Last night’s Day 1 went along fairly smoothly* here on Bloody Elbow for a three mat, one person operation. The live blog of that was somewhat chaotic at times, reflecting the fast pace of the day, but once the Superfight between Andre Galvao and Braulio Estima came around, things were just right to give us what I’m calling the greatest no gi match in recent memory.
* = I blew the call of Vinny Magalhaes’s match against Jared Dopp, calling it a Vinny victory when in actuality, he’d been given a negative point and Dopp the eventual victory. Fortunately, watchful eyes on Twitter and here caught it and alerted me to that. Thanks to all of them.
The matches start at 9:00 PM ET. The uStream channel has split the stream into three mats and three streams, which can be purchased individually for $20 (so $60 for all three). Channel 1 is here. Channel 2 is here. Channel 3 is here. The stream quality of video is okay – not great – and the mat assignments are not given out to us beforehand, so picking just one is essentially a random choice for the user.
I will update this live blog every few minutes and also will be Tweeting on my account (https://twitter.com/DefGrappler) periodically. If you like, you can join in the comments here – my favorite from yesterday has to be Mr. Zhang, who gave us some nice background on the Chinese competitors – or talk on Twitter.
GracieMag has a nice gallery of Day 1 photos – although there’s nothing truly legendary or Esther Lin-style, I should say: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graciemag/sets/72157636715748244/page1/
Tonight’s Day 2 starts with the semi-finals of each bracket, probably starting from the heaviest men’s weight (Over 99 kg/218 lbs), continuing to the lowest men’s weight (66 kg/145 lbs) and then going to the women’s two divisions. Then the matches will wrap round once more to allow the divisional finals to be complete and then the Absolute (openweight) divisions will be bracketed and started. Towards the end will be the Legends Superfight between “Ze” Mario Sperry and Fabio “The General” Gurgel and the Absolute final will be the last match of ADCC 2013.
For confirmation, look at the schedule that JSho dug up: http://i.imgur.com/OR26F2l.jpg
The Absolute title is perhaps the most prestigious prize in submission grappling. Every Absolute winner in the nine editions of the ADCC has had considerable MMA experience and some were champions. In the last three, Andre Galvao won in 2011, Braulio Estima took it in 2009 and in 2007, Robert Drysdale held the title. Drysdale is currently signed with the UFC. Braulio is taking a bit of a break from MMA due to a possible non-payment issue for his last fight and Andre appears to have retired fully from MMA to pursue his grappling goals, which worked out sorta okay.
9:15 PM ET – No matches going yet. They appear to be blank.
The semi-finals are as follows, with pictures of the brackets over on ADCombat.com:
Over 99 kg
Jared Dopp vs. Joao Gabriel:
Joao drops to guard right away. Dopp looking to keep his legs out. Joao inverts and goes under Dopp, gets a sweep. Joao on top. Dopp tries to get up, Joao refuses to allow it and shoves him back down. Joao passes and starts working from side control for a leg lock or the back. Dopp stands and Gabriel tries to get a standing back take, keeps the body lock, nearly slams, they both fall over. Joao has the back with one hook in and seatbelt. Dopp struggling to avoid the RNC and refuses to yield the second hook. Gabriel is very much playing the constrictor here. Dopp starts trying to slide his back to the ground, so Joao moves over to an s-mount-ish seat belt control and then replaces the hook. Dopp uses that to go to the half guard. Joao out and passes to side control. Joao gets reversed going for a back take and Dopp is on top of z-guard. Dopp stands and starts fending the legs from DLR and comes in. Joao gets to the feet and Dopp shoots in, fended off and Joao starts handfighting and sprawling on the shots. Dumps Dopp, but Dopp wont’ give up. Dopp has a single leg and Joao allows the takedown, looking for a sitout. Dopp trying to get out of the half guard. Points victory.
Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida vs. Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu:
They’re tying up on the feet. Cyborg pulls guard, then comes up as Buchecha was stuffing the half guard. Buchecha in guard. Buchecha closes the guard and waits a bit. Cyborg goes to stand, Buchecha chases him, takes him down, gets to side control and then to the back. Cyborg escapes, they’re out of bounds and reset in the middle. Buchecha standing. Now in guard and working to get past Cyborg’s half guard. They stand after a bit and Buchecha appears to be calm after a spate of high energy. Cyborg tries for a single, meets a sprawl, lifts Buchecha, but can’t elevate for a takedown. They break and circle a bit. Cyborg shoots once, it goes nowhere and they break to circle again. Buchecha shoots and it’s successful. Gets to the back with both hooks and Cyborg is trying to get the legs free while trapping a hand on the seatbelt. Buchecha being very patient. Cyborg works down a bit, Buchecha is turned over, inverts and Cyborg is trying to get north/south while shucking Buchecha’s hooks. Does so. Buchecha is now inverted underneath North/south. I missed how Buchecha won, but it was by points. Darn it.
Dopp vs. Cyborg for bronze:
Cyborg pulls guard. Comes up to a single and dumps Dopp on his back. Dopp unfortunately yields side control and they’re out of bounds. Cyborg initially defending Dopp’s bench press attempts, but the Hulk Smash stuff wins out and Dopp gets back to the feet. Cyborg bumps fists with him and then drops to half guard. Dopp trying to knee slice, but Cyborg too good to let the pass happen.
A couple minutes go by and Cyborg’s still chilling out in the half butterfly/half guard. Dopp crunching in for knees up the middle and the slice pass, but Cyborg’s using his legs and neck pushes to avert them. Cyborg inverts, tries to grab a kneebar and Dopp stands. Cyborg clinches his legs on Dopp’s ankle to see if he can get a trip sweep. Dopp recovers and charges back into the half guard. Cyborg going for RDLR and DLR on Dopp, comes up with a single leg, but Dopp trying for a hip toss/whizzer in counter. Cyborg standing still and Cyborg drops to guard. Tries for a straight armbar for a hot moment and switches to open guard. Dopp tries a hard knee slice, but it misses. Cyborg butt scooting in. Invert turns into a charge for butterfly, which shifts to deep half and Cyborg trying for the back. Dopp drops and Cyborg tries for a heel hook before shifting to deep half again.
Dopp stands. Cyborg charges for a single, shifts to a rear bodylock, slams Dopp, gets his back standing during the scramble. Dopp standing trying to shuck Cyborg off, but he’s not moving. Dopp slides to his back and tries for a leglock on the crossed legs, but it’s not there. Dopp gets his shoulders to the mat and Cyborg slides off. Dopp comes to top and Cyborg tries for a leglock, but Dopp gets out. Dopp tries for a last second anklelock, but it’s not there. Abreu gets the bronze.
Joao Gabriel vs. Buchecha for gold:
They clinch up with head and elbow ties. Gabriel tries for a knee tap, but Buchecha is long gone. Again, same clinch. Almeida tries for a single, but Gabriel is also out of range. Another clinch.
Gabriel gets to a headlock position and kneetap try, but they go out of bounds and reset in the middle. Clinch. Long clinch. Nothing significant happening. Almeida changes levels and goes for a single, Gabriel high steps out. Almeida feints a foot sweep, but they clinch once more. Almeida tries for another foot sweep, but it’s basically kicking the stationary leg. Clinch again. More clinch, Gabriel shoving Buchecha to see if he can rile him up. No reaction. More clinch. Buchecha trying to reach for a kneetap, but it’s too far and Gabriel re-clinches. More moving around, not much happening.
