Bloody Elbow did a in depth Play by play of the event. Here is what went down in the black Belt finals:
Men’s Black Belts
Rooster-weight Final: Caio Terra vs. Fabio Passos –
Fabio pulls deep half quick. Caio has the kimura grip already and pulls around to the back. Rear naked choke for Caio Terra in 31 seconds. Passos took a chance and got blown out of the water.
Light Featherweight Final: Henrique Rezende vs. Rafael Barata –
Barata showboating to begin. Rezende gets an advantage for coming up top in a double guard pull. Working in Barata’s open guard. High pace to begin. Rezende working double unders, but Barata isn’t letting the pass happen. DLR from Barata and Rezende tries a leg drag. Barata pushes him away and they’ve edged out. Reset in the middle. Rezende gets another advantage for his work. Very high pace here. Rezende appears to be close a few more times to at least advantage territory in the dynamic open guard work of Barata. Half guard from Barata and Rezende choosing to battle it mostly from standing/squatting position. Knee slice attempt from Rezende is close. Barata is clinging desperately to the half guard. Rezende gets past, but Barata turtles up. Rezende tries a guillotine, but Barata falls back and they’ve edge out of bounds. Reset in the middle in Barata’s half guard. Rezende switches sides of attack and works a back take. Barata defends and ends up in 50/50 guard. Rezende has three advantages now. Still 50/50 guard. Rezende keeping his balance intact, while digging an underhook into the feet. The 50/50 opens a bit, but Rezende isn’t comfortable leaving it, so he backs down and the 50/50 gets replaced. Now trying again to open it up, while Barata keeps it. Stalling to both guys and now an advantage to both for the penalty. Rezende trying to open the 50/50 up, but Barata isn’t having it. Gets it open. Back in it. Barata stars rolling over as if he’s working a toehold. It doesn’t go anywhere and Rezende stands in the open guard of Barata. Rezende gets double unders and picks Barata up off the ground briefly. Barata trying to open up a triangle by yanking on Rezende’s arm. Time runs out. Henrique Rezende wins on advantages.
Featherweight Final: Justin Rader vs. Cobrinha –
Cobrinha did a roll under Rader after some standing maneuvers. Cobrinha going under Rader for a toehold or kneebar. Rader keeping base and Cobrinha spins out to regular guard. Rader is inching up on Cobrinha experience wise, but Rubens Charles keeps getting advantages and confounding him with the guard work. Open half guard from Cobrinha. Brief triangle set-up. Rader postures out very well and is still trying to find his comfort zone in the half guard. He grips up on the hand and comes in. Cobrinha working DLR and RDLR to a near sweep. He tries to come up fully to the top, but Rader defends by going out of bounds. Advantage to Cobrinha. Three to him for zero to Rader. 7 minutes gone. Rader trying like crazy to get something going, but Cobrinha keeps inverting and shifting around. Cobrinha working a sweep here off a kneebar, but Rader seems to be holding on well. Cobrinha has the leg straight, but can’t get it to hyperextend. He comes up top and should get 2 points for that. 4 advantages and 2 points to Cobrinha. A rear naked choke attempt from Cobrinha is super close, but Rader escapes it by going out of bounds. Cobrinha somehow has 11 points now. He’s cracked Rader open. 13 points. Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles wins.
Lightweight Final: JT Torres vs. Tanquinho Mendes –
They clasp hands right away looking for the right grips. JT grabs a single leg and a wild scramble results. JT gets an advantage because Tanquinho briefly hit the mat. They go out of bounds and reset in the middle. JT tries for another takedown, but Tanquinho works a headlock briefly before they break. Still circling and working for the good position. Accidental eyepoke to Tanquinho’s eyeball. JT grabs a single leg and oh my gods. That was amazing. No result for either, but it was an amazing scramble from both for a takedown. JT nearly got Mendes completely overhead and onto the mats, but the balance of the Soul Fighter kept him upright and he nearly got an uchi mata of his own as they went out of bounds. Reset in the middle. Mendes is starting to come forwards more. JT grabs the single again and Tanquinho is hopping around like crazy to stop it. Advantage to JT so he has 2 now. Tanquinho tries a single himself, but they go out of bounds. Another eye poke by JT on Mendes. They grip fight again. JT takes a penalty point for running away from a butt scooting Tanquinho. Mendes gets another advantage for a near sweep from a kneebar. Medical break because JT has a little cut on his face. They return to the middle for a reset. Tanquinho pulls guard. JT working a pass. Tanquinho has a high guard and appears to be trying a no arm triangle. JT holds out and JT is holding on like crazy. They gave an advantage to Tanquinho for the no arm triangle. Wow. I kinda agree with it, but it’s a crazy call. Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes wins.
