Sodré will be vying for his first brown belt world championship. IBJJF

This year the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship has one of the best crops of brown-belts we’ve seen. Among the talent is 21-year-old Alex Sodré from the state of Amazonas. A student under Rodrigo Feijão at Nova União, he will be shooting for gold in the light featherweight division, meaning he will be up against Pablo Mantovani (Atos), Kennedy Maciel (Alliance), Yago Rodrigues (Marcio Rodrigues) and more.

“I’m feeling very well in general,” Sodré said in an interview this week. “I’ve already hit my weight. In fact I’ve never hit weight so well like this, because I always hit it one day prior to a competition.”

About the training he did recently at GD Jiu-Jitsu in Arizona, he added: “The camp was very good for me, because the quality of the training was great. The guys’ energy was incredible. I prepared like always, training to diversify more and more. I like to go through many situations, so that I don’t get surprised when it’s time to fight. I think that, when you try to play just one game, you end up limiting yourself. So it’s always good to practice everything and study a lot. I really like passing guard using the mobility of my legs.”

Sodré also talked about what was going on in his mind right before hitting the mat at the Worlds. “I don’t really like to think about the fights,” he said. “However, as soon as I saw the brackets, I saw myself doing well in every match. The biggest lesson that Feijão imparts to me is that the Sun shines for all, and that it is up to you to make your dreams and goals come true.”

To date, Sodré has collected two Brazilian Nationals titles, one title at World Pro and several triumphs in open IBJJF tourneys. You can check out his style right here:

Pinheiro is confident following good results this season. Cooper Neill

Two names have monopolized the roosterweight division for almost ten years now. But a 23-year-old Amazonian athlete, who now lives and trains in Dallas, wants to put an end to it. After winning four gold medals this season, the black belt Lucas Pinheiro arrives confident seeking his first Jiu-Jitsu World title in the blackbelt division,  which starts tomorrow and runs until Sunday in Long Beach, California.

“My training camp was great for this World Championship,” he told Graciemag. “I trained as hard as I could, I diet very well and did a great job of physical preparation. After I made the Pan Ams final with Bruno Malfacine and the Miami Open final against João Miyao, I’ve been focusing more on technique details, berimbolo defense, lapel sweeping… I surely will fight for every position and every detail. I am ready for all the situations that may happen during the fights. I’m focused, prepared, happy and eager to compete.”

The black belt’s brackets are out, and Lucas has analyzed all possible scenarios. On Saturday, he will face Takahito Yoshida, a Japanese whom he beat at last year’s World’s Championship. If he advances, he returns to the mats only on Sunday and there will be only three fights left to conquer his goal.

“Last year my first fight was also against Yoshida and, thank God, I won it,” Pinheiro said. “I hope I get the same result to advance to the quarter-finals. If everything works out well, I face Aniel Bonifácio in the quarterfinals. I have never faced him before, but of one thing I am certain: He will have to be very prepared to fight me, because I will be at my best. Winning, I’ll probably face Caio Terra in the semifinal. He’s an athlete that I respect a lot for being a World Champion. I have never faced him. I’m anxious because I want to fight the best. If we face each other, it will be a great fight. I’ll do my best to reach the final.”

Eight times world champion, Bruno Malfacine is on the other side of the bracket and is the favorite to reach another final. In their match at this year’s Pan-American Malfacine took the gold, but Lucas is confident that it can be changed in a possible final in the Worlds.

“I know that Malfacine is the favorite to win this title, but this year I came to surprise everyone,” Pinheiro said. “I want to embed my name as the world champion in the roosterweight division.”

Marcus Buchecha é um dos favoritos para a conquista do pesadíssimo. Foto: Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG

Já chegamos à aguardada semana do Mundial de Jiu-Jitsu 2017, e boa parte das feras que estarão nos tatames na famigerada Pirâmide de Long Beach, na Califórnia, já estão nos EUA com foco total no torneio.

Para trazer ainda mais expectativa para os grandes duelos na faixa-preta adulto, a IBJJF divulgou as chaves oficiais com os confrontos nas divisões do masculino e feminino, e nós de GRACIEMAG compilamos as mesmas para você conferir na moleza.

Craques como Marcus Buchecha, Leandro Lo, Bruno Malfacine, André Galvão, Rubens Cobrinha, Bernardo Farias, Bia Mesquita e Talita Treta, já com seus títulos mundiais na carreira, se juntam aos ávidos competidores que buscam sua primeira conquista mundial entre a elite, como Erberth Santos, Márcio André, Lucas Hulk, Isaque Bahiense, Tayane Porfírio e mais destaques.

Veja abaixo a lista completa de chaves na faixa-preta e poste nos comentários quem são os seus favoritos ao título após o casamento das lutas!

MASCULINO

Galo (1/1)

Pluma (1/2)

Pluma (2/2)

Pena (1/2)

Pena (2/2)

Leve (1/2)

Leve (2/2)

Médio (1/2)

Médio (2/2)

Meio-pesado (1/2)

Meio-pesado (2/2)

Pesado (1/2)

Pesado (2/2)

Super pesado (1/1)

Pesadíssimo (1/1)

FEMININO

Galo

Pluma

Pena

Leve

Médio

Meio-pesado

Pesado

Super pesado