One of the most important Jiu-Jitsu events in the world, the Abu Dhabi World Pro Jiu-Jitsu 2016 saw the first black belts matches this Thursday (21st) where the finals of the male and female absolute have been set. Full of surprises and upsets, the open weight final will have Felipe Preguica Pena face José Junior for men and Tayane Porfirio face Bia Mesquita for women.

2015 Abu Dhabi World Pro Champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida withdrew from the competition at the last minute from both the absolute and weight divisions.

A match, however, caused some surprise to fans that accompanied the event. The quarterfinals of the men’s absolute had Erberth Santos facing Victor Honorio. The match was stopped and both were disqualified for lack of combativeness.

In an interview with TATAME, the deputy head of refereeing UAEJJF in competition, Alexandre Nascimento explained what happened to the black belts:

“There were three referees in this fight right … So, since the quarterfinals were using three referees, because they were tough fights and was worth a lot of money. So to avoid any problems, the three agreed for the punishment there. Until the fourth punishment the central judge made the sign, the two sides raised agreeing with him, then there was the fourth punishment for both that disqualified them, “said Alexander, who continued with the explanation.

“They did not fight … In total, up to disqualification, they were two minutes only one holding the leg of the other. There shuffled nothing and took the first penalty, took the second, just holding the leg, the third, to the disqualification . There was no other thing to do in that situation, “concluded the official.

 

The DQ paved the way for José Junior, of the UAEJJ Team, who after defeating Ricardo Evangelista in the quarterfinals jumped straight to the big decision, where he will face Felipe Preguica Pena of Gracie Barra.

For the first time ever, the Word Pro is streamed live in English on Flograppling.com for 4 days straight.