Felipe Preguiça vs. Xande Ribeiro. Photo: Ivan Trindade/Gentle Art Media
With over 400 athletes registered, the second leg of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour, an UAEJJF event, took place this Sunday, October 23, at the Big Turtle Fukaya Arena, in the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan. As seen in the first leg in Los Angeles, USA, the Japanese stage of the tour was the setting for some of Jiu-Jitsu’s biggest names to display their technique in the battles for their share of over $100,000 in prizes.
From the white belt juvenile to the black belt master 2 division, the love for the gentle art and the desire to win were constant presences on each one of the seven mats set up in the arena. As usual, the adult black belt division for men and the adult brown/black belt division for women were the ones with most well-known names. Here is how each weight class played out this Sunday, in Japan.
Black belt (Male)
62kg – Japanese countrymen Tomoyuki Hashimoto, Kazuchiro Miyachi and Kei Ito fought for the title. Miyachi beat Ito in the only semifinal and went on to face Hashimoto in the final. One sweep in favor of Hashimoto was enough to settle the deal and earn him the gold medal.
Thiago Bravo. Photo: Ivan Trindade/Gentle Art Media
69kg – Thiago Bravo fought twice to secure the title in the weight class. First he beat Yuto Hirao and then met Daisuke Shiraki in the final, which ended in a tie. A split decision by the referees (2-1) decided matters in favor of Bravo and earned him the gold medal.
Roberto Satoshi. Photo: Ivan Trindade/Gentle Art Media
77kg – Roberto Satoshi also fought twice to win the gold medal. He first finished Anderson Takahashi and then caught Robson Tanno with an arm triangle in the final.
Gabriel Arges vs. Faisal Al Ktibe. Photo: Ivan Trindade/Gentle Art Media
85kg – Faisal Al Kitbe beat Akihiro Kawakami 2-0 with a takedown to make it to the final. On the other side, Gabriel Arges outscored 2-1 on advantages after a 2-2 tie on points a tough opponent in South Korea’s Youngam No. In the final, a back-take by Arges near the end of the match put him 4 points ahead of Kitbe to secure his second gold medal in the Grand Slam this season.
Xande Ribeiro vs. Felipe Preguiça. Photo: Ivan Trindade/Gentle Art Media
94kg – Most probably the most anticipated division of the day, the 94kg weight class had Xande Ribeiro and Felipe Pena as clear favorites for the final. They did not disappoint and brilliantly made their way to the gold medal match. Xande finished Alexandre Ogawa with a choke from the back and then caught Bruno Kikuchi with a triangle. Pena had only one match and choked Alan Fidelis from the back.
In the final, one sweep made the difference. Pena swept first, but Xande fought back and tied 2-2. After a stoppage, Pena pulled guard and managed another sweep, going ahead 4-2. Xande still had time to tie again and went for a hail Mary sweep, but Pena fought bravely and allowed only an advantage, securing the gold medal.
José Junior. Photo: Ivan Trindade/Gentle Art Media
110kg – The big guys also delivered. This time, José Junior earned his gold medal after finishing second in LA. He swept Andre Campos early in the final match and was able to secure the lead for the remainder of the six minutes to win the division.
Brown/Black (Female)
55kg – Playing the home crowd, Japan’s Rikako Yuasa was on fire. First she stretched the arm of China’s Yuxing Xiong and then outscored her countrywoman Mei Yamaguchi 16-0 to win the title.
Mackenzie Dern. Photo: Ivan Trindade/Gentle Art Media
70kg – A fan favorite, Mackenzie Dern fought twice this Sunday, both times against Australia’s Meagan Green. First Mackenzie beat Green in the semifinal with a leg lock. After Meagan beat Brazil’s Isabeli Souza 1-0 on advantages in the round robin, they met again in the final. Mackenzie once again used the leg lock to finish her opponent and this time secure the gold medal.
In the teams’ competition, the podium was: 1st) Axis Jiu-Jitsu – 8740pts; 2nd) Infight Japan – 4200pts; 3rd) Impacto Japan BJJ – 2520pts. Get the full results here.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour returns in less than a month with the third leg in beautiful Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 12–13. Once again, prizes add up to more than $100,000 to be shared by the champions of each weight class. All Grand Slam events are open to athletes of all nationalities. The registration period for the Rio event closes on November 7.
