Renato Cardoso sports his gold medals from the gi and no-gi heavyweight divisions.
Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice — or does it? In the case of Renato Cardoso, a particular lightning-fast submission from his arsenal shone in two Vitória Open finals last weekend.
The first strike came on Saturday as he fought João Oliveira for the title in the gi heavyweight division. After employing a nice-looking sweep, Renato saw his opponent’s foot unattended and ferociously attacked it with an Estima lock — a sort of rear naked choke on the ankle that forces a very quick tap-out. His first gold medal secured, Renato came back roaring for the no-gi matches of day two.
In the no-gi heavyweight division, Renato against climbed his way to the final, again finding João Oliveira. This time Renato got on top after avoiding a good takedown shot by João, and again the finish came through Estima lock. On the same day, Renato also rose to the podium of the no-gi absolute, closing it out for Alliance with his teammate Fabio Caloi.
Watch, below, both of Renato’s finals.
