After an entire afternoon of competition at the highest level, the second and final day of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam World Tour Rome 2024 was down for the count last Sunday, April 14th!
The tournament started last Friday, April 12th, with the Youths warming the mats for the experienced Masters to put their skills on display the following day.
On April 14th, however, the action got dialed all the way up to eleven as the Professional category took the stage to fight for gold, glory, and those sweet AJP ranking points.
And of course, it is impossible to talk about today’s performances without mentioning the black belts.
Living up to the title “Elite of Jiu-Jitsu”, the competitors pushed the martial art to its limit in the Centro Olimpico Matteo Pellicone, with standout performances on the way to the top of the podium.
Without further ado, let’s check out how each of the Professional Black Belt finals played out, and click here for the full results!
MEN’S GI / BLACK
56kg – Welison Fernandes vs Frederico Guimarães
Leading man in the light-featherweight division ranking, Welison Fernandes showcased his skills in the ADGS Rome final against Frederico Guimarães, with the latter coming out ahead on the scoreboard and having victory in his grasp until the last moments of the duel.
While Frederico earned five points throughout the bout by going up from the double pull and sweeping twice, Welison had also swept twice and played from below most of the time.
With a good grip on his opponent’s lapel and pants, while keeping an eye on the clock, Welison went up and stabilized close to the end of the match, settling the score at a tight 6-5 to add another gold medal to his resumé.
62kg – Jefferson Fagundes vs Yuri Hendrex
Jefferson Fagundes was the standout name in the 62kg division. After beating his first opponent with a whopping 11-0 score, Jefferson went on to submit Kalel dos Santos in the semifinal and was set to face Yuri Hendrex in the gold round.
However, Yuri was unable to fight in the final, so Jefferson rose as the division champion by default.
69kg – Diego Batista vs Dzhimsher Razmadze
Diego “Pato” Batista was like a force of nature in the 69kg division of the ADGS Rome.
Arriving as the favorite for the title, Diego had three great victories before he reached the final, the last of which coming via points against the tough Florian Bayili in the semifinal.
His opponent in the final would be the Georgian athlete Dzhimsher Razmadze, who had his fair share of rough encounters in the bracket, submitting Thiago Macedo and then outscoring Artur Oliveira in the semis.
Unable to compete in the final, Dzhimsher had no choice but to hand over the top spot of the podium to Pato, who won the final and became the champion by default.
77kg – Felipe Ribas vs Luiz Paulo Medeiros
In the blink of an eye, the fight between Felipe and Luiz Paulo had a huge turnaround.
Luiz Paulo started ahead on the scoreboard by fearlessly spinning and going up with two points, after pulling guard at the beginning. Meanwhile, Felipe played guard and tried some attacks from the x-guard, eventually managing to spin and go up trying a back take.
When Felipe got one of the hooks in, Luiz Paulo spun out of the fight area, prompting the referees to give a penalty for him, while awarding three points to Felipe, two for almost taking the back and another one for going up at the start of his move.
Luiz Paulo contested the final score and Felipe ended up taking the win by a 9-2 score.
85kg – Matheus Vetoraci vs Uanderson Ferreira
An exciting fight between two black belts who excel at fighting while standing up.
Matheus kicked off the match attempting a takedown on Uanderson but didn’t complete the move, earning only a single point.
Uanderson grabbed hold of his opponent’s waist and tried a takedown of his own, but Matheus took advantage of the movement to reach the side with three points, raising the score to 4-0.
Uanderson lowered the difference to 4-3 after he reached the side and, when the fight slowed down, both athletes were punished by lack of combativeness.
With the score at 5-4 for Matheus, Uanderson attempted another takedown and tied the score at 5-5, but Matheus attacked with an armbar at the very last second of the duel.
While Uanderson defended, the referees decided that Matheus’ attack was worth a point due to the danger of submission.
Thus, Matheus scored 6-5 to beat the favorite Uanderson for the 85kg division title.
94kg – Luiz Henrique Betta vs Marcos Carrozzino
Another well-balanced duel between the rivals Marcos Carrozzino and Luiz Henrique Betta.
Marcos tried to sweep from the guard and Luiz responded with a good cross-choke attempt to tip the balance in his favor on the scoreboard.
After a lack of combativeness between both competitors, Betta found enough room to grab Marcos’ waist from the back.
Unable to complete the takedown, Luiz Betta jumped on Marcos’ back with a hook near the end of the fight.
In the end, Luiz received the advantage for the move and won in a very strategic way, with a 2-1 score.
120kg – Felipe Bezerra vs Jean Maltese
The only local representative in the Professional finals, the Italian Jean Maltese had the rough mission of facing the current ADWPJJC champion Felipe Bezerra.
With a solid game, Felipe almost passed and took the back, making it 2-0 on the scoreboard.
Up-to-date on defensive moves, Jean avoided the dangerous attack but Felipe tried another pass and took aim at his opponent’s back yet again.
Jean managed to defend once more, but Felipe took the win with a 4-0 score and added another high-profile title to his grappling record.
WOMEN’S GI / BROWN / BLACK
49kg – Brenda Larissa vs Diana Teixeira
Brenda Larissa got the better of her rival Diana Thais Teixeira for the 49kg title.
After pulling guard, Brenda made a move from half guard to go up, with Diana promptly defended but still losing the lead on the scoreboard to Brenda, who earned a single point for the spin.
The duel continued with an intense exchange standing up and Diana took control of the fight’s flow, pulling near the end of the match to sweep, attacking with a triangle, and shifting to an omoplata.
Offering no risk of submission, Diana was unable to earn any points for her efforts and Brenda took the title by 1-0.
55kg – Ana Rodrigues vs Beatriz Campos
The reigning champ Ana Rodrigues once again put on a show with her Jiu-Jitsu at the AJP mats.
Entering the final against Beatriz Campos, who started ahead on the scoreboard by rising from the double pull, Ana had to use her fearsome lapel adjustment to regain control in the duel.
With her opponent’s lapel balled up between her legs, Ana knocked Beatriz off balance and attacked with razor-sharp precision on the foot, submitting to take the 55kg division gold.
62kg – Maria Delahaye vs Julia Alves
Overcoming the odds, Maria Luisa Delahaye got the better of her teammate and AJP multi-champion Julia Alves.
After going up from the double pull, Maria spun to take the back, passed the guard, and ended up at Julia’s back.
After that, it wasn’t long before Maria had the winning lapel choke in place to seize the title in Rome.
70kg – Ingridd Sousa vs Izadora Silva
Ingridd Sousa won another duel against Izadora Silva on the AJP mats.
This time around, Ingridd started ahead on the scoreboard as she pulled and went up. Izadora responded by sweeping from the spider guard, but Ingridd stretched her opponent and managed to go up again, putting pressure to pass and settling the score at 4-2 to become the division champion.
95kg – Yara Soares vs Maria Carolina Vincentini
Yara Soares maintained constant pressure to beat Maria Carolina Vicentini in the 95kg final.
After rising from the double pull and opening the score at 1-0, Yara made a good grip on Maria’s pants and put pressure on every inch of her opponent until she managed to pass.
With 4-0 on the scoreboard, Yara put her knee on Maria Carolina’s belly without stabilizing to close the score at 5-0 and seize the title.
With another stellar tournament for the books, AJP has successfully added another chapter to the rich history of Rome, bringing some of the most talented athletes to show their prowess in the land that revolutionized sports.
Missed out on the action? Just go to TX7.ae and relive the great moments of this weekend.
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