Preguiça and Lo in match that stirred the pot of controversy on the internet Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com
At the last Copa Pódio Jiu-Jitsu tournament, held July 21 at Rio de Janeiro’s Hebraica Club, Leandro Lo was crowned number one yet again. The Cicero Costha black belt, who had already won the lightweight GP in December 2011, had a repeat performance in the middleweight contest. There was, however, one match that caused something of an uproar—the one between Leandro Lo and Felipe Preguiça that ended in a draw.
There was plenty of buzz over the internet questioning the referee’s choice of not awarding Preguiça for what some felt was a takedown. Had the points been scored, the Minas Gerais State native would have won the match. “The guys on the internet are wrong: that wasn’t a takedown; it was a sweep defense. That is, all Preguiça did was put Leandro Lo back in the original position. It’s a complicated subject, but the vast majority of web users aren’t familiar with CBJJ rules, so they just say whatever comes to mind,” said Muzio de Angelis, the refereeing coordinator for the tournament.
Regardless, a rematch has already been scheduled: it will be one of the supermatches at the event coming up December in Rio de Janeiro featuring the heavyweight GP. “Lo is an athlete who deserves certain privileges within the promotion, and just as he asked to compete in the middleweight GP, now he’s asking for a supermatch with Preguiça. You just can’t turn down a request like that,” quipped Jeferson Maycá, the chief organizer of the competition.
“The rule change whereby only submissions counted in the first five minutes only worked in the supermatch between Guto Campos and Raphael Abi-Rihan. In most of the other matches, the athletes toned down their performances until points began to count,” stated Maycá. “That being the case, now all the regulation duration for all the heavyweight GP matches will be six minutes except for the supermatches, which will be for the traditional 10 minutes,” he added.
The second and main supermatch will have Southern Brazil’s Guto Campos defending his title for a third time, against a yet-to-be-named opponent.
Stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com for further news.