Middleweight Final: DJ Jackson vs. Clark Gracie
Clark Gracie tries to sit guard. Takes a warning for it. DJ circling to his left like usual. DJ drives Clark out of bounds and they reset. Clark pulls guard as DJ gets a knee tap, so DJ gets 2 points. Clark doing the Shawn Williams guard on DJ’s right arm. DJ gets loose and starts trying to pass left. Clark nearly has his guard passed and gets back to closed guard.
Scoreboards went out, so they’re stopping the match until it’s fixed. Long break.
Reset finally. Clark working a Shawn Williams guard and rubber guard. DJ shakes free eventually and starts trying to pass back to the left again. DJ bringing the pressure like always. Has an advantage for nearly passing Clark’s guard. Controlling the head and trying to slide the knee free up high. DJ bringing tons of pressure still and gets another advantage. DJ is past the guard! 5 points total for DJ now. Clark gets back to guard, but DJ continues trying to pass left. Kid is relentless. Clark back to guard. Times runs out. DJ Jackson wins on points.
Medium-Heavyweight Final: Romulo Barral vs. Pablo Popovitch –
Barral sits guard. Romulo shifts to the half guard and goes to Popovitch’s left arm. Popovitch trying to stay out of the butterfly. Closed guard for Romulo, but he’s still going after Popovitch’s left side. Barral tries an armbar on Popovitch’s right arm, but it doesn’t get anywhere real. Reset in the middle. Half guard for Romulo. Popovitch tries to hop left. Back to open guard. Romulo trying the no arm triangle too. Popovitch is hanging out. 30 seconds in the triangle. He’s out now. Open guard for Romulo. Another advantage for it here. Popovitch exploding for the guard pass! Romulo tried like crazy to prevent it, but no luck. Popovitch firmly in side control. Seems to be content to keep the side control. Romulo gets out of it and back to the open guard. Popovitch trying to pass left again. Romulo stops that and Pablo stands. Barral keeping the open guard strong. Popovitch on his knees in the open guard and grip fighting. Starts working the smash pass. Romulo’s activity is too much to prevent the pass. Popovitch has a penalty point for being passive. Romulo pulls one leg to him in open and goes inverted. Toe hold attempt. Pablo yields the sweep. Romulo has 20 seconds to score another point. Pablo has locked Romulo down and time expires. Pablo Popovitch wins on points.
Heavyweight Final: Rafael Lovato Jr. vs. Tussa Alencar –
Standing, tying up. Lovato pulls guard, nearly pulls two sweeps on Tussa, who hits the mats each time, but gets up. Tussa standing in Lovato’s guard. Lovato has a footlock on Tussa’s left leg and a half butterfly guard. Tussa navigating it and finally steps out. Lovato stands. Pulls guard. Tussa trying to scramble past Lovato’s RDLR and open guard. Lovato inverts and goes under. Tussa stands and Lovato works the RDLR again. Half butterfly for Lovato with a footlock possibility. Tussa slows things down and starts trying to break the hooks in his legs. Tussa gets in trouble and Lovato comes up, but doesn’t put Tussa down. An advantage to Lovato. Tussa faces another guard situation with Lovato in the footlock position. More guard work from Lovato here and Tussa tries to go over the top. Lovato inverts and keeps the guard alive. Tussa keeps scrambling and passes! No – not there long enough. Advantage to Tussa. More guard work from Lovato. It’s amazing guard work, but it’s kinda… not succeeding on Tussa right now. 50/50 guard from Lovato. Tussa briefly contemplates a toe hold, but Lovato spins out of it and back to the footlock/half butterfly. Tussa trying to pressure downwards and through, but Lovato comes up with a single leg. Tussa shoves Lovato back down to the ground. No points for that. Tussa entering Lovato’s guard again. They stay like that until they see time elapse. The referees decide that Tussa Alencar won.
