSTERWEIGHT

FINAL: Caio Terra vs Fabbio Passos

Caio Terra and Fabbio only had one match apiece in making it to the final. Caio tapped out Levy Oliveira from back mount, and Fabbio had a closely contested match with Brazilian national No-Gi champion Raul Marcello (Gracie Humaitá).

LIGHT FEATHERWEIGHT

FINAL: Rafael Barata vs Henrique Costa e Silva

Rafael Freitas, known as “Barata” around Gracie Barra, had to overcome Laércio Fernandes (Lotus) to make it through to the final with Henrique Costa e Silva. The Alliance black belt came up with a splendid finish from the back in the semifinal against Gabriel Moraes (CheckMat).

FEATHERWEIGHT

FINAL: Justin Rader vs Rubens Cobrinha

Justin Rader eliminated Ed Ramos and Samir Chantre in two excellent matches. At the other end of the bracket, Rubens Cobrinha overcame Mayco Girotto (CheckMat) with his characteristic moves. Cobra took the back and snagged an arm in style.

LIGHTWEIGHT

FINAL: Augusto Tanquinho vs JT Torres

Leandro Lo kicked off his venture into the lightweight division by scoring 45 to nil on Raymond Ayala, but that wasn’t enough to impress Augusto Tanquinho. The gentle-art professor at Soul Fighters turned the tables in the waning moments to make it 6-2 by latching on to Lo’s foot and then passing and mounting. Hopefully, Lo won’t be in any pain for the absolute final later on, when he takes on Xande Ribeiro. Now, JT Torres got the tapout in both his matches and is in fine shape for the final. Lucas Lepri, one of the favorites in the division, didn’t compete, losing his match by WO.

MIDDLEWEIGHT

FINAL: DJ Jackson vs. Clark Gracie

The two American black belts had dazzling campaigns. Clark Gracie showed his Kimura’s are up to speed, but will he have what it takes to deal with a bulldozer like DJ?

MEDIUM HEAVYWEIGHT

FINAL: Rômulo Barral vs Pablo Popovitch

Rômulo tapped out Filipe Meirelles from back-control in the semifinal, and now he will be entering a heavily anticipated match with Pablo Popovitch, who outpointed Ezra Lenon, who had beaten the Brazilian at the Pan No-Gi.

HEAVYWEIGHT

Final: Rafael Lovato Jr. vs. Roberto Tussa

A guaranteed barnburner. Tussa showed his armdrags are up to speed, beating Eduardo Telles and Diego Nosferatu. Now, Lovato was rampant in tapping out Nivaldo Oliveira with an arm-and-neck choke and Mixmiliano Freitas via Kimura.

SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT

FINAL: Xande Ribeiro vs. João Assis

Xande secured a spot in a final yet again, and against an old acquaintance of his, João Assis, a CheckMat black belt who outduelled Xande in a riveting match at ADCC 2011. Xande tapped out Alberto Villanova and outpointed Paulo Tarcísio, while João eliminated Bernardo Faria in the semifinal.

ULTRAHEAVYWEIGHT

FINAL: Roberto Cyborg vs. Gustavo Elias

Cyborg warmed up with a rear-naked choke and is now ready to take on another big fellow with slick Jiu-Jitsu: the game Gustavo Elias.

Check out all the action real time on our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The World No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship will set the Long Beach Pyramid alight this weekend.

As usual, GRACIEMAG is gearing up to provide unbeatable coverage here on GRACIEMAG.com and on our social media pages.

During the entire day, both Saturday and Sunday, we will be bringing the latest updates, the most important results and exclusive interviews; all illustrated with breathtaking pictures and thrilling videos.

To follow our coverage and to get updated on all the goings-on at the tournament, all you have to do is:

LIKE our GRACIEMAG page on FACEBOOK.

FOLLOW our @GRACIEMAG account on TWITTER.

ADD our @GRACIEMAGAZINE account on INSTAGRAM using your smartphone.

