The black belt open class finalists have been defined.
In the male division, once again Marcus Buchecha will fight to keep the belt and pocket the $30,000.
Buchecha had only three fights to get to the final.
First he caught Herico Pinto with a guillotine and then he caught Erberth Santos with a foot lock.
Buchecha didn’t have to fight the quarterfinal, once his opponent would be his former Professor Rodrigo Cavaca.
Buchecha vs. Lo at the 2015 WPJJC black belt open class semifinal
The semifinal would be against dangerous Leandro Lo.
As expected, Buchecha stayed on top and tried to pass, but Lo played his guard with the same expertise he always does.
A sweep with over a minute and a half to go put Lo ahead, but Buchecha returned the favor and made the score 2-2.
One advantage for a near pass gave Buchecha the lead and the ticket to fight for $30,000.
On the other side of the bracket, Alex Trans had four very tough matches to make it to the final.
In the eight finals, he beat Thiago Gaia to move on to the quarterfinals and face Jackson Sousa.
A quick foot lock put Trans in the semifinal, where he would face Keenan Cornelius.
Trans vs. Keenan at the 2015 WPJJC black belt open class semifinal
The Dane was not afraid of Keenan’s guard game and swept the American early to stay ahead.
In the female division, Mackenzie Dern had a dream-like morning.
In three matches, she made to the final with two foot locks and one historical victory by one penalty.
The first two victims were Nadia Melo and Jessica Cristina.
The semifinal would be against recent rival Gabi Garcia, widely favorite for the win and the title.
Mackenzie vs. Gabi at the 2015 WPJJC black belt open class semifinal
The fight was even all the way through with Gabi working on top and Mackenzie using her dangerous guard to sweep.
At least once, Dern was able to break Gabi’s balance, but got no advantage from that.
Garcia reached the half guard more than once and even hold Mackenzie’s head from behind, but also could not convince the referee to award her advantages.
In the end, one penalty decided the match in favor of Mackenzie.
On the other side of the bracket, Vanessa Oliveira also had a tough way to the final.
First she defeated Andressa Correa and then Amal Amahajid.
Vanessa vs. Bia at the 2015 WPJJC black belt open class semifinal
The semifinal was against Bia Mesquita and one sweep took care of business for the 2-0 win.
The finals will start at 3:00PM in Abu Dhabi.
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