João Gabriel Rocha made a triumphant return to the mats today!
as reported by skatesurfjiujitsu.com who reported from Rio:
“On the very first day of the 2015 IBJJF Rio International Fall Open he faced tough competition. In the final of the ultra heavy, he fought against Ricardo Evangelista of GFT. It came to the last 30 seconds of the fight as Rocha won by 4-2. It was a tough fight but Rocha was not the only one who was celebrating after the fight. Recently battled with cancer and making his return to the mats Rocha found much needed love and support from his opponent Ricardo Evangelista as well as the thousands who were watching the fight in the arena. We congratulate Rocha for his winnings both on an off the mats and would like to see him doing what he loves the most for years to come.”
The other big star of the competition was Erberth Santos who won double gold at black belt.
In the semi final of the absolute, he faced Alan Regis, and the black belt from Guigo JJ put on a show, with 16-0 on the scoreboard. At the end of the match Erberth submitted Regis with a nasty wrist lock (mao de vaca).
Check out the battle in the video below!