In addition to all that, GRACIEMAG.com will be featuring exclusive photo galleries to go with a chronicle of each day at the event.

There, now you are ready to feel like you’re there at the Pyramid, experiencing the thrills of another chapter of Jiu-Jitsu history.

See you in Long Beach!

Worlds No-Gi at the Pyramid tomorrow

The fighting brackets for the World No-Gi jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship are out. We took a look at the black belt division and found out there’s a lot of great fighters in there so you should expect some great fights this weekend.

Without fear of controversy, we decided to analyse each category and name our favorites.

Here are our bets .

Rooster

Caio Terra

Caio Terra should be in the final against Alliance’s Fabio Passos. Caio is the favorite for the title, but the instructor at Cobrinha Jiu-Jitsu for sure has some moves under his rashguard to try snatching that gold medal.

Light-featherweight

Laercio Fernandes (right)

A category without a clear favorite. If you look at the IBJJF 2012 male black belt ranking, you will find Laercio Fernandes in the 40th position and Rafael Freitas in the 46th. The two will meet in one of the semifinals. The winner there can be considered to have more chances for the gold. On the other side of the bracket, Henrique Rezende and Gabriel dos Santos do not show on the Top 100 list.

Featherweight

Cobrinha

Four times world champion with the gi and three times world champion without the gi,  Rubens Charles Maciel has the curriculum and the skills to be considered the big favorite. In Cobrinha’s way to the highest step of the podium, you will find Osvaldo “Queixinho” Moizinho in the semifinal, and Samir Chantre, Justin Rader or Ed Ramos in the final match.

Lightweight

Leandro Lo

When you look at the bracket, it is hard not to picture the semifinals being Lucas Lepri vs. Jonathan Torres and Leandro Lo vs. Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes. At a second glance, you may consider the possibility of Zachary Maxwell upseting Tanquinho. Either way, it is also hard not to picture Lo in the final as the favorite for the gold medal.

Middleweight

DJ Jackson

Why not an All-American final match? Lloyd Irvin’s DJ Jackson and Paragon’s William “Bill” Cooper for sure have the skills to overcome their opponents. Clark Gracie and Murilo Santana want to spoil the party and also have the talent to do it.

Medium-heavyweight

Romulo Barral

On one side of the bracket, Kleber Oliveira, Victor Bonfim, Bruno Antunes and Pablo Popovitch will fight fiercely for a spot in the final. On the other side, it is hard to imagine Romulo Barral out of the god medal decider.

Heavyweight

Rafael Lovato Jr

Rafael Lovato Jr wants his third world no-gi championship and has trained a lot to achieve it. Roberto “Tussa” Alencar, David Avellan, Diego Herzog and Eduardo Telles should be his toughest obstacles.

Super-heavyweight

Xande Ribeiro

Another division with two stand out favorites. Xande Ribeiro and Bernardo Faria are the men to be beaten and most probably won’t be. The final match has all the ingredients to be a great one.

Ultra-heavyweight

Roberto Cyborg

Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu is the most well known name here, but that does not necessarily make him the favorite. The other competitors may still be unknown to a larger audience, but sometimes that is what makes them even more dangerous.

Female

Lightfeather

With only three competitors, Nyjah Easton stands out as the most likely to win the gold medal. It is up to Sofia Amarante to upset her plans.

Feather

Again a three-athletes division, the category has Ana Carolina Vidal as the favorite, but Sayaka Shioda is known to be a dangerous opponent.

Lightweight

Beatriz Mesquita is the favorite, but she needs to be careful not to be caught off guard, as it has happened before.

Middleweight

A one-fight division, Luiza Monteiro and Penny Thomas will battle for the gold. Luiza, younger, can be considered favorite, but that means almost nothing against experienced and very dangerous Penny.

Medium-heavyweight

Michelle Nicolini is all alone.

Heavyweight

Fernanda Mazzelli carries the weight of favoritism against Tammy Griego.