Buchecha drops to guard, Gabriel comes into top of half butterfly. They freeze like that for a little bit and Gabriel appears to want a farside underhook and kneeslice. Buchecha bumps up his hips and swivels his outside leg inwards a bit. Gabriel abandons the underhook and Buchecha moves for an invert toehold. Gabriel scrambling to avoid giving it up and to defend the kneebar too. Buchecha powers the toehold on, but Gabriel rolls around to defend it and they’re out of bounds when the foot comes back to the middle of Buchecha’s stomach.
Ref pauses it and resets in the middle. Joao plants hi foot and Buchecha whips the foot aside to go for the other leg. Whoa. Joao looking for a toehold of his own, while Buchecha has the heelhook position. Joao rolls to defend, but Buchecha powers the heelhook through and Gabriel verbally taps mid-roll.
Buchecha wins gold.
Under 99 kg
Dean Lister vs. Cristiano Lazzarini:
Cautious circling and gripfighting. Dean drops to halfguard on his right side. Lazzarini gets it up to butterfly and is taking this very slow, not letting Lister scoop under or butterfly upright. Lazzarini starts flattening Lister out from top of butterfly/halfguard and Dean’s on his back much like he was against Lenon. Bucks Lazzarini off a bit and goes for a tight clinch in the half butterfly, full butterfly now. Lister squeezes the back in enough that he has Lazzarini in an awkward position and sweeps to top. Lister drops for a leg from top of guard and gets a heelhook win!
Joao Assis vs. Leonardo Nogueira:
Leo pulls open guard. Joao goes around entirely and gets head control. Leo gets to guard, tries an armdrag to the back, Assis trying to stay out of it, but has to fall onto his back with a leg in his grip. Leo Nog triangles his leg to defend and appears to be working a counter-leglock in return. Assis trying to work a calf slicer, it appears, but Leo Nog is basically motionless. Won’t be a sub unless something changes. Leo Nog works free from the leglock as Assis gives it up to go to half guard and deep half.
Assis is on his right side, looking to get deep half, occasionally bumps Leo Nog up, but can’t get under all the way. Leo Nog trying to walk around and keep his base at the same time. Leo switches his hips and pulls on an arm. Nothign doing. Assis being very patient. Leo Nog gets up on one knee and Assis is in a half sitting, half lying down position, swivels to dep half and Leo Nog peeling an arm for a keylock. Assis keeps it tight. Assis heelhooking Leo Nog, but the set-up is a bit unorthodox, but it’s tight and Leo appears to be working to get out. Joao cranks it some more and it looks like Leo Nog’s pride got the better of him there. Knee looks hurt.
Leo Nog vs. Lazzarini for bronze:
Leo Nog pulls guard. Lazzarini very cautious about engaging. Leo Nogueira looking like he wants to play open butterfly if possible. Lazzarini tries to float over, but Leo gets his hooks up in time and follows to prevent. Lazzarini standing as Leo Nog sits. Lazzarini tries to go over the top again, flattens Leo Nog out, but Leo goes for a heelhook in return. Lazzarini bails as fast as he can extricate himself. Leo Nog appears to be bleeding. Medical time out.
Back in action. Leo Nog sticking with the butterfly as Lazzarini stays on his knees. Lazzarini tries flattening his opponent out a couple more times and Leo Nog kinda goes with it to get something going. Leo Nog hanging onto the half guard pretty easily, but giving up the flattening.
Leo gets out, tries some tornado guard, but it doesn’t go anywhere. Back to the feet. Cautious circling here. Nothing much happening.
Lazzarini drops to the guard and Leo Nog goes into the beast pass mode he’s known for. Lazzarini dealing with it well by getting overhooks now and then. Leo Nogueira wins on points as time expires.
Joao Assis vs. Dean Lister for gold:
Dean gets shoved down to guard and accepts it. Assis comes in, overhooking the farside leg, but coming inside to his left. Lister carefully placing his feet to deter a leglock and starts falling over to half guard. Working on the triceps of Assis to control positioning. Assis pulling his right leg upwards, but Lister keeping it tight and pulling the left triceps of Assis into him.
Lister shifts to full closed guard after the position got a bit stale. They’re moved to the middle and Lister starts going after Assis’s left arm. Assis is very low and tight, looking to come up without giving an omoplata. Lister sticks his feet directly into Assis’s face and Joao doesn’t take the bait. He drops for a double unders and Dean scoots back enough to defend.
Assis back to standing, as Lister continues to wave his feet in the air. Lister armdrags the right arm and tries for a backtake. Assis squats down and turtles up. Lister rolls over anyways and has a two on one on that left arm. One hook in, but the other is draped on Assis’s back and Lister’s upper body is entirely off Assis. It’s an okay armbar position, but that needs a ripping out of Assis’s hidden left arm. Lister starting to tug a bit stronger, but Assis walking himself flat to help defend. Lister can’t roll Assis over right now.
Assis pops free as Lister went all the way over, perhaps looking to see if Assis would give up a foot for the locking. Assis standing and dives into Dean’s open guard. Lister has feet on hips and goes to half guard on his right side. Assis basing out and it’s the first couple minutes all over again. Assis backs out and resets in the open guard. Looking to shove the left leg of Lister down and pass that way, but Lister spins to his right side for the half guard. Assis trying a leg weave pass, gets past and into north/south as Lister tries for a back take. Assis crunching down and Lister is now on his right side with Assis working seatbelt control. Lister tries to get back to guard, but Assis is staying heavy on top of him. Lister now reaching for a thigh and has it, scoopnig it up and spinning to a single leg. Assis backs the heck off and they go out of bounds.
Reset in the middle, standing. Lister drops to his knees and crawls forwards. Assis matches him and Lister pops up into a guillotine. Assis drops to his back. Lister now shifting to flatten himself out in the half guard and prevent Assis from coming under him.
Assis gets the thigh underhook anyways, after a short round of halfguard clinching. Lister dropping down tight and trying to stay on top. Assis gets the sweep to the top of Lister’s closed guard. Lister shifts to half and Assis briefly steps out, then back in. Leg weave pass again. Lister sticking his feet out as bait once more, but Assis not taking it. Assis stands and Lister butt scoots into him. Assis shoves aside Lister’s legs and moves to take side, but Lister scrambles around and Assis adjusts to get that secured. Lister regains open guard and Assis holds. Assis comes out and then takes advantage of a tired Lister to get into side control by leg drag. Then gives it up again, Lister back to open. Assis tries once more. Lister defends and then leaves a leg out as bait. Assis not biting on the trap. Lister working from open for a triangle/omoplata. Assis slides free and Lister comes to his knees for a takedown. Assis dives back in the guard and Lister grabs a triangle. Assis basing out to defend and holds it long enough that Lister abandons it. Assis past the guard to side control and tries for back take. Lister turtled up, one hook in, two hooks in? Yes. Lister basically despondent and down 5-0 on points. Time elapses.
Joao Assis is the champion.
Under 88 kg
Pablo Popovitch vs. Rafael Lovato Jr:
They circle cautiously. RLJ maye looking like he’ll drop to guard fast in the right set-up. Still circling and RLJ surprising Pablo with the refusal to go down. There we go, RLJ starts butt scooting as Pablo circles away. RLJ stands and starts stalking after the fleeing Popovitch. They clinch up and RLJ pulls rubber guard immediately, has the foot in the face and is trying to get an omoplata as Pablo pressures down tight. Pablo gets out, backs away. RLJ comes in, Pablo backing away. More of this and Pablo takes a finger to the eye. They reset and finally Pablo comes into the guard. RLJ trying to two-on-one an arm and kick free space. Pablo stands up and RLJ playing open guard, trying to grab a hand or leg. Pablo now in RLJ’s half guard and trying to shove a leg down and pass for points.