Super Heavyweight Final: Xande Ribeiro vs. Joao Assis –
Xande pulls guard. Threatens Joao with underhook sweep. He spins under Joao and has to beware the toehold, but looks certain to come up top for the sweep points eventually. He doesn’t! Advantage to Xande though. Joao standing in the closed guard and looking like he really, really wants a foot to seize upon. Reset in the middle due to edging out of bounds. Xande opens up the guard and Joao tries to set up a footlock. No mojo going for Jojo there. Xande tries to come up for a sweep and nearly gave away a back take. Joao gets an advantage for the near back take. Xande was definitely grabbing some shorts unrepentantly to avoid giving up the mount. Xande gets an advantage for something. Not sure what at this point. Xande comes up for a sweep attempt, but Joao nearly gets a back take and they careern out of bounds and into the signage next to the mats. Xande up one advantage and Joao pulls guard, goes deep half and Xande trying to preserve his lead. Joao trying desperately for a toehold! Time runs out. Maybe if there was an additional minute, there’d have been something serious there. An advantage to Joao for the footlock! Referee’s decision! They all signal for Xande and thus, Xande Ribeiro wins the Super Heavy title.
Ultra Heavyweight: Roberto Cyborg vs. Gustavo Elias –
Immediate grasping of the hands. Elias is bigger than Cyborg. Cyborg pulls guard, comes up top off a sweep and is in the deep half of Elias. Cyborg keeps his balance and stays on top of the deep half. Cyborg starting to crush downwards with pressure and his balance looks extremely secure at this point – which is really bad for Elias. Cyborg is basically resting his butt on Elias’s face with impunity now. They go out of bounds as Elias musters up some energy. Reset to the middle, Cyborg pulls half guard. Goes into the tornado. Getting into a position for a sweep and then does come up. 4-0 Cyborg now, with one advantage to him too. Elias working the 50/50. Cyborg spinning around to try and get free of this 50/50, but it’s not working. Elias trying for an ankle lock briefly, but lets it go. Elias trying to work on the toe and Cyborg just pulls his hands off nonchalantly. Still in the 50/50, which Elias won’t let go. Elias folding himself to try and get something going from this 50/50. Not working. Cyborg is defending everything well and just kind of chilling, looking at the scoreboard and waiting until time elapses. Elias nearly comes up, but Cyborg shoves him back down. Advantage to Elias. One minute left. Finally they work free of the 50/50. Cyborg pulls guard in the middle. Elias is trying to pass to the right. Elias hops over for a kneebar attempt, but Cyborg anticipates it and stands up. They go to the 50/50 now and Elias tries for toeholds as time elapses. Roberto Cyborg wins on points.
Absolute Finals: Xande Ribeiro vs. Leandro Lo –
Lo circles around the crouched Xande. They grip up. Xande starts pulling Lo into him and they disengaged. Lo spins down for a leg and Xande backs away. Xande then comes in and Lo works the long-legged open guard he’s famous for. Lo has a half guard on his left side. Open guard, very slow pace as Xande picks his spots carefully and Lo defends with even greater care. Some really good commentary about how a guard player needs to play against a powerful standing opponent. Xande starts trying to smash with the double unders and Lo defends with extremely active legs and hips. Lo goes inverted for a moment, Xande skips out of the omoplata. Open guard.
