Liborio celebrates his victory!
Day 1 of the 2015 ADCC went smoothly but filled with thrills.
Most favorites in each division made their way to the semifinals, which will be played this Sunday.
Here’s how each divsion played out.
Male
-66kg: Rubens Cobrinha strated his campaign with a choke from the back on Tezeekbev Rasull and then had to face teammate Gianni Grippo, who had defeated Gabriel Marangoni in her first match. It was one of the most trilling matches of the day, with Cobrinha playing on top and Grippo working his guard. In the end, Cobra was able to pass the guard to win 3-0. Cobra’s opponent in the semifinal will be Augusto Tanquinho, who beat Nicolas Reiner and then resisted Ed Cummings dangerous heel hook game to win by one penalty. On the other side of the bracket, Bruno Frazatto made it to the semifinals after two tough matches against Mark Ramos and Renan Sancar. He’ll face Geovanny Martinez, who defeated Alexandre Vieira and Jeff Glover. Here’s a photo gallery of the division.
-77kg: Otavio Sousa started out hot with a last second choke on a fierce AJ Agazarm, who was ahead on the socre board. Then Otavio battled with Vagner Rocha for te minutes to win via refs decision and be in the semifinals. His opponent will be Lucas Lepri, who beat Gamrot Mateusz and then outscored Garry Tonon 10-0. On the other side of the bracket, Davi Ramos beat Young Noh and Gabriel Rollo to meet Gilbert Burns, sho beat Lachlan Gilles and A. Magomed. Here’s a photo gallery of the division.
-88kg: Romulo Barral submitted both his opponents on his way to the semifinal. First Craig Jones and then a kimura on Neiman Gracie. Barral will face Yuri Simões, who beat Ricardo Mesquita and then the alternate fighter that replaced Pablo Popovitch. On the other side of the bracket, Keenan Cornelius took the back of Jesse Urholin and then beat Claudio Calasans Jr by points to be in the semifinal. He’ll face Rustam Chsiev, who beat Matthew Arroyo and Rafael Lovato Jr. Here’s a photo gallery of the division.
-99kg: Rodolfo Vieira also submitted both his opponents on his way to Sunday. First he choked Adam Sachnoff with a katagatami and then choked Cassio Francis from the back. Vieira will face Xande Vieira, who finished Yukiyasu Ozawa with a choke and then beat Hector Lombard by points. On the other side, Felipe Pena beat Roberto Alencar 3-0 and then caught Jimmy Friedrich with a inverted triangle. Pena will face reigning champion João Assis, who beat T. Narkun and then finished Kamil Uminski with a leg lock. Here’s a photo gallery of the division. 
+99kg: Orlando Sanchez made it to the semifinal with a win over Jenna Pekka and then another one on points over Dean Lister. His opponent will be Vinny Pezão, who finished Paul Ardilla with a heel hook and then Rodrigo Artilheiro with a neck crank. On the other side of the bracket, Jared Dopp beat Gabriel Lucas and then Rodrigo Cavaca to make it to the semifinal. His opponent will be João Gabriel, who outscored Jason Lees 17-0 and then beat Abraham Marte in the quarterfinal.Here’s a photo gallery of the division.
Female -60kg: Michelle Nicolini beat Rikako Yuasa and Tammi Musumeci beat Ana Michelle Tavares to meet in one semifinal. Mackenzie Dern finished Kethe Engen to meet Beatriz Mesquita in the other semifinal. +60kg: Gabi Garcia finished Alison Tremblay with an armlock to meet Jessica Oliveira, who beat Marysia Malijasiak. Ana Laura Cordeiro beat Sophia Nordeno to meet Amanda Santana, who beat Fernanda Mazzelli. Here’s a photo gallery of the division.
Superfight
Ricardo Liborio and Zé Mário Sperry closed out the day with 20 minutes of a classic match. They stayed standing for the whole time, attempting wrestling takedowns. After two overtimes, the referees decided to award the victory to Liborio, beaking Zé Mário’s winning streak since 2011, when he defeated Renzo Gracie, and then 2013, when he defeated Fabio Gurgel. Here’s a photo gallery of the superfight.
The 2105 ADCC returns this Sunday, with the semifinals, finals, the open class and the superfight between Andre Galvão and Roberto Cyborg. Here’s the schedule for this Sunday.
07:00 – GATES OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
8:00 – 09:30 – WEIGH-INS FOR SEMI FINALISTS ONLY
09:30 -STARTING OF EVENT (SEMI FANIALS AND FINALS)
TROPIES OF 1ST, 2ND AND 3RD PLACE WILL BE AWARDED TO THE WINNERS OF ALL WEIGHT CLASSES AS SOON AS THEY WIN
ABSOLUTE WEIGHT CLASS COMPETITION(WILL START 30 MINS AFTER ALL FIGHTS ARE COMPLETED)
SUPER FIGHT – Andre Galvao VS. Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu
FINAL OF THE ABSOLUTE
CLOSING CEREMONY
Follow the complete coverage at GRACIEMAG’s Instagram account.
Coverage brought to you by fujisportsus.com