Pablo picks up after some inaction and stands. RLJ trying to force some RDLR, but Pablo’s backing away and only coming into the half guard. Pablo tries turning up the pace, doesn’t get a pass and they reset in the middle.
A reset standing for both for inaction. Nothing doing because Popovitch is basically playing a counter game and refusing to go on offense himself. RLJ can’t get past the hands and distance control of Popovitch to do anything. RLJ trying again to get a leg, but can’t get inside on Pablo. RLJ starts butt scooting forwards and Pablo goes away for a while before diving into the half guard. Pablo backsteps to the other side and then back to the original side as RLJ overcorrects. Pablo is in the quartermount after a near back take.
RLJ gets out and Pablo dives into the halfgaurd again, looking to kick free. RLJ inverting and gets a heelhook set-up! It doesnt’ look tight, but Pablo’s not going anywhere fast. Lovato trying to crank the ankle, but it’s low on his body and Pablo is starting to come up top, gets out and RLJ trying tin invert for something. Pop does something and somehow loses? Maybe RLJ had enough advantages to get the win.
Keenan Cornelius vs. Romulo Barral:
Keenan in a headlock by Romulo right off the bat and Romulo tries to go behind, which Keenan meets with a barrel roll to guard. Romulo standing after a reset and Keenan in the open guard. Romulo gets a bit cocky and Keenan pushes him over, but cannot get top position. They stand and clinch once more. Romulo wants the snapdown and headlock, while Keenan is denying him it with posture and gripfighting. Keenan drops to halfguard and Romulo grabs ankles to work a half guard pass. Keenan looking for the DLR and berimbolo, but Romulo doesn’t let him have it. Instead, Keenan stands up with a leg seized and sweeps Romulo to the ground and comes into the open guard of Barral. Out of bounds, reset standing.
Keenan tries a shot and ROmulo headlocks, Keenan gets out, fakes a shot, Romulo falls, Keenan dives into top position and tries bellyflopping to a pass. Romulo’s not under threat of pass and they reset in the guard in middle. Keenan pulls guard and Romulo stands. Keenan again going for berimbolo and Romulo shoving the ankles down and looking to longstep over. Keenan flipping between DLR and RDLR. Romulo tries to smash down and knee slice, but Keenan’s legs are too long and well placed to allow that. More DLR and RDLR switches from Keenan as Romulo keeps his distance.
Keenan stands and ROmulo flips to headlock, gets flipped over and Keenan dives on him, goes for a back take! Miyao-style!. Romulo switching to a kneebar there and Keenan scrambles out. They both stand and Romulo gets the headlock again. Keenan falls to halfguard. Romulo deosn’t engage. Open guard. Romulo being very patient. Keenan going for berimbolo again, Romulo high steps away. Some more twisty work from Keenan and he’s got an ankle of Romulo’s for DLR/RDLR. Romulo starts folding Keenan up and trying to smash. Nothing doing.
Overtime. After some circling, Keenan gets a near takedown, they go out of bounds. More careful standing gripfighting. Keenan goes for a slow double and Romulo stiffarms it away. Romulo tries for a single and Keenan gets out Keenan tries for a double again and Romulo goes for a headlock. Keenan keeps the leg and Romulo starts doing the usual wrestling defense. Keenan drops to guard after enough time has passed and Romulo slowly comes in. Keenan to half guard. Romulo staying very still. Keenan swivels over for berimbolo and Romulo stands up out of it. Romulo gets another headlock and Keenan tries for a sitout and gets free. Keenan gets a takedown, but time might be over. Romulo Barral wins on advantages, I guess. His leg dragging might have gotten enough near passes to counter that TD or whatever else.
RLJ vs. Romulo for gold:
Immediate clinch with Romulo being aggressive, looking for the headlock again. RLJ trying for a hip toss briefly, but the positioning wasn’t right. More clinch. It’s an active clinch, but not much happening. Lots of movement and circling, but no clear strategy for RLJ being shown right now. RLJ gives up a two on one to try for a guillotine, but Romulo senses it coming and postures out of it standing. More clinch.
Lovato drives Barral over by sheer momentum and Barral tries to elevate him. Lovato high steps out and then steps over into a kneebar, which morphs into a heelhook attempt. Barral puts his other leg into that zone to double up and prevent the heelhook. RLJ clears the doubled leg and goes for the hook! Barral rolls out somehow, after looking like he had to tap. RLJ now to guard and Barral looking to kneeslice.
Barral gets up and they go back to standing. More clinch. Long clinch. RLJ tries an interesting looking foot sweep feint to single, but Barral isn’t there for it. More clinch.
Lovato changes levels smoothly enough to get in on a double and they go off-camera. Somehow, Barral turned the double into a sprawl and then headlock. This is what he wants and RLJ is now on his elbows and knees defending. Barral has an elbow and the head, pulling them towards his knees and looking to spin around. RLJ turning over to the guard, staying low to avoid a guillotine. Barral starting to flatten RLJ out in the half guard. RLJ bucks him off to DLR/open. Barral drops a knee and looking to kneeslice or legdrag. RLJ inverts to a backtake, but Barral sits down and then steps out of it. RLJ has to turtle to defend movement and Barral grabs seat belt control. Trying to get RLJ down and take the back, but back to turtle. RLJ stands and Barral gets the back. RLJ bucks him off and they reset in the middle. Clinch. More clinch.
RLJ shoots in on a double, but it doesn’t turn the corner and Barral adjusts enough to get a headlock. Starts to drag RLJ down and gets him down on elbows and knees. RLJ front flips to open guard and Barral starts high stepping. Reset and standing clinch.
Overtime now. Scoreless, but Barral is looking the fresher and has the headlock gameplan in his back pocket. More clinch and circling. Still doing the clinching and circling. Barral had a little something going with a side bodylock, but RLJ hopped out. Now RLJ shoots a single and starts turning the corner, but pulling. Gets Barral down, but can’t drive forwards for a finish. Barral now on top, sprawling and waistlocking his arms. Still the same. RLJ won’t give up on the leg and finally lets go after a minute.
Barral takes advantage to spin for a backtake and gets seatbelt control. RLJ moving to avoid the double hooks and back take. Barral slides a hand in and has an RNC possibly in. RLJ is edging out of bounds and it looks like Barral gets back points for the win as time ran out or something like that.
Romulo for gold, Lovato for silver and apparently, Popovitch is injured, so Keenan gets bronze.
Under 77 kg
Kron Gracie vs. JT Torres:
Careful standing gripfighting. JT trying to two on one Kron’s arm, but can’t get anything with it. Kron drops to guard, starts working to break JT’s posture. Kron playing open guard. Still the same, JT doesn’t want to let Kron get his head and wants double unders or a leg drag. Kron entwines himself on JT’s leg for a heelhook set-up and JT drops back to his butt to defend, then comes up. JT trying to stay on his feet and Kron tricks him into a very neat armbar as JT used that hand to post/plant.
Leo Vieira vs. Otavio Sousa:
Otavio the aggressor so far in the gripfighting in the stand-up. Leo trying to counter-fight and avoid a takedown. Otavio grabs a leg and nearly gets Leo to overcommit to defense one way, but Leo gets out and resets to the middle.
