Flavio Almeida likes to joke around that he is not a kid anymore.
Even so, the heavyweight from Gracie Barra feared no younger adversary this Saturday, at the 2013 Chicago Summer International Open.
Without an opponent to compete against in his division, Cachorrinho saved his energies for the adult black belt open class.
At 33 years old, Almeida went full throttle in the three fights he had in the absolute.
First he choked Oliver Geddes from the back, then he choked Leo Iturralde from the mount.
The big final would be against 27-year-old Vitor Oliveira (GF Team), who had only one match before the final, when he outscored Francisco Iturralde 7-2.
The gold medal match was an intense one where Almeida got hurt in the begining, when a takedown attempt by Vitor left Flavio rolling in pain on the mat with a twisted knee.
Recovered, Almeida invested in counterattacks to Oliveira’s takedowns.
With that he scored his first two points and then the other two, with a sweep.
Vitor got two to set the final score, 4-2.
After the final whistle, Flavio talked about the win: “I trained really hard and I didn’t want to give up on the gold medal. So I pressed on and went for it. It’s unbelievable. I think it was my first adult black belt open class title!”
Here are the other adult black belt champions of this Saturday:
BLACK / Adult / Male / Feather
First – Jefferson Luiz da Cruz Cordeiro – NBJJ
BLACK / Adult / Male / Light
First – Francisco Antonio Iturralde Lara – Alliance
Second – Philipe Cançado Della Monica – Gracie Barra
Third – Bricklin J. Welch – Team Redzovic
BLACK / Adult / Male / Middle
First – Vitor Henrique Silva Oliveira – GF Team
Second – Carlos Frederico Rodriguez – Carlson Gracie Team
Third – Oliver Leys Geddes – Roger Gracie Academy
BLACK / Adult / Male / Medium Heavy
First – Ezra Zendt Lenon – American Top Team
Second – Leonardo I. Iturralde Aguirre – Alliance
BLACK / Adult / Male / Heavy
First – Flavio Alves de Almeida – Gracie Barra
BLACK / Adult / Male / Ultra Heavy
First – Leonardo Henrique D’avila Corrêa – Atos Jiu-Jitsu
Second – Idriz Redzovic – Team Redzovic
Third – Richard Dustin Ware – SAS Team USA
For the full results, go to ibjjf.com
For amazing images and the latest info, go to our live coverage at our Google+ page.
The 2013 Chicago Summer Open comes back this Sunday, with the No-Gi competition.
