VIC | Graciemag

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.

The post Undefeated since 2007, Weapon X wants gi win in 2011 first appeared on Graciemag.

Popovitch: Paris triumph good sign for MMA debut

Tue, 11 May 2010 03:43:24 +0000

ADCC 2009 winner Pablo Popovitch once again left his gi and old black belt at the gym in Florida and set about winning a no-gi championship, this time in Paris, France, on May 1.

The 30-year-old today spoke up about his winning the VIC tournament, in a chat with GRACIEMAG.com, explaining why he and buddy Jeff Monson didn’t face off in the absolute final, opting to split the 1,500-Euro prize money.

“I had eight matches and won most of them by submission, taking the under-84kg title and the absolute, closing out with Jeff in the open weight division. Shoot, we’ve been training partners and friends for over ten years; there’s no way we could fight each other,” he explains.

Pablo has a date for his MMA debut marked on the calendar. On June 4 he’ll be in a co-main event at Rock and Rumble 3, to take place at the Hard Rock Café in Florida. And his eight fights were good prep work for the challenge.

“This championship served as preparation for my coming fights. My MMA debut is coming up June 4 as a co-main event at Rock and Rumble 3, in Florida. But I’m also going to compete at the Grapplers Quest 32-Man tourney in July, which will be high level. But I’m training a lot and I hope to have a great MMA debut,” he says in closing.

The Grapplers Quest challenge with 32 big names in no-gi grappling takes place on the 10^th and 11^th of July, with a 10-thousand-dollar payout for the winner. Among the names aired by the promoters, Xande Ribeiro, Josh Barnett, Jeff Monson, Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu, Daniel Moraes, Bill “The Grill” Cooper, Vinicius Magalhães, Chris Moriarty, and other should be there.

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Popovitch: triunfo em Paris é bom sinal para sua estreia no MMA

Mon, 10 May 2010 23:15:51 +0000

Campeão do ADCC 2009, Pablo Popovitch mais uma vez deixou o kimono e a velha faixa-preta na academia na Flórida e faturou um campeonato sem kimono, desta vez em Paris, França, no dia 1º de maio.

O craque de 30 anos comentou hoje a vitória no torneio VIC com o GRACIEMAG.com, explicando porque ele e o parceiro Jeff Monson não se enfrentaram na final do absoluto, optando por dividir os 1.500 euros de premiação.

“Foi um campeonato muito legal, super organizado, e o que me deixou feliz foi ver como a galera está melhorando lá na Europa. O nível de competição está muito alto no mundo todo, e isso é bom”, diz o filho e aluno de Jorge Popovitch.

“Fiz oito lutas e ganhei a maioria por finalização, faturando o título no peso até 84kg e no absoluto, fechando com o Jeff no aberto. Pô, ele e eu somos parceiros de treinos e amigos há mais de dez anos, é impossível a gente lutar”, explica.

Pablo está com estreia marcada no MMA. Será no dia 4 de junho, na preliminar da luta principal do Rock and Rumble 3, que será realizado no Hard Rock da Flórida. E as oito lutas foram um bom treino para ele:

“Esse campeonato também serviu de preparação para minhas próximas lutas. Minha estreia no MMA está marcada, para o dia 4 de junho como co-main event no Rock and Rumble 3, na Flórida. Mas também vou competir no Grapplers Quest 32-Man, torneio em julho que vai ser de alto nível. Mas estou treinando muito e espero fazer uma boa estreia no MMA”, encerra.

O desafio Grapplers Quest com 32 grandes nomes da luta sem kimono será nos dias 10 e 11 de julho e vai premiar o campeão com 10 mil dólares. Entre os nomes ventilados pelos organizadores, devem competir Xande Ribeiro, Josh Barnett, Jeff Monson, Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu, Daniel Moraes, Bill “The Grill” Cooper, Vinicius Magalhães, Chris Moriarty, entre outros.

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Popovitch and Monson close out absolute in Paris

Mon, 03 May 2010 19:47:37 +0000

Pablo Popovitch in one of his greatest wins, against Marcelo Garcia. Photo: Carlos Ozorio

Last Saturday, Paris hosted the VIC, a traditional European submission wrestling tournament. Inspired by the setting being the French capital, friends Pablo Popovitch and Jeff Monson won at weight and closed out the absolute.

Pablo won the under 84 kg division while Monson took the over 96 kg one. In the under 75 kg division, Marcelo Bocão was the winner. In the under 66 kg, our GMA Anderson Pereira took the gold.

“These days this tournament is the biggest grappling tournament in Central Europe, and folks came from all the countries. Each division was worth a thousand Euros, and the absolute paid 1,500. I’d won it twice in the past, this time I made it three,” said Anderson.

Check out the ultra heavyweight final with Jeff Monson.

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Popovitch e Monson fecham absoluto em Paris

Mon, 03 May 2010 17:38:35 +0000

Popovitch conta com grandes vitórias no submission, como esta contra Marcelo Garcia. Foto: Carlos Ozório

No último sábado, Paris foi a sede do VIC, tradicional torneio de submission da Europa. Inspirados pelo cenário da capital francesa, os amigos Pablo Popovitch e Jeff Monson venceram no peso e fecharam o absoluto.

Pablo venceu o peso até 84kg e Monson a categoria acima de 96kg. Na divisão até 75kg, o campeão foi Marcelo Bocão. No peso até 66kg, o vencedor foi nosso GMA Anderson Pereira.

“Este torneio hoje é o maior de grappling da Europa central, e veio uma galera de todos os países. Cada categoria valeu mil euros, e o absoluto pagou 1.500 euros. Eu tinha vencido já duas vezes, agora fui tri”, disse Anderson.

Confira a final dos pesadíssimos com Jeff Monson.

The post Popovitch e Monson fecham absoluto em Paris first appeared on Graciemag.