Leo is boring in this tourney. Well, apart from maybe 1 minute of action in his first match and the near takedown on AJ. Otavio can’t get him down and doesn’t want to give Leo a pass opportunity himself. Leo starting to come in for counter-takedowns himself, but is stuffed by Otavio in return. Otavio grabs a good looking single leg opportunity and tries to run the pipe, but Leo scrambles out and nearly gives up a turtle, but gets up.
Feed problems, but it appears there’s no change.
Somehow Otavio is down and Leo scrambling to pass over a very active guard. Leo trying to go up the middle, leg drag, everything. But time appears to elapse and Otavio celebrating. Perhaps something was scored during the feed problems. Yep, looks like it. Otavio by advantages or points. BJJ Scout Twitter says Otavio had Leo’s back standing, so Leo must have slipped for a moment.
Kron vs. Otavio for gold:
Kron very upright and coming forwards. Might be looking to go high and guillotine or back take. Otavio looking like he wants to implement the same tactics he used on Leo for takedowns. Still clinching up and going slow. Otavio refusing to actually clinch up with Kron, choosing instead to try and tire out Kron with the movement and head pulls.
Kron tries for a seoi nage throw, but Otavio gripfights out immediately. More circling and Otavio refusing to clinch with Kron. Otavio clinches and Kron immediately goes for an armdrag and back take. Otavio scrambles out and again circles, refusing to engage. Urggh.
Minutes go by with Otavio backing up, refusing to engage. Kron keeping his temper and occasionally trying for a trip or throw to no avail.
Otavio has two warnings for stalling/passivity and he’ll be DQ’ed if another comes. He’s still not doing anything. Kron still coming forwards, but Otavio’s handfighting prevents him from getting any secure grips.
Otavio shoots in for a double and Kron immediately guillotines him. It’s so tight, I know Otavio’s going to tap. And he does.
Kron is the gold medalist, Otavio Sousa is the silver and I believe JT Torres has the bronze.
Under 66 kg
Rafael Mendes vs. Joao Miyao:
MIyao pulls guard. Working the DLR on Mendes who is shoving the hooking leg down and putting a knee straight up the middle. Going double unders, Miyao inverts to get free and resets to DLR on the other side. Rafa backs out. Comes back in and gets his grips for a double unders, but Miyao’s guard is so widely flexible, it’s nto paying dividends right away. Rafa rests and then starts trying to circle around. Miyao inverts to deal with it. Miyao frantically spinning and moving around, while Rafa comes on like an inevitable force. Miyao able to under hook and goes for a heelhook, only to find Rafa getting a better one himself. Miyao bails and Rafa comes up in a scramble. Rafa goes for a heelhook instead of the back take and Miyao kicks the hand loose. Rafa gets the hook again and Miyao kicks it loose again. Miyao pulls the leg in close and then kicks free entirely. Open guard now for Miyao. Rafa stands and steps carefully with the left leg first to go for a half guard pass. Miyao goes for RDLR, instead of half and is trying to break Rafa’s posture. Miyao scoots back and Rafa shoving one of the feet down as they move back and forth.
Reset in the middle after they edge towards the boundary. Rafa in the half guard and Miyao periodically bumps up out of it to come in for a DLR or RDLR, Rafa shifting it to halfguard and repeat. Daang, the Miyaos have good guards. Rafa now trying to leg drag a bit more, Miyao dealing with it so far. Miyao goes for a kneebar/invert set-up outside and Rafa goes with it to try and grab the back, but Miyao turs it into an invert all the way inside, so Rafa climbs out and gets back to the half guard.
Rafa standing or sitting in the half guard. Miyao trying to get an inverted kneebar for a bit, but back to half guard. Miyao pulling on that right leg again of Rafa’s, but it’s not moving and Rafa is chilling out in the half. Some more motion and Rafa appears to be finally getting some more success with the double unders, but Miyao keeps his shoulders walking and the butt comes down. Rafa scrambling for something as time runs down. Miyao taking incredible pressure from Rafa, but keeping a halfguard alivea nd going for Rafa’s right leg.
Still Miyao’s keeping the guard alive and giving Rafa problems. Rafa is up on points due to a takedown, but he’s not settling down. Miyao can’t get around Rafa’s pressure and is inverting again. More scrambles, but Rafael Mendes wins on points. Whoo, what a good pair of guard the Miyaos have developed.
Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles vs. Justin Rader:
Cobrinha pulls guard. Starts swiveling under Rader for a heel hook from the outside. Rader drops to defend and works to get Cobrinha into a headlock. Cobrinha has a very odd looking leglock on, almost calf slicer-ish and is coming up top in a fashion that looks like it could get very grotesque very fast.
Rader signals he’s okay though and Charls is hanging onto the calf slicer from the side. It goes on for a long while. Minutes. Rader finally pops free and goes to scramble, but Charles slides right to the back. Wow. Rader stands and Charles is a bit high on Rader. Rader back kicks and Charles decides to slide off and reset.
Cobrinha quickly gets another heelhook set-up going and Rader is based out, calmly defending. Cobrinha keeping the heel hook, but changing it into a butterfly set-up that flows into an invert, then open guard, then sweep. Rader tries dropping back for an ankle lock, but doesn’t get it. Cobrinha on top, but Rader out the back door and comes up to top. Cobrinha in the halfguard and looking very comfortable. Cobrinha switches to the half butterfly and Rader tries another diving guillotine. Charles handfights out and rolls to open guard. Cobrinha wins on points.
Rader vs. Miyao for bronze:
Miyao pulls guard. Rader staying on one knee for base. Miyao spins under him and tries for a back take, but Rader bails and resets in halfguard on the other side. Miyao starts to spin that way too, but is prevented from spinning. Miyao inverts, gets a heel hook set-up and Rader is on his knee defending, gets the foot planted and yanks it out. Miyao going again for invert back take on the other side, but Rader bailing out backwards and Miyao tries for an ankle lock on the entrapped foot. No dice.
Rader gets up, gets spun under again and Miyao is using control of a foot to set up another DLR inversion. Rader gets to his feet and pushes the spinning Miyao away from him.
Oh, wow. The Miyao used the usual kiss of the dragon RDLR backtake successfully on Rader, who couldn’t get his butt to the mat fast enough. Miyao has his back as he is standing. They’re off the mats and Miyao goes for an RNC, but gets shucked off onto the floor. Reset in the middle and Miyao drops to guard. Rader comes into the half guard.
Miyao working a heel hook set-up both as bait and the real thing to get Rader to give him his back. Rader bailing and tries to come into the half guard again on his terms. Miyao inverts and Rader backs out his legs, then comes back in. Rader times an invert to drop for a guillotine. Could have it! Miyao is continuing to try for the berimbolo while in the guillotine. Holy crud. Rader eventually bails on the sub attempt and climbs to the feet. Reset in the middle.
Rader tries another guillotine, but Miyao just hugs him tight and pulls him into the guard. Rader avoiding any RDLR attempts by high stepping, tries another guillotine and Miyao uses it to go for berimbolo. Gets the sweep to top!. Miyao trying to guillotine Rader now, but slips loose. Miyao butt scooting forwards and tries for another berimbolo. Rader crunches inwards to defend and Miyao switches to a heelhook set-up. Rader stands and bails, Joao uses that to go for a back take and nearly gets it. Rader stands and dumps the scrambling Miyao onto his head and resets in the middle. Rader tries another guillotine jump, but Miyao handfights it into irrelevance right away. Miyao butt-scooting forwards and Rader backs away.