So, there you have it. A brief analysis of each division of the black belt for the Worlds No-Gi, this weekend.

What do you think? Do you agree or do you think we are way off on our bets?

Feel free to comment!

Some great news from Gracie Barra New Mexico.

First of all, recently professor Rafael de Freitas (photo) won a MMA fight by submission.

On September 24th, Barata submitted Eric Buck by a guillotine at 2:12 of the 2nd round.

The combat was part of the Cherokee Street – United MMA Bash event.

Another team member of GBNM also fought and won at the same event.

Joby Sanchez submitted Ronnie White by rear naked choke.

On another note, the school is to host a Romulo Barral seminar next Saturday.

For more info, go to graciebarranm.com

Barata and his Gracie Barra cheering section / Photos: Deb Blyth

“I took him down, then he swept me and I swept him back,” Barata says, “He put me in his half guard. He confused me with his game. He has really strong grips and he put me in a 50/50, but he crossed my leg. The referee didn’t say anything because he put his leg there, not me. We were locked the whole time. I don’t like that game.” Costa then swept Barata and the match became more aggressive as it was tied 4-4. In the end, the referees conferred and gave the match to Barata, giving him his first ever Pan gold medal win.

“I always fight light feather,” Barata says, “But I popped a rib and it’s still really bad. Light feather is one of the toughest divisions, so I decided to go lower and lighter and fight rooster weight so I could handle my rib.” Barata says fighting in the 2011 Pan was a great experience. “I’ve been working for this for a long time. I wanted to win. I’m super happy.”

Barata dedicated his win to his mom who was watching his match in Brazil. “I haven’t seen her in four years,” he says, “I called her before my match and said, ‘today is going to be my day.’” And it was. Barata has more to look forward to in the near future. He just passed The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) tryouts. “I’m waiting for them to call me to see if I get in or not.” Maybe his big win at the prestigious Pan will help his chances of getting in the house.

Caio Terra and fellow black belt teammate Samir Chantre

In the light feather division, the bracket was stacked, and in the end, it was Caio Terra and Bruno Malfacine who faced off in the finals. The rivalry between the two stars guaranteed an exciting match for the audience. At one point during the match, Terra got Malfacine in a foot lock and Malfacine tried to escape and the two rolled out of bounds. Terra was awarded two points, and those points were the edge Terra needed to claim gold when the buzzer went off after a 10-minute war.

Terra said, “This took a lot of weight off my shoulders. This time I was blessed with a win.” Terra says he now needs to go back home and heal from a few injuries he’s incurred over the last few months. “I need to heal by the Worlds, so I can compete, and then when the competition season is over, I will have surgery. I’ve been training since last year for the Pan Ams. I wanted to do something good in the absolute. When I come here my main goal is to fight, but unfortunately, I got hurt, so I won’t be doing any absolutes anytime soon.” Terra wants to dedicate his win to the people in Japan. “I hope God helps them all,” he says.

Outside of competitions, Terra has many goals for 2011. He’s avidly promoting his DVD on half guard. “There are 111 positions shown from the bottom,” he says, “All techniques are competition proven.” For more, check caioterra.com, his official FB Fan Page or his YouTube channel at caioterrabjj where you can find links to all his videos.

Andre Galvao and his Atos JJ team, plus Fabricio Werdum and friends

In the medium heavy division, André Galvão of Atos JJ came back from a long absence to happily claim gold at the 2011 Pan. In the Finals, he competed against Eduardo Santoro from Cia Paulista. Galvao says Santoro was really strong. “He’s a pretty tough guy,” he says, “He has a lot of experience.” Galvao ended up taking the match by one advantage point. When the match was over, his Atos team put him up on their shoulders and danced and sang, chanting, “Galvão’s back!”