Still open guard. No points scored yet. Lo stands up briefly from 3/4 guard, Xande then comes back in and starts trying to pass right. No go. Lo is keeping him at bay and Xande cannot get past the guard right now. Xande works a deep surge into the half guard into double unders into a near pass. Lo turtles up and stands in an amazing display of guard work. Still an advantage to Xande. Lo goes invert on Xande and is trying to get a leg of Xande’s. Xande is defending and stands up. Lo backs away, trying to clear grips. Xande comes forwards, making Lo come back more. Lo tries a double and Xande sprawls mightily. Xande shoots a single and Lo counters with a kimura attempt that is not close. Xande lands Lo on the mats and gets 2 points. Very close match despite the size differential. Xande Ribeiro is your double gold Absolute champion.
Women’s Black Belts
Sofia Amarante vs. Oceane Kathleen –
Sofia sits guard and Oceane tries to go left into the half guard. Sofia grabs a kimura grip. Oceane gets out of it and starts stuffing the knee. Gets shunted back to butterfly and Sofia setting up a triangle. Oceane trying to go the other way and gets free of the triangle. Sofia working the kimura again on the left arm of Kathleen. Oceane looks like she can power out of the half guard soon, but Sofia gets it back to butterfly and closed guard. Grip fightin’ and posture wrasslin’. No score now. Amarante has a death grip with the closed guard and Oceane is trying to get an arm of Sofia behind Sofia’s back. She does have that set up and is working a pass, but Sofia switches to a body lock. Back to closed guard. Open guard now. Oceane has been trying to pass to her left all this time. Oceane in the half guard and trying to step over the butterfly of Sofia. Sweep from Sofia! Boom! 2 points on the board. Oceane slaps on a triangle set-up. Sofia breaks looks and works shoulder pressure from half guard. Oceane turns things around and works a kneebar. Sofia is in danger of being swept, but gets to her feet in time to turn it into an advantage. Time runs out. Sofia Amarante wins.
Ana Vidal vs. Sayako Shioda –
Pertina dropped out or something, so it’s a rematch. They tie up. After some maneuvering, they break. Tie up again. Accidental eye poke from Vidal. They shake hands. Shioda pulls guard and Ana sprawls into half guard. Shioda working for half butterfly now. Vidal getting a grip on the left hand of Shioda and now working a head/arm choke. Vidal uses the pressure up top to slip free of the half guard into mount. Keeping the mount very tight. Shioda trying to upa free, but Vidal keeps tight. Vidal working a gift wrap now and perhaps an armbar. Ana switches over to a back take. Has one hook in and seat belt control. Shioda getting her back to the mats pretty well and Vidal switches over to mount. Shioda rolls to her knees, looking for a toehold or a kneebar. Vidal is up 15 points and 2 advantages. Shioda working the kneebar deep! Vidal seems to have her leg twisted just enough to prevent the submission. Vidal is yanking Shioda’s bottom arm behind her back so she cannot arch into the kneebar much.
Beatriz Mesquita vs. Thaysa Ramos da Silva –
Thaysa pulls guard and Bia hops right in. Bia looking like she wants to pass to her right, but Thaysa is keeping active feet and breaking grips. Thaysa looks like she wants a triangle, but Bia’s posture is too good. Thaysa going for a bodylock from guard. Bia stands. Thaysa keeping the closed guard. Open guard, Thaysa shoves Bia away and tries to come up for a back as Bias goes for a toe hold. Bia switches to a kneebar/toehold situation and ends up in guard. Bia gets an advantage for that. Thaysa is up top in the half guard and bringing shoulder pressure. Bia gets up on her side and starts to dig her way underneath Thaysa. Bia has the right leg of Thaysa up close to her head, which looks uncomfortable for both parties. Thaysa trying to isolate an arm, but Bia pulls the leg out and goes into a kneebar. Thaysa fights her way back out of it and stands up for sweep points. Bia is in the open guard. Bia has two advantages and they reset to the middle. Bia sitting guard, Thaysa has two points due to a sweep. Thaysa not being aggressive and neither is Bia. Leticia Ribeiro is coaching from the side and Bia is wasting time trying to hear her. The referee is going over to the scoreboard to fix something. One penalty point to Thaysa here. She’s still up on points. One advantage point to Bia now. Grip fighting from the guard now. Bia trying to go to her right on Thaysa’s left arm. Thaysa stands up and out. Less than 90 seconds to go. More grip fighting. 45 seconds and counting. Bia now trying to go to her left and get an armbar. Thaysa defending. The referees have something going on here. They’ve stopped the match for some reason and are talking. They are now giving Bia 2 points, Thaysa 1 advantage and one more passivity point. Right now Bia is winning due to advantages. This is nuts and shitty from the referees. The women scramble frantically to try for points. After hugging Bia, Thaysa storms off the mats – refusing to acknowledge the referees/judges. Bia Mesquita wins.