They reset to standing. Miyao shoots a bad single and drops to guard, inverts and tries for the backtake. Rader gripfighting to prevent a grabbing of the waist. Miyao loses his grips and Rader goes for another diving guillotine. Miyao out of it fast and pulls Rader into open guard. Rader very tight now and trying to smash, but Miyao gets the space again. Miyao inverting again and again for the RLDR and kneebar. Rader has to give the leg, but isn’t in serious danger yet. Rader on one leg and Miyao trying to use his flexibility to swivel around to the back, but Rader’s grips are preventing the 50/50 from really working the way Miyao wants it to. Rader jumps over for a guillotine yet again and Joao comes up top to get a sweep. They go way, way out of bounds and Paolo keeps the top position. Should get points for that. Rader is ordered down to the bottom and Paolo goes back and forth with the ref on teh reset position.
Rader charges away to defend, but Joao stays locked and has a rear body lock. Rader spins into Miyao and Miyao switches to an reaping heelhook position. Rader keeps a tight grip on Miyao’s legs to try and keep the heelhook from going, but Miyao moves the leg up and has a very serious sub on!
Rader not tapping and keeping the leg down. Eventually, despite crowd cheers, Rader gets out and they reset to the middle. During an attempt to pick up Rader’s foot, Rader apparently kicks Paolo in the eye. Medical timeout.
Back in action. Miyao aggressively buttscoots in for butterfly. Rader tries to come around for a guillotine and time runs out. Rader wins on advantages, I suppose. I disagree with that nearly to the extreme, but hey, it’s only a bronze medal match.
Cobrinha vs. Rafa:
Standing clinch, but it’s much more active than the two prior gold medal matches. Both moving around and not disengaging much, but neither has gotten a leg exposed or triceps firmly seized. Accidental nut shot by Cobrinha to Rafa. Brief time out and they re-clinch.
Rafa looking like he’s the stronger and driving Cobrinha to the edges, but Charles is turning the corner enough to stay inbounds. Rafa tries coming in sideways for a second, but it doesn’t get what he wants, so he comes back in straight up. After some more clinch maneuvering – still more exciting than previous rounds – Rafa slowly tries for a single leg, but Cobrinha steps away each time.
Rafa looks like he’s slowly going after the same leg to get the same reaction – and maybe switch to the other leg Reza Yazdani-style. Not sure he can get it on the slightly faster Cobrinha. Rafa goes after the far leg now and it’s way off. More clinching, head to head and Cobrinha starting to try for headlocks now. After some maneuvering, Cobrinha tries for a leg at the edge of the boundary, which drives Rafa out and they reset in the middle.
Referee pauses the action, so the staff can kick the mats into place – spaces have opened up in between them.
Oh! Rafa makes a mistake and somehow Cobrinha turns it into a possible takedown! Rafa then spins under and they’re into a 50/50 again way off the mats. Ref tells them to keep going all the way on the other mats, then they pause with Charles on the bottom. The refs all get together and carry the two back over to the main mats. What a bizarre turn of events.
Rafa looking to prevent Cobrinha from heelhooking him. The score is 2-2 thanks to Rafa’s sweep on the other mats, after Cobrinha’s successful takedown. Cobrinha having his free leg shoved down and Rafa dives forwards to try for a backtake. They scramble to the feet and clinch up. Still tied, I’d think. Cobrinha tries for a fireman’s carry, but Rafa is way away. Cobrinha tries another single and Rafa sprawls just as Charles abandons it.
Rafa slaps Cobrinha in the mouth, which takes a second to clean up at the side of the mat. Rafa tries a single on the far leg and misses. Clinch again. Cobrinha gets a leg and starts trying to dump Mendes, but it’s aptly defended and they clinch up once more. Reset in the middle.
This is easily going into overtime again. Yep.
Rafa shoots in for an ankle pick, Cobrinha reverses it and gets to knee on belly, but can’t stabilize it enough to really matter. Rafa back to the feet and they clinch up. That should be an advantage for Cobrinha, actually. After a bit of clinching, Rafa shoots for the same single and gets shoved away. Charles getting low, looking to get Rafa to overcommit coming forwards for an armdrag.
Doesn’t get it, but Rafa looking more tired now. They trade single leg feints. Rafa throws one more in a second later. Another from Rafa. Overall, Cobrinha’s shots are more dangerous, but Rafa has the volume. Cobrinha tries a slide by arm drag, but Rafa keeps going forwards and out of danger. Clinch up again. Rafa for the slow ankle pick again.
More clinch and gripfighting. Cobrinha extends pretty far for a farside ankle pick, but doesn’t get it and Rafa can’t take advantage. Rafa goes for the slow ankle pick again. Cobrinha tries a snapdown and Rafa reacts, then re-clinches and then goes for a slow ankle pick. Cobrinha working the clinched hand snapdown. Rafa tries another ankle pick, Cobrinha goes for a slightly faster one of his own, but no luck. Clinch again. This is much higher paced than Barral/RLJ, but still pretty grinding.
Cobrinha finally penetrates enough to get a real single leg and Rafa edges out on the boundary. They’re reset in the middle with Cobrinha having the leg. He dumps Rafa, but the scramble back to the feet is too fast to establish control. Reset in middle. Rafa tries for a double, but Cobrinha is on the ball and moving already. Time elapses and I think Cobrinha should take this match this time. They’re going to referee’s decision here.
NO! It’s a second overtime! Hooooly fuzzballs. Rafa tries a slide-by, but it’s really far off. They clinch once more. More clinch and Rafa makes a mistake in a scramble, which allows Cobrinha to dump him down and seize the takedown. Rafa goes inverted to try and pull a leg out from Cobrinha. Gets the leg up, but Cobrinha whips it over and is now in a 50/50 guard from Rafa. Mendes inverts in response and Cobrinha sits back on his legs to eliminate space for the inversion/back take.
Cobrinha and Rafa in dueling toeholds now. This is a familiar position for them and historically, neither has tapped. Rafa slides around a bit to get a better angle on a back take or calf slicer and Cobrinha responds by shifting around for a better angle on a kneebar. They’re dueling to the bitter end here.
Cobrinha comes up top in the 50/50, briefly gets dumped back down, but scrambles back up to get top again. Rafa holding a version of DLR and Cobrinha comes out, then back in. Rafa going deep half now as Cobrinha plants his arm behind the head and the other arm forwards. Now scooping an underhook and Rafa slides the top leg over his face. Cobrinha balancing furiously as Rafa waits for Gui’s advice. Rafa digs an underhook up high and moves around to a back take! Charles scrambles out and Rafa dashes after him to try for sweep points. No luck. Back to the feet.
Points appear to be tied right now. Not sure how, but okay. Cobrinha tries for a single, Rafa sprawls and counter-shoots, not there at all. Both guys are still going as time elapses once more. Whoa. Referee’s decision for real now.
Cobrinha is anointed ADCC gold medalist. Rafa for silver and Rader for bronze.
Women’s Over 60 kg semi-finals – I missed these due to my feeds not kicking in on time.
Gabi Garcia vs. Tammy Griego:
Gabi out pointed Tammy.
Maria Malyjasiak vs. Fernanda Mazelli:
Maria leglocks Fernanda.