Galvão declined doing the absolute. “I need to train more and fix some mistakes in my game,” he says. He also says he has not been 100% at any of his recent competitions. “I did the San Diego Abu Dhabi Pro Trials. I won, but I was only at about 40%. Three weeks from now, I will be 100% at the Worlds.” Galvão says he’s going to do some tournaments in between now and the Worlds to get his timing back. “I’ll do Fabricio’s (Werdum’s) tournament in May, some superfights and the Brazilian Nationals.”

As for his goals for 2011, Galvão says he wants to grow his name up in America. “I’m working hard to build my academy. I want to grow more students to teach.” He’s not quite done with MMA at this point. “At the end of the year I want to fight one more MMA fight, but I will never leave the gi again.”

Antonio Braga Neto of AB MMA came up with a big win in the ultra heavy division. He fought Antonio Peinado of Alliance and won with a sweep, 2-0. Braga Neto is very passionate about Jiu-Jitsu and considers himself a real student of the art. He started training in the sport at four years of age. “I want to show the art when I compete,” he says, “Most guys do strength for no reason. I think more about leverage and technique. The game is always my main thing. I’m always trying to improve myself and show the true beauty of Jiu-Jitsu.”

Antônio Braga Neto

Braga Neto is looking forward to giving back to the community. “I come from really far away in Brazil and I was still able to get my success in Jiu-Jitsu. I just want to help other kids like me who want to be a champion. I want to show them it’s possible.”

In the female black belt feather division, Michelle Nicolini of Checkmat BJJ fought Fabiana Borges of Gracie Barra and was able to submit her in the finals. “That last match was tough,” Nicolini says, “Fabiana’s a great competitor. When I signed up for feather weight, I was thinking about her and her guard. It’s very good.” Feather is a new weight class for Nicolini. “It’s closer to my real weight,” she says, “It was good. I think I’ll stay at feather for my next competition.”

Michelle Nicolini after her big gold medal win

In the finals against Borges, Nicolini was losing by points and knew she needed to catch Borges in something. “I needed a sweep or a submission,” Nicolini says, “When she was in my guard, I caught her in an armbar.” Nicolini’s signature move is a foot lock and at one point in the match, she tried to submit Borges by going for her foot, but says, “She was smart and got out of it. I felt great today. When I got up this morning, I knew today was going to be my day.”

Rodolfo gets the tapout on his way to the finals. Photo: Dan Rod.

The 2011 Pan crowned Rodolfo Vieira the grand champion. In winning both his weight group and the absolute, the GFTeam prodigy on two occasions had to overcome Bernardo Faria, precisely the person to win both the gold medals the previous year.

However, the mats in Irvine were the stage to numerous others who put in brilliant performances on the day. Shortly after winning, the champions voiced their excitement in interviews with the folks from Budo Videos, which made the live internet broadcast.

Check out the first words out of the champions’ mouths and stay tuned to the GRACIEMAG at the Pan Blog:

“I was worried about his half-guard sweep. But I trained a lot for it. It’s my first Pan, and thank God I started out well, winning my division. Now it’s about going full blast into the absolute,” said Rodolfo after beating Bernardo in the heavyweight division.

“I’m feeling super-, hyper-happy! I’d trained a lot, but one is never sure if they’ll make it to the finals of such a tough competition. I thank God for letting me win. Bernardo always scares me. His half-guard is really tricky to pass, but I hung on on top,” he added after capturing his second gold, this time in the absolute.

Gabi Garcia in photo by Dan Rod

“I’m overjoyed to have closed out the absolute with Luanna. In the (heavyweight) final I had to change my game and I’m not surprised by the takedown I ended up taking. I changed my game a lot with the help of Fabio Gurgel and Coach Edson Ramalho, but the focus is the same as always: get on top,” said Gabi Garcia, heavyweight champion and runner-up in the absolute, which she closed out with Luanna Alzuguir.

“It was like a dream, because I consider her (Hannette) one of the best in Jiu-Jitsu. I took gold in the absolute because last year I closed out with Gabi and she took first place,” Luanna Alzuguir, medium and open weight champion.

