Guto Campos on top of Tio Chico at the first Copa Pódio event, last December / Photo: Ivan Trindade
The best-placed teams from the maiden Copa Pódio tournament have sent in the names of the athletes they’ve picked to represent them against team Guetho of Porto Alegre, Brazil, the winning academy from the inaugural Copa Pódio GP, last December in the Southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Representing Gracie Barra of Belo Horizonte, Rômulo Barral was the team’s first pick. For Soul Fighters of Rio de Janeiro, Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa enters the running, while Barbosa JJ doubled up with Cícero Costha team and sent in the name Murilo Santana. The three gi-wearing wizards will battle for public opinion to find out who will face Guto Campos in the supermatch at the July Copa Pódio event in Rio. The showdown will take place just before the middleweight GP final, the main event for the sophomore installment of the tournament.
EVEN MATCH, GREAT JIU-JITSU IN 2011
“We’ll be at the Abu Dhabi WPJJ tryouts in Rio de Janeiro, with our eyes on the middleweight contest and working things out with the other academies that will be participating in the GP. As soon as we’ve settled on all the schools that will be in it, we’ll start the poll over the internet,” announced Jeferson Maycá, the organizer of the circuit.
At the maiden Cop Pódio event, Guto overcame Augusto “Tio Chico”, training partner to Barral, by a score of 10 to 0. Guto (with the shaved head) and Barral themselves faced off in 2011, as you’ll remember by watching the following video.
So far the athletes and academies confirmed for the middleweight GP are as follows:
Cícero Costha/Barbosa JJ – Leandro Lo and Murilo Santana
Gracie Barra (GBBH) – Rômulo Barral and Felipe Pena
Soul Fighters – Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa and Diogo “Moreno” Araújo
Guetho/Atos – Guto Campos
Who else do you want to see competing in the middleweight GP, dear reader? Make sure to voice your opinion in the comments section below.