Luiza Monteiro vs. Penny Thomas –
They circle slowly and Penny tries for a leg, but backs off. Luiza pulls guard and gets it closed with an overhook. Luiza moves to an armbar position/back take, but Penny stuffs it to return to closed guard. Luiza being super active with her guard and threatens a triangle. Penny pops out of it and stays in the guard. Luiza goes invert and now Penny grabs a toehold. Penny and Luiza break and stand up in the middle. Penny grabs a leg as Luiza pulls guar and Luiza comes up to the back. Body lock is on and it might be an upside down triangle. Time passes and Penny breaks free. Luiza gets another advantage for that. They break and Penny goes back into the guard of Luiza and drops straight back for an anklehold. Luiza might be able to come up top for points if she can break free of the anklehold. She does so. Penny is now down two advantages, instead of being up 2 points for a sweep. Luiza working a footlock of her own now. Penny works this into an armbar attempt that is really close. Monteiro defends and Penny is now inverted. Closed guard for Penny now. Penny working from guard and Luiza opens it up for something. Penny scrambles for a near back take. Gets an advantage for that. I can’t tell you what position these two are in, but it’s a tangle. Luiza is working a toehold grip and kneebar. Luiza gets the kneebar! Luiza Monteiro submits Penny Thomas for the win.
Tammy Griego vs. Fernanda Mazelli –
Mazelli gets two points for a stand-up (sweep points). She works the half guard to her left. Griego is trying to move around a trappled left leg of Mazelli. Griego working a kneebar off X-guard, but gets stuffed. Mazelli keeps base and they edge out of bounds. Reset in the middle, but the judges are conferring. Nothing changes. The reset happens. Griego has closed guard on Mazelli now. Grip fighting and posture establishing/breaking. Griego trying for a straight armbar off an open half guard. Mazelli keeping the base strong still and trying to get past the legs. Griego pulls deep half, but Mazelli collapses on the space there, so she exits. Griego on her side and now turtles up. Mazelli goes for a back take and the grips are slightly off, so she gets an advantage. Griego is on top of half guard now. Griego has an advantage for this, but she’s not able to get past the half guard despite minutes of pressure. Mazelli keeping the deep half and trying to keep her hands/arms safe. Griego looks tired. Mazelli bursts out and gets top position for the sweep points. Griego shoves Mazelli away vigorously and they reset in the middle. Griego gets to deep half guard and starts moving desperately for points. She does get one sweep for 2 pointes, but Mazelli keeps the half guard herself. Griego trying for a toe hold to finish the match, but looks like time will run out. And it does. Fernanda Mazelli wins.