“I trained a lot and tried to do everything I worked on, to represent Gracie Barra well. I love my family, I love Gracie Barra!” Rafael “Barata” de Freitas, roosterweight champion.

Caio Terra won at light featherweight.

“Bruno Malfacine is hard to deal with, which is why I like watching his matches. He’s one of the toughest guys out there. I’m grateful for today, not just because of the win but for not getting hurt. I came and fought against the will of my doctors,” Caio Terra, light featherweight champion.

“We have no secrets. The secret is train hard to make it here,” Rafael Mendes, who closed out the featherweight division with Bruno Frazatto.

“It was incredible, I learned a lot!” Lucas Lepri, lightweight champion with Michael Langhi.

“It’s a position I practice a lot in the gym. I worked on it in training and it worked out. I set my strategy according to the match. If he pulls guard first, I try and pass,” Claudio Calasans, middleweight winner, following his wrist-lock win over Lucas Leite.

André Galvão submitted all his opponents up until the final.

“After my last MMA match I started putting on the gi more. That’s my roots and I’m back. When I was a white belt he (Eduardo Santoro) was already a black belt. I know his guard is really tough and I knew he’d be trying to finish me the whole time. I thank everyone at Atos who helped me to train for this event. I got the timing of the positions down pat and now I’m back,” André Galvão, medium heavyweight champion.

“It was a good match, Bruno Bastos is really good and strong. I swept, opened up room for the finish, and I’m pleased. It’s my first Pan title at black belt in the gi,” Marcus Bochecha, superheavyweight champion.

“At this level there are no easy matches. Everyone competing here is tough. I came and did my best, as always. Thanks everyone! Look for me at the Worlds, I’ll be there for sure!” Braga Neto, ultraheavyweight champion.

It also attracted the attentive lens of John Cooper, who caught Roberto Tussa’s win in the absolute division, Rafael Barata’s brazenness against Bruno Bastos, and the kids who are the future of the sport in the USA, among other highlights.

Check it out and get ready for complete coverage in the upcoming issue of GRACIEMAG! Subscribe here.

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Samir catches Barata's foot. Photo: personal archive.

Runner-up at the 2009 No-Gi Worlds Samir Chantre would be excused for being a bit disappointed taking silver again this year. Far from it. He celebrated taking second as though it were first. Although he and Caio Terra went through with the final, they had agreed to the result beforehand. The truth is that the teammates from Gracie Fighter closed out the light featherweight final.

“It still hasn’t hit me 100%. I’ve been training for this since I was a kid and I’ve been just missing. You never know when your time has come, but thank God, it came. It was really rough, I’d never made weight at light featherweight without the gi before. Last Worlds I didn’t make it and ended up going in as a feather at the last minute. This time I made it, and it was very gratifying to be able to close out with Caio,” he told GRACIEMAG.com.

The black belt comments on his competition campaign:

“I got a by and then had a great semifinal with Rafael “Barata” de Freitas. It was a great and lively match; we didn’t stop for a second. I had two really good foot attacks. I tried some sweeps and in the end it was decided on an advantage point. After that I was already overjoyed because I was sure Caio would win the other bracket. He got the finish and we shut out the division. Another dream come true!”

Samir and Caio Terra. Photo: John Lamonica.

The year has been bountiful for Samir. Besides the American national title and the double with Caio at the No-Gi Worlds, the black belt took second at the Rio Open.

“Now I want to rest. I trained hard and cutting weight was stressful. There were people who helped me train, like Caio, Matheus André, and the whole gang at Gracie Fighter, as well as my master in Brazil, Alan Moraes. I thank God for this title and want to congratulate Caio Terro on winning the event for the third year in a row,” he says in closing.

Caio Terra was the man to beat at the 2010 Las Vegas International Open and the American National Jiu-Jitsu No Gi Championship. Terra, a black belt with Gracie Fighter stole the show on Saturday as he won gold in his gi and no-gi light featherweight division, and in the gi absolute. In the no-gi absolute, he took third, but there was some contention around how that played out.

