Rodolfo durante vitória em cima de Bráulio Estima em Abu Dhabi, em 2009. Foto: Ivan Trindade
A riveting match with Marcus Vinicius “Bochecha” unfolded this Saturday at the 2012 World Championship in Long Beach. It was the first points loss ever incurred by Rodolfo in the gi at an official event as a black belt.
After witnessing a historic 8-7 outcome in the absolute quarterfinals, one of the finest matches of the event, with a last-ditch double-leg from Bochecha raising the roof at the Long Beach Pyramid, a lot of people were left scratching their heads trying to remember the last time Rodolfo had lost. After all, ever since he was a brown belt the steamroller from GFTeam has been collecting achievements, and as a black belt, very seldom defeats.
As a black belt, Rodolfo Vieira lost for the first time in the quarterfinals of the 2009 World Championship, coming up short on advantage points to Alexandre Souza in the heavyweight division. That Sunday would mark the last time Rodolfo lost a 10-minute match in the gi.
Refresh your memory of the match by clicking here.
On March 14, 2010, Rodolfo would again leave the mat forlorn, this time at the Abu Dhabi WPJJC tryouts in Gramado. When the six-minute regulation time was up, the Rio de Janeiro native had fewer advantage points than did Alexandre Ceconi, and failed to qualify at the event.
Having lost to Ceconi, Rodolfo went on to try his luck at the tryouts in Rio de Janeiro, where by coincidence he met Alexandre Souza in the final – after beating Léo Nogueira and Braga Neto… After a 0-0 draw, the judges opted to hand it to Rodolfo, thus getting even for his 2009 loss.
