Leandro with his hand raised after beating Keenan Cornelius in the absolute semifinals. Blanca Marisa Garcia
After two intense days with the best colored-belt athletes in the world, the IBJJF World Championship welcome this Saturday its first dose of adult black-belt action, with the absolute brackets running for men and women.
Following lots of thrills, the finalists that will face off today were known. In the men’s absolute, Marcus Buchecha (Checkmat) and Leandro Lo (NS Brotherhood) will again fight for the title. And Bia Mesquita (Gracie Humaitá) will try to claim another title, whereas Bia Mesquita (Gracie Humaitá) will have a chance to win her first absolute.
To Leandro, the path to the final consisted of three fights, as he beat Gustavo Elias (Ribero JJ), submitted Luiz Panza (Checkmat) on the arm and then won a decision win over Keenan Cornelius (BJJ Globetrotters). To Buchecha, wins over Otávio Nalati and Felipe Preguiça, plus a walkover win against an injured Fellipe Andrew (Zenith), did the trick.
Bia had wins over Mel Cueto (Zenith JJ), Venla Lukkonenn (Hilti BJJ) and Ana Carolina Vieira (GFTeam). Nathiely, meanwhile, had to get past Nicole Sullivan (Atos), Charlotte von Baumgarten (Alliance) and Izadora Cristina (Qatar BJJ).
Stay tuned today for coverage of the final day.
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