The Avengers | Graciemag

Miami Open: get up to date on chokes with Roberto Cyborg

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 00:12:59 +0000

Roberto Cyborg against Leonardo Henrique at 2012 Miami Open / IBJJF publicity photo

This Sunday at Miami Dade College, Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu set the mats at the Miami Open alight. The black belt won the championship’s absolute division for the third time in a row, beating team Atos representative Leonardo Henrique in the final. The Avengers team leader Abreu passed guard, mounted and got the tapout with a choke.

Check Cyborg out in action and learn:

For the complete tournament results, click here.

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Miami Open: veja como pegar no estrangulamento com Roberto Cyborg

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 19:14:11 +0000

Roberto Cyborg contra Leonardo Henrique no Miami Open 2012. Foto:IBJJF/Divulgação.

Nesse domingo, no Kendall Campus da Miami Dade College, Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu mandou ver nas áreas de luta do Miami Open. O faixa-preta venceu o absoluto pela terceira vez consecutiva e na final bateu Leonardo Henrique (Atos). O líder da The Avengers passou a guarda, montou e finalizou com um estrangulamento.

Confira abaixo e aprenda com ele.

Para ver os resultados completos, clique aqui.

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The Avengers rule Grapplers Quest Florida

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:42:41 +0000

GMA members Pablo Popovitch and Roberto Cyborg are proud of their students.

Team Avengers, formed by Popovitch’s and Cyborg’s academies, ruled the recent Grapplers Quest Florida.

The team won three out of five categories, including the overall team standings.

With 491 poitns, The Avengers scored 50 points more than ATT, the overall runner-up.

For more info, go to cyborgbjj.com, bjjcenter.com

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Cyborg e Rilion vibram por último no Miami Open

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:40:00 +0000

Nossos GMAs Rilion Gracie, Stephen Hall e Roberto Cyborg no pódio por equipes. Foto: Ray Santana.

O fim de semana foi rico em bom Jiu-Jitsu na Flórida, por conta do Miami Open 2011, realizado no último sábado. O torneio aberto da IBJJF coroou como bicampeão absoluto Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu, nosso GMA no estado americano.

Por equipes, o professor Rilion Gracie foi quem riu no fim. Sua equipe, a Gracie Elite, beliscou mais uma vez o primeiro lugar, com Alliance em segundo e os Avengers, de Cyborg, em terceiro.

Confira Cyborg finalizando abaixo, e os resultados oficiais completos em breve, em www.ibjjf.org.

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Cyborg and Rilion overjoyed by last Miami Open

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:19:54 +0000

Our GMAs Rilion Gracie, Stephen Hall and Roberto Cyborg on team podium / Photo by Ray Santana

Florida got treated to a weekend rich in Jiu-Jitsu last Saturday, when the Miami Open 2011 rolled into town. The IBJJF open tournament crowned our Florida-based GMA Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu the champion for the second time in a row.

In the team contest, Professor Rilion Gracie would laugh last, though. His Gracie Elite team topped the podium once again, with Alliance in second and Cyborg’s Avengers in third.

Watch Cyborg nabbing another tapout in the video below, and visit the IBJJF website for the official results.

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Pan: Davi copies partner Galvão and wins absolute; overcomes Kayron

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:50:12 +0000

The No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu season is underway. This year there was the ADCC, and André Galvão headed the pack with his wins at weight and open weight at the contest in England. At the other end of the Atlantic, in New York, Galvão’s training partner Davi Ramos got his own pair of gold medals, at the No-Gi Pan this Saturday.

In the contest areas at Nat Holman Gymnasium Davi won the middleweight and absolute divisions. In the open weight final he came up against none other than Kayron Gracie, who had already secured gold for himself in the medium heavyweight division.

Caio Terra in action at Pan / Photo: IBJJF

There were other submission wizards who put in stellar performances in NY, though: The light featherweight division was all Caio Terra’s, who also won the Gi Pan earlier this year and more recently came up spades at the American Nationals; gold-medal honors at featherweight went to André Monteiro, representing our GMA Rodrigo Medeiros; and taking first at lightweight was another GMA of ours, Lucas Lepri of Alliance; and rounding out the black belt podium, Alexandre Moreiro won at heavyweight, Francisco Tavares at superheavyweight, and Petrus Melo at ultraheavyweight.

In the overall team standing, our GMAs locked down the top three spots on the podium: Avengers in first, Renzo in second, and Gracie Barra in third.