Caio Terra on the absolute podium. Photos: John Cooper

Terra had two fights in his gi division. In the divisional final, he faced off with his old friend and rival Rafael “Barata” Freitas from GB New Mexico. “I swept him twice and took his back,” Terra says. Terra won the final 8-0.

In the absolute, Terra had a bye then fought three matches. His final was with Robert Fonseca from Asle. “We were switching leg locks and foot locks,” Terra says, “I tried to do a sweep on him, and the one I do kind of twists the knee.” Fonseca appeared hurt and said that his knee had popped out. He was checked out by the medics and then agreed to keep fighting, so they restarted the match.

“I was winning by that time,” Terra says, “I put him in the closed guard and stayed there until the fight was over. I kept trying to go to his back, but he would go back to closed guard.” Terra ended the match winning by points and taking gold in the absolute.

“The guys in the open class were really good technically,” Terra says, “I didn’t think that I would win the open class. I’m such a small guy. I just did it for fun. I wasn’t trained enough to win something against so many tough people.” Terra says up until this point, it was a perfect day. “When you’re happy everything comes to you.”

Then the No-Gi Nationals began and Terra changed out of his gi and into his rash guard to take on the next set of competitors. In his division he had two matches. In the finals he faced “Barata” again and won by guillotine. Most may not know this, but Terra and “Barata” are actually friends with a nice rivalry going on. They compete against each other all the time, with Terra ending up the victor. You have to give Barata credit. He never gives up and even called Terra before the event to make sure he was competing so he could try again to defeat him.

“At the No-Gi Worlds, Barata and I had to fight and I joked with him and said, ‘let’s do a wrestling match with submissions,’” Terra laughs, “But I would never do that at the No-Gi Worlds.” This time the two wanted to have some fun with each other, so Terra said to Barata, “’Since you pull guard every time, can I do it this time?’ He said, ‘yes, but no foot locks!’ So we agreed.” Make no mistake about it, the fights the two had were very serious and intense, but they said they also just wanted to have some fun with each other.

“So, in our first match, I couldn’t pull any foot locks on him and he let me pull guard,” Terra says, “The second match, it was a wrestling match with submissions. He took me down, but I ended up getting him in a guillotine.” And just like that, Terra claimed his third gold medal for the day.

In the absolute no-gi, the day began to turn in a direction that Terra has seen before. The class was a smaller group. There were only 8 people in the bracket. In the semifinals, Terra went up against Diego Herzog of Gracie Florianopolis.

“I pulled guard and tried to take his back,” Terra says, “He defended and I landed on top in a 50/50. He switched his leg from outside to inside which is illegal.”  While Terra was talking to the referee, Herzog was twisting his knee. The referee stopped the match before Terra was injured and gave Herzog the victory, which had Terra fuming (The same scenario played itself out in the finals with Gregor Gracie. From the same position, Herzog and Gracie were in a 50/50. Herzog switched his leg from the outside to the inside and was disqualified after injuring Gracie’s knee)

So, in the end, Terra took home three gold medals and a bronze. Terra says he came to Vegas for a friend’s birthday, and decided to compete at the last minute. Outside of the no-gi absolute, Terra says he had a perfect day. He believes he should have been in the final with Gracie and looks forward to the possibility of fighting him in the no-gi absolute division in the future.

As for his “complaining,” Terra says that everyone complains during a Jiu-Jitsu match. The difference is Terra is a true student of the sport and has studied the rules of Jiu-Jitsu vigorously. “I want to win,” he says, “That’s why I study the rules. I want to play by the rules. Sometimes, you have to use the rules to your favor, so I am a professional when it comes to them.” When you look at Terra’s record, it’s hard to argue with that.

Rodrigo Cavaca at Worlds 2009. Photo: Regis Chen.

It’s time for the Pan, which is about to kick off at 10 am in Irvine, California.

GRACIEMAG.com never flees a fight and thus gives its predictions on the main categories in yet another major tournament.

