Herbert Burns in action in Brazilian No-Gi Nationals final / Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com

Some red tape holding back his US visa may have kept the featherweight out of a dream match with four-time world champion Rubens Cobrinha at the No-Gi World Championship.

But Herbert Burns, 24, the increasingly famous brother of Gilbert Durinho, isn’t looking to issue challenges to anybody. All he wants is to show that he’s got Jiu-Jitsu too.

That’s what he set about proving at the MMA event Only FC, in March of this year. Herbert used a triangle from mount to put away Saulo Eduardo. In making it to mount, though, he showed that the knee-on-belly comes in handy.

“I like testing my Jiu-Jitsu under any rules—No-Gi, ADCC, no points… Folks are always asking me when I’m going to quit, and that just makes me issue a challenge: when someone passes my guard, then I’ll quit (laughs).”

Xande Ribeiro

“Jiu-Jitsu isn’t war to me. I’ve come to play Jiu-Jitsu and show my game. It was cool to become five-time champion, a title no one else holds. Now I want to participate at the IBJJ Pro League. I feel it’ll be a great stage for the sport.”

Caio Terra

“I know that he [Clark Gracie] has a really good omoplata, so I made sure I listened to Master Lloyd and was careful to stay out of it and worked on getting on top to pass the guard and work for a submission.”

DJ Jackson

“I was kind of lost but managed to pull it off in the absolute final. I was a little disheartened about getting silver at weight but both my instructors, Rafael [Barata] and Roberto Tussa, were in finals just before me and they got me fired up to win my first championship as a black belt.”

Tammy Griego

Xande Ribeiro puts the pressure on Leandro Lo in the absolute final. Photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG.

Last Sunday, the crowd that gathered in the Long Beach Pyramid to watch the No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu World Championship was treated to a clash of generations determining the No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu champion of the world, with old-schooler Xande Ribeiro taking on the cutting-edge Leandro Lo. See for yourself what happened in the absolute black belt final:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeBY9TUaoAc

Rubens Cobrinha sinks a submission at the 2012 No-Gi Worlds. Now he’s set to shine on Brazilian television broadcasting giant Globo. Photo by John Lamonica/GRACIEMAG.

Via his Twitter account, Jiu-Jitsu ace Rubens Charles “Cobrinha” Maciel announced that he will indeed be taking part in the second season of the TUF Brazil reality show, in 2013. He will be the grappling coach for the team of Fabricio Werdum, who will take on Rodrigo Minotauro and his team of newbie welterweights.

With two-time world champion Werdum and four-time champion Cobrinha (who also added a fourth world title in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu to his ledger last weekend), the expectations of Jiu-Jitsu fans in Brazil shoot through the stratosphere: could they learn something new in Jiu-Jitsu on Globo Network next year?

Share your thoughts in the comments field below, gentle reader.

The TUF teams

Originally a capoeira stylist and now a black belt with acrobatic maneuvers, Rubens Cobrinha wields a potent guard game both in and out of the gi. He hasn’t made his MMA debut yet. He will join forces with Wanderlei Silva, former Chute Boxe coach Rafael Cordeiro, Kenny Johnson the wrestling coach, and Felipe Werdum, the capoeira-stylist brother of the heavyweight.

Minotauro’s picks for coaches

Luiz Dórea, Everaldo Penco (Jiu-Jitsu), Eric Albarracin (wrestling), Sheymon Moraes and Vitor Miranda (Thai boxing).

Luiza Monteiro against Penny Thomas in the No-Gi Worlds final / Photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG.com

As Grandmaster Helio Gracie used to always say, “Jiu-Jitsu was made especially for the weak, for women and children.” Therefore couples who train together aren’t just following the master’s advice; they’re taking the path to a healthy, safe and happy life.

That’s what Luiza Monteiro and her boyfriend, Leandro Lo, demonstrated last weekend at the latest No-Gi World Championship. The couple went home with four medals between them—one gold, one silver and two bronze.

While Lo’s path of victory halted at Xande Ribeiro in the absolute final and at Tanquinho in the lightweight semifinal, his black belt better half didn’t let the gold get away from her in the middleweight final, against Penny Thomas.

Luiza nearly pulled off an armbar, but Penny paid her back with a takedown. The Cícero Costha representative first drew even before sinking the battle-ending kneebar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n79gK_2eOXI

Caio Terra sunk a lightning-quick rear-naked choke in the roosterweight final. Photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG.

Team Gracie Elite bantamweight Caio Terra had to get past two opponents to win gold yet again at the No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, in Long Beach, California. And he completed his mission in style.

First he tapped out Levy Oliveira from back control. In the final, against Alliance’s Fabbio Passos, he sunk another quick and efficient choke.

Watch how Caio did it, and get inspired to train in Jiu-Jitsu today.

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

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.

Inside the Long Beach Pyramid / GRACIEMAG.com archives

It’s about time for the 2012 World No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championship, and GRACIEMAG.com will be bringing you the best of what goes on in Long Beach this Saturday and Sunday real time. Who’s going to win the absolute and become successor to Marcus Bochecha’s No-Gi throne?

Check out our information- and image-packed coverage on Twitter and Facebook.

The IBJJF has released the timetable and brackets for the event, which will be held at the pyramid-shaped gymnasium in Long Beach, California.

Click here for the timetable.

Click herefor the tournament brackets.