Check back with GRACIEMAG.com soon for a photo gallery from the competition.

And for click here for the complete results.

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Pan: Davi imita Galvão e leva absoluto, contra Kayron

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 14:49:21 +0000

A temporada de eventos de Jiu-Jitsu sem kimono já começou. Neste ano teve ADCC, e André Galvão foi o melhor no peso e absoluto nas disputas que aconteceram na Inglaterra. Do outro lado do Oceano Atlântico, em Nova York, quem brilhou foi o companheiro de treinos de Galvão Davi Ramos, que também garantiu duas medalhas de ouro no Pan, realizado neste sábado.

Nas áreas de luta do Nat Holman Gymnasium, Davi venceu no peso médio e no absoluto. Na final da categoria livre, o oponente foi nada menos que Kayron Gracie, que já havia garantido o ouro entre os meio-pesados.

Caio Terra em ação no Pan. Foto: IBJJF.

Também brilharam em NY feras como Caio Terra, no pluma, que neste ano também venceu o Pan com kimono e, recentemente, ficou em primeiro no Nacional Americano. No pena, o melhor foi André Monteiro, representante do nosso GMA Rodrigo Medeiros. Entre os leves, mais um GMA no topo do pódio, Lucas Lepri da Alliance.

Para completar o pódio na faixa-preta, Alexandre Moreira foi o melhor entre os pesados, Francisco Tavares no superpesado e Petrus Melo no pesadíssimo.

No resultado geral por academias, três GMAs foram para as cabeças. The Avengers em primeiro, seguida por Renzo Gracie e Gracie Barra.

Em breve, as fotos das disputas aqui no GRACIEMAG.com.

Para conferir todos os resultados, clique aqui.

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A white belt back from Iraq and the first 2011 world champions

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:52:16 +0000

Matt Coppinger with Cyborg / Photos: Deb Blyth

As the white belts fought their matches with passion and fervor throughout day one of the Worlds, their coaches, friends and fans in the crowd lit up the arena with roars of delight and sorrow as some claimed victory and others, defeat. Matt Coppinger from The Avengers took gold in his roosterweight division, making Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu proud. Cyborg brought over 30 students out for the Worlds and says to expect to see many of them on the podium this weekend.

James Teele of Sparta JJ takes gold.

James Teele from Sparta Jiu-Jitsu in Gardena, California, won his middleweight division. He got his opponent in a shoulder lock and accidentally dislocated it. This was his first tournament ever, and now he’s a world champion. “It feels good,” he says, “I’ll definitely be back next year as a blue belt.”

Edward Vasquez with Rafael Ramos

Edward Vasquez of GB Carlsbad won his super heavy division, but the Worlds is no match for his regular job. He’s a Marine and just came back from his second tour in Iraq where he saw a lot of action. He feels like he has a mental edge over his opponents and has a completely different perspective on competition than most. “I don’t get nervous at these tournaments,” he says, “If you lose you lose. I’m not going to die.”

Hope Aiken of Alliance

In the women’s heavyweight division, Hope Aiken took gold for Alliance. She won all three of her matches by submission. This fire plug, who also fights MMA, received her blue belt on the podium and says she wants to continue to be a world champion in every belt, all the way to her black belt.

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Cyborg Gives Back

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 02:21:30 +0000

Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu’s philanthropy knows no bounds. Although he enjoys giving back to his friends, family, and students on a regular basis, Cyborg has really stepped it up this holiday season.

Cyborg at his South Beach,Florida, gym. Photo: personal archives.

Recently, he held a seminar at his gym, Fight Sports! South Beach, in honor of Will Ribeiro, a WEC bantamweight fighter who suffered a near-fatal motorcycle accident in 2008. Initial reports from his doctor gave Ribeiro only a fifty-fifty chance of surviving his injuries, but over time, his condition has improved. However, what has not gotten better is his way of life, and he needs financial help to assist with his ongoing medical and personal costs.

Cyborg, who had never met Ribeiro before, read an article about him in GRACIEMAG and the fighter’s battle touched a chord inside of him. “I really felt for him,” he says, “Especially because I’m in the middle of the same environment he is. I can’t imagine how he must feel right now. To be on top; at the peak; and then for him to have to stop at the best time of his life because of a bad accident…I don’t know…I just wanted to help him. I wish I could do more.”