ABSOLUTE BROWN

The open weight brackets haven’t yet been drawn up, nor are sign-ups out of the way. Of the names to appear in the weight divisions, standing out are revelation Marcus “Bochecha” Almeida (CheckMat), James Puopolo (Gracie Humaitá), Jarrod Bunch (Beverly Hills), David Kohl (Paragon), Clark Gracie (BJJ Revolution) and Ian MacPherson (Alliance Atlanta). If all of them go in: Bochecha in first, Jarrod second and Ian in third.

ROOSTERWEIGHT BLACK

Bruno Malfacine (Alliance) is the man to beat. But Joseph Capizzi, Felipe Costa and especially the unpredictable Makato Sawada can mix things up. Prediction: Bruno Malfacine and Felipe Costa.

LIGHT FEATHERWEIGHT

The light featherweight division is an ace festival, which should draw more attention than usual. Pablo Silva and Rafael Barata (Gracie Barra), Kuraoka (Axis), Felipe Lattari (Cia Paulista), Samir Chantre (Gracie Fighter), Sidemar (Cia Paulista) and Fabio Passos (Alliance) are solid names. And keep an eye on past world champions Carlos Holanda (CheckMat), Bernardo Pitel (Nova União) and Caio Terra (Gracie Fighter). Wellington Megaton (Gracie Humaitá) dropped a weight class to compete at light featherweight, promise of good takedowns. Prediction: Pablo Silva and Caio Terra.

FEATHERWEIGHT

The featherweight division, too, is chock full of tough guys, like Renan Borges (BTT), Javier Vasquez (Gracie), Canal (GFTeam) and Marcelino Freitas (Nova União). But Cobrinha doesn’t want a fifth title to escape him. Predictions: Rubens Charles “Cobrinha” and Renan Borges.

LIGHTWEIGHT

Bill Cooper, Rafael Formiga, Jonatas Tagarela, Jonathan Torres and newbie Bruno Amorim will try to impede a Langhi/Lepri shutout.
Predictions: Lucas Lepri and Michael Langhi.

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Sergio Moraes looks to seal the good phase he’s been having, months after shutting out the division with Marcelo Garcia at the Worlds. According to the brackets, he will have ahead of him Diego Gamonal, Mike Fowler or Kayron Gracie, Lucas Leite or Adriano Silva, Kron Gracie or the Rodrigos, Teixeira and Costa.
Predictions: Sergio Moraes and Lucas Leite.
MEDIUM HEAVYWEIGHT

In spite of the known and respected names on the list, current champion Otavio Sousa Sousa (Gracie Barra-PE) is the firm favorite, if just for what he did at the last Pan (and even was runner-up in the absolute).
Predictions: Otavio Sousa and Diego Herzog.

HEAVYWEIGHT
The division captained by Rafael Lovato Jr., is infested with promising former brown. From Ecuador, Léo Iturralde comes in to “feel the black belts’ pressure,” as he posted on twitter. From São Paulo, Léo Nogueira is looking to show why he’s the current brown belt world champion. And there’s still João Assis, absolute champion at brown belt from the last Pan, Gabriel Kitober, Bernardo Faria, all holders of titles at brown belt.
Prediction: Rafael Lovato and Bernardo Faria.

SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT
Could this be the most evenly-matched division of all times? Could very well be. In it are Marcel Fortuna, Fernando Soluço, Eduardo Ramos, Bruno Bastos, Carlos Melo and Rodrigo Cavaca, on one side; and Felipe “Monstro” Pacces, Guybson Sá, Braga Neto, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Daniel Azevedo and Roberto Tussa (moving up in weight), on the other.
Predictions? Get me out of this one, friend! Cavaca is one of the favorites, but he might not have trained that much because of his arm… I’ll take a stab: Braga Neto and Bruno Bastos.

ULTRAHEAVYWEIGHT
Big Mac on one side, Gabriel Vella on the other. That’s the final prediction.