Last year Michael Langhi reigned over Lightweights in the Walter Pyramid Arena. This year his journey was cut short in the quarter finals by Gabriel Rollo. But the spotlight was on his teammate Lucas Lepri who shined throughout.
Lepri managed to get submissions in 3 of his 4 matches. He submitted Mashiro Iwasaki with a Marceloplata. In Quarterfinals he met with Masher Khera, the first Marcelo Garcia student who went from white to black in his tutelage. This match ended in a submission by Lepri, this time he caught Khera in an Omoplata ending his journey at worlds.
His next fight was won by advantage in the semifinals against JT Torres. This was the tightest match of the bunch. And while the official score reads 2:2 it’s only a reflection of a penalty. Nobody actually scored on Lepri anything bigger than advantage.
In the finals he faced one of the most promising next generation grapplers – Edwin Najmi. What he lacked in the semi finals he more than made up for in the finals where he lead by 12 to 0. And he managed to score a choke from the back for the triumph- the most frequent submission of the championship.
Lepri took a chance to express his gratitude for the support he was given:
WORLD CHAMPION 2016! Overcome your motivation, overcome your fears, overcome your doubts, overcome your defeats, overcome….It was an unbelievable journey until here #1 again for the fourth time and three time in a row. 2007/14/15closeout/16
I’d love to thank everyone that believed in me I always try to do my best and my best this past weekend put me one more time on top of the podium. I couldn’t be happier!
Special thank to my lovely wife @mayaralepri for giving me all support and being by my side for all the situation, love you so much! My dear students/friends that are with me every single day giving me encouragement and motivation to face the next goals, pushing me every training even when I thing that I cannot do more. You guys are AWESOME!
Thank you so much to my good friend/idol @cobrinhacharles for all kind word to motivate me every time, my brother/coach @marioreisjiujitsu for the incredible energy and knowledge, my friend/conditioning coach KP @kinephys for being by my side for the last 7 years doing an amazing job! I’m so blessed and thankful to have you all by my side!