Cyborg continues, “He’s not my friend – I’ve never seen him in my life. I truly just want to do my part. I think people should care more about other people and try to help. Not because of any injuries – just because you should. It’s the best feeling in the world when you can give a little bit of you to the next person or to an animal or nature.”

Fight Sport! gym's beach clean-up effort

Cyborg stands behind his words of wisdom. A couple of weeks ago, he and Eliane Carotta, of Sanatura Yoga Studio, which is based in his Fight Sports! gym, organized a day-long “conscious attitude”/beach clean-up event for his students.

The day started with an Acro Yoga class led by Arianne Traverso, exercises on the ball with black belt Marcel Goncalves, then a guided meditation with Eliane Carotta (specializing in Yoga for fighters), and ended with everyone getting together and cleaning the sands of Miami Beach. All proceeds from the event went to: ECOMB (www.ecomb.org), a non-profit organization that preserves the beaches of Miami Beach.

Cyborg thinks that every act of good will can change your perspective in life, along with others’ attitudes. “When you have a good attitude, the people around you say, ‘I should do that, too,’” he says, “People start changing their perceptions. In the world of Jiu-Jitsu, there are a lot of good people who want to help, and I felt it was time to help Will Ribeiro. The seminar was one way to do that.”

Group at the Will Ribeiro-benefit seminar

Cyborg’s held a two-hour open mat and all the Avengers’s guys were there. He then gave a two-hour seminar, for which he charged a thirty-dollar minimum fee per person. “It was up to the individual to decide how much more than that he or she wanted to donate to Ribeiro’s cause,” Cyborg says, “One hundred percent of the money is being donated to Will. He lives in Brazil, so he wasn’t at the seminar, but I will make sure he gets all the proceeds from the event.”

If you would like to assist with Cyborg’s support of fellow fighter Will Ribeiro, he has an account set up where you can send a donation:

Will Marcos Pessoa Ribeiro
Bank Caixa Economica Federal
Account 013-00006328-7
CPF 100-405-737-70

Cyborg believes that giving back to others is the only way to improve ourselves and the world at large. “If every one of us did our part, the world would be a better place.”

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O ano foi perfeito para Popovitch, mas poderia melhorar: “Adoro enfrentar o Marcelinho”

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:04:34 +0000

Popovitch na final contra Daniel Moraes. Foto: John Lamonica.

Em 2010, nosso GMA Pablo Popovitch provou que não foi a toa a vitória no ADCC 2009. Sem o kimono, o faixa-preta da The Avengers venceu os principais eventos. A fera conversou nos EUA com a repórter do GRACIEMAG.com Deb Blyth.

Neste ano, no Pan, Popovitch foi ouro no peso e absoluto. No Mundial, também venceu no peso e dividiu o pódio do absoluto com os companheiros da CheckMat. Além dos resultados nos eventos da IBJJF, Pablo venceu o absoluto da Copa América (nesta também venceu na divisão com kimono), derrotou Lucas Lepri na superluta da UFC Fan Expo, estreou com sucesso no MMA e foi indicado ao hall da fama do Naga.

No Mundial, Popovitch bateu no peso as pedreiras Murilo Santana e Daniel Moraes. No absoluto, antes de fecharem a categoria (1º Cyborg Abreu, 2º Marcus Bochecha, 3º Popovitch e Lucas Leite), o lutador venceu Ben Baxter e Flavio Almeida.

“O Daniel é quatro vezes campeão mundial!”, elogia.

Foto: John Lamonica.

Agora, de olho no ADCC 2011, Pablo espera enfrentar novamente seu maior adversário, Marcelo Garcia, quem conseguiu derrotar pela primeira vez na última edição do evento.

“Espero enfrentar o Marcelinho novamente em 2011, ele é o meu oponente mais duro em todos os tempos. Adoro competir contra ele, gosto do desafio. Ele faz eu trabalhar duro”, admite.

Além do ADCC, o lutador projeta alto para a próxima temporada.

“Meu gol em 2011 é vencer qualquer evento com ou sem kimono”, encerra.

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Undefeated since 2007, Weapon X wants gi win in 2011

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:22:25 +0000

Yes, 2010 has been Pablo “Weapon X” Popovitch’s year. He won the 2010 Pan-American No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championship in New York both in his division and in the absolute (he closed out the division with teammate Marcus Bochecha), he was Copa America No-Gi and Gi absolute Champion, he won the Grapplers Quest – UFC Expo superfight against Lucas Lepri (Lepri just won the lightweight division at the 2010 No-Gi Worlds) in Boston, and he won the huge VIC tournament in Europe, both in his division and in the absolute. He fought eight matches in one day. “I fought from 2 p.m. until midnight,” he says.

