I Fight in Pajamas: June 2013

Friday, June 21, 2013

Flashback Friday: Gianni Grippo vs Luis Rubalvaca (2012)

This match took place in February 2012 at the IBJJF Houston Open. I'm a big fan of Grippo and who doesn't love to see a Feather competing against a Heavyweight?! At the time Gianni was still with Renzo Gracie but recently made the move to Marcelo Garcia (NYC). Luis Rubalvaca received his black belt from Jacare Cavalcanti later that year in September.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Flashback Friday: Marcelo Garcia vs Xande Ribeiro (ADCC 2005)

Here is a match from ADCC 2005 featuring Marcelo Garcia and Xande Ribeiro. This was the 3rd place match in for the Absolute division but it is the stuff of legends. Marcelo did manage to win his own weight class of -77kg. This contest featured an undersized Marcelo Garcia showcasing the stuff that has made him famous. You will see him use the very techniques that has made him one of the best pound for pound grapplers in the World. Many of these techniques can be found on his online training site mginaction.com

2005 Absolute Brackets

Friday, June 7, 2013

Flashback Friday: Rafa Mendes vs Bruno Malfacine (WP 2011)

This is an interesting match up that we are rarely treated to. Rafael Mendes (Atos) and Bruno Malfacine (Alliance) are a couple weight classes a part in IBJJF tournaments and the weight classes in this tournament are much wider pitting two of the best against each other. This match took place at the World Pro 2011.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

2013 IBJJF World Championships (Review)

The 2013 IBJJF World Championships concluded around 10pm central time Sunday night. It was an excellent event featuring some incredible matches and upsets. That being said...my brain is FRIED from watching most of Saturday and Sunday's live stream.

Academy Results

Adult Male:

1 - Alliance - 94
2 - CheckMat - 53
3 - Atos Jiu-Jitsu - 45

Adult Female:

1 - Alliance - 74
2 - CheckMat - 45
3 - Gracie Humaita - 32

Juvenile:

1 - Gracie Elite Team - 65
2 - Gracie Barra - 52
3 - Alliance - 33

Novice:

1 - Gracie Elite Team - 47
2 - Alliance - 41
3 - Gracie Barra - 34

*Additional results can be found at:

https://www.ibjjfdb.com/Campeonato/PublicResults?CampeonatoId=177&CultureInfo=en-US

Notable moments (Spoilers if you haven't seen the matches. Skip down and watch the matches first.)

Gui Mendes being knocked out in only the quarterfinals. He played a dangerously close match and didn't push the pace losing a ref's decision.
Tanquinho was impressive. I picked him to make it to the finals but who would have expected him to beat both Cobrinha AND Rafael Mendes the same day? Probably the most impressive run in the black belt division in my opinion.
Caio Terra showed that his win against his nemesis, Bruno Malfacine, at Pan 2013 was not fluke. He played a very similar game and won the 50/50 battle to claim another World title.
Leandro Lo showed that he is one of the most dynamic standing guard passers and open guard players of the tournament. He had only 2 points scored against him in the entire tournament.
Paulo Miyao FINALLY beats Keenan Cornelius in the Brown belt Absolute final. This is an amazing feat considering that he fights at Light Feather.
Braulio Estima was very impressive and showed the world that he still is competing at the highest level dazzling with a ridiculous kneebar. He closed out his weight class and conceded to teammate Romulo Barral.
Atos was shut out at black belt in all divisions.
Ary Farias had appeared to win the Light Feather final, left the mat area to celebrate, was penalized for doing so which docked him an advantage and caused him to lose the final. Very unfortunate as the match was one of the best finals during the weekend.
Lucas Leite was excellent making it to the final at Heavyweight...which is two weight classes above his natural division.
Bruno Bastos (Nova Uniao) retired from Worlds competition and gave his black belt to Buchecha after losing to him in the Absolute division.
Buchecha proved AGAIN that he is the best pound for pound guy out there. He was incredibly dominant winning both his weight and the Absolute division. The Absolute final against Rodolfo Veira wasn't close at all.