The champion Leandro Lo (in white) against Lucas Lepri in the 2012 lightweight World Championship final Photo by John Lamonica/GRACIEMAG
This coming Saturday, December 8, the IBJJF will be treating fans to a tournament they’ve been promising since back in March–one competitors have been dreaming of since way back. With the maiden IBJJ Pro League event, Jiu-Jitsu finally has a system ranking the best black belts in the world, and a tournament paying out cash prizes to the gentle-art’s top warriors.
So, who will turn out to be the best of the best come season’s end? Which will be the best match of the event?
Running alongside the Pro League at the same pyramid-shaped gymnasium, the Long Beach Fall Open will kick off at 9 AM. The IBJJ Pro League will begin at 3 PM. The interesting part is that the final berths in the League will only be filled once the Long Beach Fall Open is done.
Check out who will be competing in the inaugural IBJJ Pro League:
Under-64 kg – Caio Terra, Koji Shibamoto, Laercio Fernandes, Daniel Beleza, Rafael Freitas;
Three remaining openings: one athlete to be confirmed by the IBJJF; winner of the Long Beach Open black belt roosterweight division; black belt winner of the Long Beach Open light featherweight division.
Under-76 kg – Leandro Lo, Lucas Lepri, Samir Chantre, Augusto Tanquinho, Osvaldo Moizinho, Oliver Geddes;
Two remaining openings: Long Beach Open black belt-featherweight winner; Long Beach Open black belt-lightweight winner.
Under-88.3 kg – Otavio Sousa, Romulo Barral, Rafael Monteiro, Bruno Augusto, Vitor Oliveira, André Galvão;
Two remaining openings: Long Beach Open black belt-middleweight winner; Long Beach Open black belt-medium heavyweight winner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooX812QlWqM
Over-88.3kg – Gustavo Pires, Bruno Bastos, Ricardo Evangelista, Roberto Tussa, Stephen Hall;
Three remaining openings: one athlete to be confirmed by the IBJJF; winner of the Long Beach Open black belt heavyweight division; black belt winner of the Long Beach Open light superheavyweight division; black belt winner of the Long Beach Open light ultraheavyweight division
So who’ve you got putting on the best match of the IBJJ Pro League? Who’ve you got winning the whole shebang? Comment below.