Tammy vs. Fernanda for bronze:
Tammy pulls deep half and goes for a heel hook. Fernanda rolls to defend. Eventually, the rolls free Fernanda and Tammy comes up top. Tammy sliding up the half guard and Fernanda shifts to deep half. Fernanda gets loose a bit and Tammy goes for a heelhook. Fernanda defending furiously. Tammy kicks her away and comes up top. Fernanda drops to her back and they reset in the middle. Tammy on top of Fernanda’s open guard and drops for a heelhook, but Fernanda rolls over, so it’s now Tammy in closed guard. Tammy scoots out, goes for a single leg and the deep half, Fernanda sprawls, but Tammy stays in motion and comes up to top of turtle. Tammy working for the farside arm, Fernanda drops to her back.
Griego was in control for a while, but got overambitious and now Mazelli is nearly about to take her back. Tammy pops free and is now in top of guard. Hair tie reset. Standing. Tammy gets Mazelli to turtle after a clinch, without poitns and Tammy trying to get the back or roll Fernanda over for side control. Fernanda reverses a crucifix into the halfguard top.
This match got boring and is still going after many minutes. Fernanda has pulled half and Tammy is trying to stay on top or pass. Time has elapsed and Tammy is celebrating. Looks like she won.
Gabi vs. Maria for gold:
Gabi gripfighting, headlocks Maria and drops to the ground. Maria motionless and appearing to wait until Gabi moves. Gabi slides over to the side of Maria’s turtle after a bit of rest, then slides back over for a guillotine. Maria rolls to her side and it’s too tight to resist. Gabi Garcia wins gold once again. Lady made that look smooth. She shifted over to the side to get Maria to drop the arm blocking the neck and then slid right back in there. Kind of Marcelo Garcia-like.
Women’s Under 60 kg
Michelle Nicolini vs. Seiko Yamamoto:
Nicolini wins.
Ana Michele Tavares vs. Luana Alzuguir:
Luana wins by sub.
Looks like Seiko Yamamoto gets bronze. Perhaps Tavares is hurt.
Luana vs. Nicolini for gold:
Nicolini pulls guard and goes for an overhook on one side, tries to slide Luana up for a heelhook. Luana drops back down and rolls over to guard herself. They kick free of each other simultaneously. Re-engage and Luana gets out of a heelhook attempt by spinning around and then going for one herself. Nicolini trying to slide Luana’s left leg up for a heelhook again, but Luana puts it back down on the mats and comes up to top of guard. Goes over the top to work free, but has to come back down. Nicolini gets the foot in the right spot and starts working the heelhook. Luana spinning like mad. Nicolini adjusts her grip the other way, Luana spins the other way, Nicolini uses that to come up to a 50/50 guard and rest.
Nicolini decides it’s time to go again and tries for a heelhook. Luana gets the trapped foot forwards and on the mat, starts trying to free the hands from the hold. Nicolini goes after the heelhook gain and Luana spins to defend and has to tap after a few spins. I think she got jacked up and tapped mid-roll, but Nicolini couldn’t tell, so she cranked it some more. Oof.
Nicolini is your winner by a nasty heelhook.
Absolute Matches:
Orlando Sanchez up vs Rustam Chsiev
Chsiev trying to throw Orlando. Lol. Nothing happening basically.
Orlando pulls guard, goes to half guard. Chsiev playing his usual half guard pass game now. Orlando to his knees and tries a double on Chsiev, who slams him down to his back and dives into the guard. More action, but nothing significant happening. Chsiev halfguard smashing as usual now. Chsiev gets the win as time runs out.
Buchecha vs. Gary Tonon
Tonon goes for a leglock after grabbing a leg and nearly has it! Buchecha pulls out. Tonon pulls guard and Buchecha passes fast, goes to side as Gary dives for turtle. Buchecha has head control. Buchecha gets shunted back to guard and keeps Gary in butterfly. They’re gripfighting slowly and Buchecha resets on the feet. Buchecha tries for a heel hook from top of guard, but Tonon rolls out fast and recovers guard. Buchecha passes again and tries to flatten out Tonon. Gary turns into him, but Buchecha gets head control and now to north/south on turlted Tonon. Gary trying to roll for a kneebar, but Buchecha staying out of trouble. Tonon back to open guard, shifts to butterfly and a straight armbar. Almeida’s arm is so long, it looks like Gary actually can’t straight armbar him. Buchecha sliding past the guard to the right all the time, but can’t stabilize. Buchecha gets a pretty deep guillotine, but Tonon flops back and Buchecha has to let go as Tonon’s legs get involved. Tonon goes for a kimura and it’s close enough to make Almeida roll over and abandon position. Almeida standing. Comes in and goes to the other side this time. Buchecha moving around, but can’t get a tight position on Tonon. Crazy good guard work from Tonon here, but Buchecha is the winner by points.
Sekine vs. Lister
Lister pulls half guard and Sekine tries to somesault over it. Lister playing half guard and allows side control to Sekine, who gets head control. Lister gets free and then goes to his back. Sekine dives for a toehold and gets a deep one, however, Lister grabs one of his own. Sekine rolls out. Lister eventually leglocks Sekine for the win, despite some very questionable tactics.
David Avellan vs. Joao Gabriel
Avellan tries for a single, gets sprawl/smashed and Gabriel seizes seatbelt control. Avellan nearly otionless, but Gabriel rolls him over and keeps hunting for the second hook. Eventually Avellan rolls over and lets Gabriel mount him. Gabriel gets popped off mount after smothering Avellan for a while. They go to the feet. Joao scrambles around to top of Avellan’s half guard. Gabriel trying for an arm triangle. Shifts to back take with one hook and double unders. Avellan can’t move much, but gets to half guard after a while. Gabriel staying safe, while trying to make sure no easy sub opportunities pass by.
Vinny vs. Uminski (I think) Nope, Piechota.
Clinching for a bit. More clinching. Vinny pulls guard and butt scoots. Uminski not engaging much. Vinny not pushing issue either. Vinny gets way more active all of a sudden and sweeps to the top of Uminski aftera trip. Vinny looking to pass the butterfly guard. Still looking to pass. Vinny gets by, finally , but can’t secure it. Vinny gets to ount at the end. Then bucked off after a bit and up to the feet. Sits down and butt scoots. Vinny gets a scramble going and a rear bodylock. Piechota escapes the bodylock and now looking to get Vinny’s back. Piechota nearly grabs an armlock on a lethargic Vinny, who settles into top guard. Vinny now to top butterfly. A scramble results and Piechota gets some good positions, only to lose them quickly and Vinny appears to be exhausted or hurt. Not sure who won, but Vinny is getting medical treatment from Eddie Bravo, I suppose. So it’s Piechota who wins.
Keenan vs Ezra Lenon
Keenan pulls half guard and Lenon seems to be doing what he did against Lister – carefully keep his feet out of trouble and smash pass to the left. Keenan gets a reaping leglock position though and starts setting up the heelhook. Lenon defends well enough to get out quickly. Keenan inverts to go after a berimbolo/kneebar. Lenon triangles up to defend, but flops to his back. Keenan pulls out the leglock anyways. Heel hook.
Uminski vs. Cyborg.
Cyborg drags Uminski down to the ground and starts passing. Gets to side control easily. Back to guard. Cyborg eventually gets past again and looks for a back take. Cyborg to mount. Crushing Uminski there. Uminski pushes Cyborg down to guard, but gives up another back take fast. Choke win for Cyborg.