Popovitch gets back mount on his way to winning No-Gi Worlds. Photo: John Lamonica.

Popovitch made his professional MMA debut as part of the co-main event against Jeff Savoy at Rock and Rumble 3 at Florida’s Hard Rock Hotel, winning via TKO in the 2nd Round. “I took his back and started punching him in the face,” he says, “He tapped during my striking. I broke his orbital bone.”

Another big accomplishment this year was being inducted into The Grappling Hall Of Fame By the North American Grappling Association, N.A.G.A. “It’s a huge thing,” he says, “They contacted me about it and I was so honored.”

Popovitch is also the inspiration behind his and Cyborg Abreu’s new Jiu-Jitsu team, The Avengers. They have about fifteen black belts training together, including Rodrigo Cavaca’s CheckMat team, called The Armory, who train with them as well about two or three times a week. The team they’re all building together is becoming a superpower on the tournament circuit. Because of this, in these tournaments, when they all rise to the top together, he says they have to be humble and give each other credit. “You can’t win by yourself,” he says, “You have to help each other out.”

And help each other out is what they did at the 2010 No-Gi Worlds. After winning gold and world champion status in his middleweight division, Popovitch then closed out the absolute division with Cyborg and Marcus Bochecha, and Cyborg took the title. “I love those guys,” he says, “We make it fair for everyone.”

Popovitch has been undefeated since 2007. Since 2003, he’s lost only twice and both times were to Marcelo Garcia, once in 2005 and once in 2007. In 2009, Popovitch was able to beat Garcia at the ADCC. “I hope to face him again in 2011,” Popovitch says, “He is my toughest opponent ever. I love competing against him. I love the challenge. He lets me know how far I’ve come in my game. He makes me work really hard.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imp_mz3RA5s

As for his undefeated record, Popovitch says he needs to reflect on what it means to him because it may cause him to hold back on his Jiu-Jitsu when he could throw himself into it more. “Being undefeated, I think about my record,” he says, “I try to transfer it into training harder. Anyone can make a mistake and get caught. Some matches I think I could do more but I don’t because I want to keep the record going. It does take away from my Jiu-Jitsu in tournaments for sure. In some matches I could really let it go but I play it safe, so as not to fall into danger. Jiu-Jitsu is like a chess match. You make a mistake, you lose. I just try not to put that much pressure on myself.”

Popovitch displaying his exceptional strength in photo by John Lamonica

At the No-Gi Worlds, Popovitch looked calm and composed. He had three matches in his division. He won his first match on points. In his second, he faced Murilo Santana of Barbosa JJ, and won on points. “He’s really tough,” Popovitch says.

In the finals, Popovitch squared off with Daniel Moraes of Relson Gracie in a very exciting display of Jiu-Jitsu. “He’s super tough,” Popvitch says, “He’s a four-time world champion. I took him down, took his back, and almost choked him, but he defended.” The two stood up and Moraes pulled guard. “I passed and was able to take his back twice during the match,” Popovitch says. The match ended with Popovitch pulling off a 6-0 victory.

In the absolute, Popovitch had two matches before closing out the division with his teammates. His first fight was with Ben Baxter, whom he submitted with a choke. In his second match, he took on Gracie Barra’s Flavio Almeida and beat him 2-0 with a takedown.

Then Cyborg, Cavaca, Bochecha, and Popovitch conferred at the edge of the mats and, while there was a lot of talking and laughing going on, it was obvious that it was tough for him to take the “loss” they had agreed upon. But Popovitch smiled as he stepped onto the mats and let his friend and teammate Bochecha take the win, who in turn gave it to Cyborg. “I don’t like to lose at anything,” he laughs.

Popovitch wants to dedicate his win to his parents. “They’ve always supported me,” he says, “My dad’s a black belt, too. I’ve been doing Jiu-Jitsu since I was four years old.” Many may not know that Popovitch is cousins with some of the Gracie’s and grew up in Brazil living the Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle. “It gave me a lot of confidence,” he says.

Tired from a long year of competing, Popovitch says he needs a break, but he’s going to come out strong in 2011. “My goal for 2011 is to win every single gi and no-gi tournament.” With his above-average strength, speed, dedication, and focus, along with a near-perfect record, “Weapon X” should have no problem attaining those objectives.

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