Braulio sets up the submission on Guto Campos. Photo: Luca Atalla

Gracie Barra Birmingham teacher Braulio Estima was the first to arrive and the last to leave Abu Dhabi.

His arrival was pre-planned: he was dying to watch UFC 112, held last April 10. His exit wasn’t: “Everyone’s stuck here because of the volcano in Iceland, even me. Unfortunately, today is my son Julian’s first birthday and I’m here, bummed out.”

But the kid is smart and will understand. While Julian Estima blows out his candle, the father, the open class runner-up in Abu Dhabi and participant in some of the best matches at the World Pro, whiles away his time as best he can, and has no complaints about how he was received by his hosts.

“Now I’m here training for my MMA debut. I train every day with Sheikh Tahnoon. I changed my plans too, so rather than heading to England, I’m going straight to New York on the 5^th, where I’ll train with Roger at Renzo’s,” Carcara reports.

So we asked him about his World Pro silver medal. After all, the result was excellent for someone who hasn’t been training in the gi, but it wasn’t what Estima wanted.

“I’ve managed to put behind me what it was to distract me and throw me off in the championship. I’m referring a blatant refereeing error in the under-83 kg final (At the very end, a sweep was awarded to Calasans, drawing the score and handing the Atos fighter the win by one advantage)”, he says, then warding off the harsh feelings.

“But that aside the championship was awesome; I managed to do what I’d planned to: to put on a good show, sink different submissions and display a lot of movement, always on the attack. I was having fun until the weight group final, when that thing happened… But nothing happens by chance; it was Calasans’s day and I’m happy because he trained a lot more than I did for this competition,” he exalts.

“Now I’m focused on Rick Hawn, at Shine. Then the Worlds,” he says in farewell. It must be time for training over at the palace.

Fans check brackets while locals pray. Photo: Luca Atalla

In the restaurant of the armed forces’ hotel, the Officers Club, Luanna Alzuguir and Gabrielle Garcia dine together alone at a table. After a perfect Pan for the Alliance aces, though, the time has come to go their separate ways. There’s no absolute division for them in the World Pro, hence they won’t be able to close out the division again, like they did in the open weight class in California, last weekend.

Luanna submitted everyone in her matches in the Pan and is favored to win the female under-63 kg division of the World Pro, which starts in about an hour in Abu Dhabi, at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Complex. On her side of the bracket, there’s Sweden’s Ida Hansson (first match), Australia’s Lisa Marie and Jennifer Torrance, the United States’ Kiri Liao, and Brazil’s Renata Lopes, Juliana Nogueira and Katia Guimarães.

At the other end of the bracket, there’s Hillary Williams, Sayaka Shioda, Carol DeLazzer, Sheila Bird and Bia Mesquita. Who’ll make it? We’ll find out in a few hours.

For Gabi, redeemed after her two golds at the Pan, things are even more complicated. “So, I got a bye and my first match should be against (absolute world champion) Lana Stefanac. No worries, at least we’ll have a final-type match in advance,” she said. Gabi further remarked on her triumph at the Pan. “It was excellent. Yes, beating Hillary settled the score. I landed a harai (throw) and snagged her arm in 30 seconds,” she said, grinning.

In the over-63 kg division, Gabi or Lana will probably face Cassuza Fornari. At the other end, Luzia Fernandes, Zanza Conceição and Tammy Griego are among the favorites, according to the brackets.

Also taking place today, there’s the absolute divisions of the purple, brown and black, and blue and white (light and heavy) belt groups.Check out all Saturday’s finals that defined yesterday, and the third-place winners already established by the organization.

Blue belt Yahya Mansoor, a local hero, in a riveting battle against the USA's Orlando Sanches (Legacy)

White and Blue:

Under-63kg

Final: Tarek Al Kutbi (UAE) vs Ahmed Gloum (UAE)
3rd) Raymond Lee Massa (New Zealand)
3rd) Ghaleb Odeh Ahmad (Jordan)

Under-68kg

Final: Matheus Luckmann (Brazil) vs Jacob Sandoval (EUA)
3rd) Talib Saleh (UAE)
3rd) Kevin Mahecha (USA)

Under-73kg
Final: Daniel Svensson (Sweden) vs Daniel Agard (United Kingdom)
3rd) Issa Able (USA)
3rd) Takatoshi Matsumoto (Japan)

Under-78kg
Final: Khaled Abdul Kareem (Jordan) vs Jonathan Tuck (Guam, USA)
3rd) Zaid Jarandoka (Jordan)
3rd) Mario Marwan Kamal (Iraq)

Under-83kg
Final: Kit Dale (Australia) vs Gustavo Silvestro (Brazil)
3rd) Faisal Al Souqi (Jordan)
3rd) Wesley Charles (South Africa)

Under-88kg
Final: Majid Al Naqbi (UAE) vs Krysztof Saganowski (Poland)
3rd) Tamer Sameer (Jordan)
3rd) Sami Mohamed (Jordan)

Under-93kg
Final: Celson Frabetti (Brazil) vs Faisal Al Kutbi (UAE)
3rd) Bjoernar Beylich (Norway)
3rd) Brandon Kalapu (New Zealand)

Under-98kg
Final: Yahya Mansoor (UAE) vs Marcelo Tarso (Brazil)
3º) Tarek Matar (UAE)
3º) Orlando Sanches (USA)

Over-98kg
Final: Hideki Sekine (Japan) vs Willie Leonard (USA)
3rd) Mohammad Al Menhali (UAE)
3rd) Alevs Fraser (Canada)

Purple, Brown and Black

Under-65kg
Final: Guilherme Mendes (Brazil) vs Rafael Mendes (Brazil)
3rd) Almiro Barros (Brazil)
3rd) Kataniwa Katsunori (Japan)

Under- 74kg
Final: Gilbert Burns (Brazil) vs Claudio Matos (Brazil)
3rd) Michel Maia (Brazil)
3rd) Celso Venícius (Brazil)

Under-83kg
Final: Braulio Estima (Brazil) vs Claudio Calasans (Brazil)
3rd) Delson Heleno (Brazil)
3rd) Gustavo Campos (Brazil)

Under-92kg
Final: Alexandro Ceconi (Brazil) vs Romulo Barral (Brazil)
3rd) Zumbi Larara (Brazil)
3rd) Carlos Alexandre “Baby” (Brazil)

Over-92kg
Final: Ricardo Abreu (Brazil) vs Gabriel Vella (Brazil)
3rd) Luiz Felipe Theodoro (Brazil)
3rd) Marcus de Almeida (Brazil)