Dopp vs. Leo Nogueira
Leo Nog drops back for a heel hook and Dopp defends. Still defending. Leo Nog switching to an anklelock set-up. Leo Nog changes to heel hook and nearly gets it, but Dopp rolls out and seizes head control. Leo Nog gets out and starts attacking same leg as before. Leo Nog sweeps and eventually Dopp stands up once more. Back to the feet. Leo Nog shoots in and pulls deep half. Dopp trying to stay up, but gets swept. Dop re-sweeps and starts trying to pass the half guard of Leo Nog. After some moving around, Leo Nog pulls a guillotine and it’s pretty deep, but Dopp isn’t tapping. Pops out after grip fighting a bit. Dopp wins on points, I guess.
Buchecha vs Chsiev
Buchecha sits and Chsiev mean mugs his way around getting into the half guard. Chsiev trying to brute force his way past that half guard and Buchecha looks like he’s getting fed up with that. Still in the half guard. Chsiev appears to want nothing else. Buchecha finally pushes him free and sits up. Chsiev grabs at some legs and looks to go left once more. Buchecha tries an invert leg grab, but Chsiev isn’t there. Buchech still doing the invert grabs to no avail. Now Buchecha has a sort of leg lasso thing going, hunting a keylock on the farside arm. Reset in middle. Buchecha forces Chsiev to the right and nearly gets a scramble going, but Chsiev backs out and resets in Buchecha’s open guard. Buchecha tries like heck to do a sitout on Chsiev, but it doesn’t go anywhere. He inverts in response to a brute force attempt to get past the half guard. Chsiev resets on the feet in the middle. Chsiev pushing for a pass to the left as usual, Buchecha trying to come up with a whizzer, clutching the single leg. Chsiev whizzers back and they roll around. Buchecha on his elbows and knees and Chsiev bodylocks him. They’re resetting in the middle. Buchecha crouches and Chsiev goes to top turtle. Buchecha rolls looking for a leg and it isn’t there. Buchecha playing butterfly now. Chsiev tries to pop up and over, nearly gives up a kneebar. Buchecha has leg lasso. Chsiev still going left and Almeida can’t get anything going on him either. Chsiev tries to pop over butterfly, nearly gives up a toehold and scrambles out, back to top of guard. Buchecha in half guard on his right side, with Chsiev pushing down. Buchecha tries an armbar, but it’s positionally blocked. After some short work, Buchecha sweeps and mounts Chsiev. Gets the 4 points and win.
Lister vs. Joao Gabriel
Lister appears to have leglocked Joao Gabriel extremely fast. Gabriel is rolling around in pain. BJJ Scout says it came off an invert kneebar to heel hook.
Keenan vs Piechota
Keenan sits. Plays his usual DLR/open guard game. Piechota being cautious and staying out. Keenan goes to 50/50 and heel hooks. Piechota has to sit and go in there with him. Keenan now working on a toehold or heelhook, hidden by camera angle. Piechota gets out and Keenan sits guard once more. Gets a back take going off DLR work, combining it with a calf slicer. Piechota seems like he wants a toe hold, which Keenan gives in order to come up top. Keenan and Piechota slide around to 50/50 guard. Keenan moves to a heelhook and Piechota has to pull back more and more to defend. Keenan falls back to guard after that sub attempt. Keenan goes for yet another back take off DLR work. This time he gets the seatbelt and a turtled Piechota. Keenan gets a body triangle on Piechota and the seatbelt. going to trap an arm and gets the RNC. Piechota barely manages to scrape down the choking hand. Keenan wins on points.
Cyborg vs. Tonon
Tonon has pulled guard and is playing for a leglock. Tonon nearly gets the same back take he hit on Kron in the divisional matches. Cyborg defends and comes up top in half guard. Cyborg passes to side, Tonon turns into him and gets muscled around a bit. Tonon trying to come up and scramble, but Cyborg pushes him away and a reset happens. Tonon sits and Cyborg dives in, looks energized by Tonon’s ferocity. Tonon in half guard and Cyborg firmly based out. Tonon yanking on an arm, but nothing happens. After a bit of work, Cyborg nearly passes to the side, but has to settle for smashing down the z-guard. Cyborg flips around to the back for a strange looking armbar that gets to near full extension, but Tonon wriggles free! Cyborg back to guard and Tonon staying aggressive. Cyborg meets fire with fire and methodically powers his way to back control on a turtled Tonon. Tonon starts working his way down and giving up an arm. Cyborg obliges, but wants to ride this out. Tonon dives right into Cyborg’s uard and seizes a toehold, which Cyborg frantically kicks free of. Tonon now working an anklelock on the other leg. Cyborg smashes to his feet and then out. Tonon rolls and tries to get a single leg on the retreating Cyborg. These guys are shaking hands in between resets and it’s glorious to watch. Tonon drops the 11-0 pts match.
Buchecha vs Lister
Lister comes in sideways, purposely giving up the takedown. Buchecha obliges and Lister goes to butterfly. They stand and Lister obviously giving up the takedown in his positioning, trying to get another Joao Gabriel moment. Lister tries a wrap around throw, but falls to the feet and Almeida steps free. Back to the middle, standing. Lister pulls half. Buchecha back steps out of it and nearly into a mounted triangle. Lister shifts it to a deep half of sorts, but Buchecha pops free of the arms and slides to north/south. After a bit of moving around, Buchecha tries a guillotine, but it goes nowhere and Lister is back to guard and butt-scooting. Buchecha slides over the butterfly into side control on Lister, who is shrimping out and back to the open guard. They stand.
Lister shoots in on a single and gets it. Goes for a heel hook, but Buchecha turns it into nothing with a roll. They stand once more. Almeida shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Lister turtles up, trying to scramble away and Almeida stabilizes on top of that. Buchecha tries to roll Lister for back take, but it ends up with Lister reaching for a foot. Almeida steps away and they reset standing. Lister shoots a single, Buchecha doesn’t sprawl, so Lister rolls backwards for a leglock. Buchecha defends and Lister sticks with the takedown. Now has Buchecha down, but not firmly controlled. Buchecha turtles up and Lister gets on top. Lister gets one hook in on a back take and Almeida rolls to his back. Lister in s-mount, trying to get mount and Buchecha rolls him. Goes for a guillotine, now going for a toehold. dumps Lister on his back. Stabilizes in guard. Steps one leg over, steps both over and goes for a back take himself. Gets the back take. Lister is exhausted, it looks like. Buchecha somehow up 5-0, despite giving up a takedown. Welp, Buchecha wins and gets to the Absolute final.
Keenan vs. Cyborg
Keenan leans on Cyborg, who pushes him away. Cyborg tries to whizzer him and swing around to the side, but Keenan limp arms and gets away. Then sits down. Cyborg comes in, but wanting to not be in DLR. Keenan moving around smoothly in open guard and Cyborg still picking a spot to come down in. Settles down into top of butterfly. Keenan switching to RLDR and starts grabbing for ankles. Cyborg high steps free and drops down into half guard.
More maneuvering around, Keenan inverts and Cyborg wants none of that. Settles Keenan down in butterfly and tries to sprawl his way into a smash pass. Keenan turns that into an invert guard, which Cyborg fends off. Keenan butt scoots in. Cyborg still not able to solve the Cornelius guard scheme. Stands and starts looking for a very fast double unders. Doesn’t get it. Keenan tries coming up in a single leg, gets tossed around and keeps his guard intact. Keenan’s guard fails after a turtle and Cyborg is firmly in north/south now. Keenan has an upa going. Cyborg turns that into a back take, which Keenan is now standing up in and trying to turn into a top of guard position. He does. They stand and Keenan shoots in for a single, a throw, a single, no joy. Cyborg shoves him off and they clinch once more. One more single, which gets to the leg, but Cyborg sprawls hard enough to defend. Back to the feet.
