Ricardo ‘Pezao’ de Oliveira vs. Patrick DeCaro. Photo: StefanoPicchio
The big names of the IBJJF’s first event in Switzerland were, appropriately enough, Swiss locals themselves. Thomas Oyarzun and Karim Khalifa, training partners at Alliance Geneva, not only took gold in the middleweight and super heavyweight divisions respectively but also closed out the open weight division.
In his own division, Karim defeated Marcio Da Silva by armbar in under a minute to take his first title of the day, whilst Thomas finished Francisco Ramos by triangle choke after a controlling performance in an active match.
When it came to the absolute, Karim faced another Swiss local in the form of Patrick DeCaro. Unfortunately an accidental knee reap off the first attack of the match led to a disqualification that ended a potentially entertaining match before they could really get started.
Thomas ended up facing his training partner’s divisional opponent Marcio Da Silva in his own absolute match, and despite the size disadvantage and his opponent’s pressure he managed to secure an armbar from the guard to take his place in the final opposite his friend and training partner. Karim took the top spot on the podium and Thomas took the gold medal home as they shared the victory between them.
Alliance Geneva head instructor, Ricardo ‘Pezao’ de Oliveira was not content to allow his students to take all the glory this time out though. Adding to their already impressive performance he took home another title for his academy in the medium heavyweight division. The division was initially a four man affair, but a last minute drop out gave Switzerland’s Patrick DeCaro the first slot in the final. On the other side of the bracket, ‘Pezao’ defeated France’s Julien Cazier by points to set up the final. Ricardo then defeated Patrick by a guard pass to take the medium heavyweight title and add to the Alliance medal haul in Zurich.
In the remaining black belt division, Roger Gracie student Oliver Geddes took the top spot on the podium in the lightweight division, defeating France’s Douglas Barcelos in the semi-final by Ezekiel choke and Zurich native and crowd favorite Felipe Broa in the final by kneebar. Felipe, head instructor of Carlson Gracie Zurich, had overcome Belgium’s Wim Deputter by referee’s decision after a thrilling match that came down to the last minute to reach the final.
For full results, click here.
For a photo album, click here.
