Jiu-Jitsu number one Rodolfo Vieira in the mount / Photo: Raphael Nogueira/GRACIEMAG
This coming July, Rio de Janeiro will host the innovate Copa Pódio tournament featuring a middleweight grand prix, and GRACIEMAG readers and Jiu-Jitsu fans are the ones who determine what direction the tournament should take.
As far as the poll to determine Guetho/Atos rep Guto Campos’s opponent in the supermatch goes, the promoters announced that over 10,000 votes have come in, with the people’s choice alternating between Carlson Gracie’s Raphael Abi-Rihan(Carlson Gracie) and GFTeam’s Wancler Oliveira.
Voting ends March 15, and to get your pick counted all you have to do is “like” the event’s Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/copapodio.gpmedios, click on “perguntas” and then click the athlete of your choice.
Should the difference between competitors be 5% come the 15th, the organizers will announce a match between the two to determine who faces Guto in the super challenge.
Results so far:
1st – Raphael Abi-Rihan (Carlson Gracie/Abi-Rihan JJ)
2nd – Wancler Oliveira (GFTeam)
3rd – André Bastos (Nova União)
4th – Rômulo Barral (Gracie Barra BH)
5th – Rafael Formiga (Soul Fighters)
6th – Lucas Leite (CheckMat)
7th – Murilo Santana (Barbosa JJ/Cícero Costha)
JIU-JITSU GP WITH RODOLFO IN DECEMBER
The organizers also announced that Copa Pódio de Jiu-Jitsu will keep its promise to with each month announce one more athlete for the December Heavyweight Grand Prix lineup.
“The December event will again take place in Rio de Janeiro, to cap off the innovative initiative of mixing a layout similar to MMA events with the soccer competition format, which we started in 2011 with the Lightweight Grand Prix,” remarks Jeferson Maycá.
In February, the organizers announced Rodolfo Vieira of GFTeam would be on the list. The heavyweight confirmed this month is Ricardo “Demente” Abreu. Each month another athlete will be added to the list, until rounding out all ten competitors on the card.
“Dementes is a great athlete. He’s a finisher and his style in perfectly in line with our idea of shomanship,” says Jeferson Maycá. “We started another poll on Facebook for the public to let us know which heavyweights they want to see, as well. All the names are being reviewed, taking into account style, as well as the fact that there can only be one athlete per academy, which is one of the main characteristics of Copa Pódio, he concludes.
To find out more and suggest names for the heayvweight GP, click here.