Looks like Keenan tried once more for a takedown, failed and Cyborg took his back again as time ran out. Cyborg on to the finals against Buchecha.
Legends Superfight – Fabio Gurgel vs. Mario Sperry:
Sperry looking a bit larger. They clinch heavily in the middle. Gurgel drives for a true clinch, but Sperry directs hi out of bounds. Reset in the middle. Sperry very much into the clubbing head control favored by Palhares et. al. Gurgel has his head sucked into a guillotine, but frees himself quickly. Back to the middle. More clinching.
After a long while, Sperry finally drags Gurgel down with a headlock. Gurgel on his elbows and knees. Sperry putting pressure on. Gurgel spins to guard and Sperry stands up to come in. Gurgel starting to handfight and pull in Sperry into the halfguard. Sperry looking to smash pass, has Gurgel flattened, but can’t free the leg and goes back to closed guard.
They’re hanging out in there. Gurgel isn’t letting Sperry move around and Sperry has a very wide base going. Gurgel now trying to swivel around for an armbar, thanks to some high guard work. However, Sperry knows it’s there and slides down a bit. Gurgel now working to get a hand off his own neck and Sperry backs out entirely. They’re broken apart and reset in the middle. Gurgel tries a single, but it’s abandoned early. Gurgel tries again and Sperry goes to the headlock snapdown. Gurgel sits to guard once more. Fabio shifts to butterfly and Sperry starts pushing his way past it. Gurgel briefly turtles, but they reset in the middle in open guard. Gurgel now trying to get something going in half guard. Sperry dropping low, pinching the legs together and looking to pass. Gurgel goes into RLDR and is on his right side. Sperry pops free the topside leg and Gurgel butt scoots back into open guard.
Sperry dives down into the butterfly and looks to pass left once more. Gurgel butt scoots back to make room and re-engages. More of the same, Sperry easily getting headlocks and to near-pass positions, but can’t quite secure. Sperry nearly gets a kimura on a thrown-down Gurgel, but the General recovers to guard.
Clinching on the feet now. More of same. Sperry will cruise to a win. Gurgel tried, but he wasn’t able to match Sperry’s muscle and athleticism.
Lister vs. Cornelius for Absolute bronze:
Keenan tries to trip Dean, who drops for a single leg. Keenan goes for a kimura and rolls Lister. Dean turtles to avoid a back take. Keenan has one hook in and seatbelt control. Dean looking kinda comfortable and appears to be thinking about sliding his back down to the mats. They were training partners headed into this ADCC, so a degree of familiarity with the game must be in order here. Keenan slides up and over to a mounted triangle. Holy fuzzballs. He’s working on an armbar, but Lister stays hunched over and gets out. Then goes for a leglock. Keenan defends and comes up to take an arm triangle in s-mount. Lister chills out and his arm may be too big to be compressed into an arm triangle.
So Keenan goes into a mounted triangle again. Lister shoves his arms forwards, preventing a big squeeze from Keenan’s legs. Lister still hanging out there. Still hanging out. Keenan trying to adjust for a better squeeze, but it’s not happening. Keenan decides to shift himself around, keeping the triangle on and gets a better angle on an armbar. Lister’s arm is fully extended and he frantically defends with his legs. Interesting defense and it does lead to Keenan’s feet being exposed. Keenan now on his back, looking to avoid giving up a foot and to spin up top. Does spin up top and has north/south, but is muscled into guard by Lister who has the legs within his grasp.
They reset to the middle. Dean in top of guard. Keenan closes the guard. Lister opens it up and drops for a toehold, which Keenan rolls out of and spins to take the back. One hook in, two hooks in and seatbelt control. Lister fending off an RNC. Now looking to slide away from the choking arm and does so. Cornelius grabs an arm triangle set-up as time expires. Keenan Cornelius is your ADCC Absolute bronze medalist.
Absolute final – Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida vs Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu:
Buchecha throws down Cyborg, who accepts it, from the clinch. Cyborg now in butterfly and firmly holding Buchecha in. Stands back up to the feet. They circle and clinch. Cyborg gets a very neat trip takedown. Buchecah to half guard and elevates Cyborg, looking for a foot. No joy. Cyborg dives back down into the half and looks to flatten out Almeida. Does and slowly passes to side control. Buchecha chilling out and doesn’t look concerned. Cyborg settling in pretty tightly and not moving to mount right away. Knee on belly attempt and Almeida uses it to buck free and stand up.
Lots of slow circling and clinching. Not much happening. Cyborg briefly drops for a single and it goes nowhere. On the reset, Cyborg circles and then gets a double leg. Buchecha has to accept it and allows a pass into side control. Whoa. Cyborg staying very tight. Almeida gets out anyways and goes to his open guard. Cyborg circling around and looking to come in with the right set-up. Buchecha stands up and Cyborg pushes him away. Reset in the middle.
Lot of patient circling and grip-fighting from both grapplers. At some random moment, they double high five and Buchecha shoots a blast double that lands. Cyborg gets to feet anyways and they clinch up. Cyborg shoots, gets sprawled on and Buchecha gets a head control, spins to take the back. Gets shucked off and Cybrog goes for a back take. Buchecha rolls to prevent it, nearly gives up mount, inverts and is now in tornado guard under Abreu. Buchecha reverts to right side up and kicks Cyborg away. Back to the feet.
Cyborg tries for a double, but is sprawled on. Back to feet. Tying up and breaking, tying up and breaking. Buchecha wants the double, while Cyborg’s okay with pretty much anything. Buchecha shoots in, gets reversed and tossed to side control by Cyborg. Buchecha ends up turtled and Cyborg on top. Almeida rolls to open guard and Cyborg stands. Then drops into half guard with a wide base.
Cyborg does something to make a pass set-up and slides into side control. Buchecha scrambles to open guard, but it might be too late for preventing points. Yep. Cyborg is up 7-0. Buchecha tries for an omoplata, fails and comes up to the feet, charges at Abreu, tries for a takedown, has to turtle up. They’re off the mats, so they reset in the middle.
Buchecha tries a tornado sweep, but it fails. Cyborg to side control. 9-0 Cyborg and Buchecha trying anything and everything out of desperation. Can’t get a takedown. Clinches up. Tries to toss Cyborg with a hip throw. Gets whizzered. Rolls inverted for a leg and gets a single leg out of bounds. Reset in the middle. Buchecha drops for a very bad takedown, flips over seemingly exhausted and Cyborg now trying for a north/south choke.
10-0 Cyborg. Buchecha stuck and appears to be going nowhere. Builds up a bit of energy and scrambles out, tries for a bad takedown. Drops for a leg, no luck. Cyborg pushing him away and whiling away the time. Buchecha plainly exhausted. Cyborg celebrating, but they’re still grappling. Time runs out now and Cyborg wins 10-0 over the hottest superstar of grappling currently.
Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu wins Absolute gold. Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida wins silver. Keenan Cornelius wins bronze.
That’s it for ADCC 2013. Thanks for reading along and being a part of this sport. I’m beat after two days straight of this, so good night and good luck to all.
About the author