Absolute Final: Bia Mesquita vs. Tammy Griego –
Tammy sits guard and starts trying to go for a leglock. Bia is way too fast for this and spins to top of turtle and goes for a back take. Bia working for a rear naked choke. Tammy has half guard and Bia steps completely over with the free foot to try a reverse kesa pass. Tammy trying to immobilize Bia a bit here. Bia is working upwards a bit and loses the crossface/shoulder pressure. Tammy immediately comes up and works a headlock/guillotine. They go out of bounds. Bia gets penalized for not sitting up. 2 points go to Tammy. Griego shoots a bit, but Bia has backed off enough that Tammy sits to inverted half guard. Bia is working a pass, but Tammy is clamped onto the trapped leg. Bia gets the back take and the 4 points. Tammy doesn’t look that concerned as she clears one hook and starts hopping over the other one. Bia gets the back control again. Rear naked choke is on, but it’s not under Tammy’s jaw. Tammy’s not even defending the RNC. She’s trying to clear the hooks. Tammy is now free and is trying to clear the legs. Bia is folded up underneath her in guard. Wow. Half guard for Bia now and Tammy tries to step past it. Bia keeping the open guard alive, despite Tammy’s fluid side switching. Bia has 3 advantages to Tammy’s none. Tammy threatens a back take and gets one hook in. Bia is trying to roll out to the side and avoid the choke and the back take. 45 seconds to go. Bia has the half guard now. Tammy needs to get a sub or a pass. She rolls for a back take and Bia gets out! No! Tammy spins back onto the top and is trying to pass. Tammy does a barrel roll to the top and gets past the guard! The score is tied now! 4 points, 3 advantages to each! Wow! This is nuts! Tammy Griego wins the referee’s decision!
Full BB Results:
Complete Black Belt Adult, No Gi World Results:
BLACK – Adult – Male
Rooster
FIRST Caio Terra – Gracie Elite Team
SECOND Fabbio Passos de Alencar – Alliance
THIRD Levy Oliveira Saraiva da Silva – ACJJ Team
THIRD Raul Gomes Marcello – Gracie Humaita
Light-Feather
FIRST Henrique Rezende Costa e Silva – Alliance
SECOND Rafael Freitas – Gracie Barra
THIRD Laercio Fernandes – Lotus Club Jiu-Jitsu
THIRD Gabriel Afonso dos Santos Moraes – CheckMat
Feather
FIRST Rubens Charles Maciel – Alliance
SECOND Justin S. Rader – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu
THIRD Samir José Chantre Dahás – Gracie Elite Team
THIRD Mayko de Araujo Girotto Borges – CheckMat
Light
FIRST Augusto Lopes Mendes – Soul Fighters International
SECOND Jonathan Torres – Team Lloyd Irvin
THIRD Leandro Pereira do Nascimento – PSLPB Cicero Costha
THIRD dustin baradaran akbari – Cassio Werneck BJJ
Middle
FIRST De’Alonzio Jerome Jackson – Team Lloyd Irvin
SECOND Clark Gracie – Carley Gracie Jiu-jitsu Academy
THIRD Vitor Henrique Silva Oliveira – GF Team
THIRD Marcus Vinícius Costa Antelante – Soul Fighters BJJ
Medium-Heavy
FIRST Pablo Popovitch – The Avengers
SECOND Rômulo Claudio Barral – Gracie Barra
THIRD Ezra Zendt Lenon – American Top Team
THIRD Filipe Meirelles Bobrick – Alliance
Heavy
FIRST Roberto Camargo de Alencar – Gracie Barra
SECOND Rafael Lovato Jr. – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu
THIRD Diego da Silveira Herzog – Gracie Elite Team
THIRD Nivaldo de Oliveira Lima – CheckMat
Super-Heavy
FIRST Alexandre Couceiro Ribeiro – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu
SECOND João Francisco de Moraes Assis – CheckMat
THIRD Paulo Tarcisio Pessoa Jardim – CheckMat
THIRD Bernardo Augusto Rocha de Faria – Alliance
Ultra-Heavy
FIRST Roberto de Abreu Filho – The Avengers
SECOND Gustavo Dias Elias – Gracie Humaita
THIRD Leonardo Henrique D’avila Corrêa – Atos Jiu-Jitsu
THIRD Luiz Pedro Ribeiro – Team Quest MMA & Fitness
Open Class
FIRST Alexandre Couceiro Ribeiro – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu
SECOND Leandro Pereira do Nascimento – PSLPB Cicero Costha
THIRD Bernardo Augusto Rocha de Faria – Alliance
THIRD Antonio Carlos Alexandre Peinado – Alliance
