The Grand Slam Rio, the biggest Jiu-Jitsu tournament ever held in South America, was a great success.
On 5th and 6th of December, the prestigious HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil hosted the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu Tour – RJ.
The HSBC Arena is considered the largest concert hall in Rio de Janeiro, with a maximum capacity of 18,000 people. The HSBC Arena was inaugurated for the Pan American Games in 2007 and since then is constantly home to big shows, with names like Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Guns n ‘Roses, Elton John, among others. The arena also staged five editions of the UFC, one with attendance record, beating 16,853 people.
For the first time, the site was used for a BJJ event, of worldwide recognition.
The event featured BJJ stars such as Ricardo Evangelista, Paulo & Joao Miyao, Erberth Santos, Celso Vinicius, Carlos Holanda, Gustavo Elias, Isaque Paiva, Jaime Canuto, Vinicius Marinho, Thales Leite etc….

Results:

-62kg: Joao Miyao
-69kg: Paulo Miyao
-77kg: Celsinho Vinicius
-85kg: Patrick Gaudio
-94kg: Erberth Santos
+94kg: Ricardo Evangelista
Absolute: Ricardo Evangelista
Female -62kg: Marina Ribeiro
Female +70kg: Tayane Porfiro
Female Absolute: Tayane Porfiro
Team Championships:
1 – GF Team
2 – Nova Uniao
3 – Cicero Costha
Black belt winners each receive US $2000, with a $1000 bonus for a submission victory in the final.

In this episode with the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Rio, we look at the competition preparation of UFC Fighter, Thales Leites and UAE Team Member, Faisal Alketbi. Included is also highlights from the two day event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.