After Rodolfo Vieira, Felipe Preguiça and Leandro Lo, a new Copa Podio GP champion has been crowned.
It all happened Saturday the 18th. Isaque Bahiense of Alliance bested his adversaries in the groups stage and, after a tough final with brown-belt Espen Mathiesen, had won the GP’s fifth installment.
After winning every match in the groups stage — including a submission of world champion Celso Venicius, — the recently graduated black-belt went into the semifinals looking like a favorite. He beat Copa Podio veteran Diego Borges and headed to the final opposite Mathiesen of Nova União Norway. In a thrilling fight, Bahiense managed to pull ahead by two points.
Also of note was Felipe Trovo’s victory in the brown-belt challenge, achieved when he passed Philipe Pomaski’s guard in a sudden-death scenario, and Renata Marinho’s win over Raquel Pa’aluhi in the women’s three-round challenge. After a hard gi round led by Raquel, Renata came back determined for the no-gi round and sank a leg lock just 45 seconds in.
Lightweight GP
Groups stage
Diego Borges def. Hugo Marques on advantages
Espen Mathiesen def. Renato Canuto by one advantage
Delson Pé de Chumbo and Celsinho Venicius drew
Isaque Bahiense def. Caio Almeida on points
Espen Mathiesen def. Hugo Marques on advantages
Paquito Ramalho and Diego Borges drew
Isaque Bahiense def. Celsinho Venicius via guillotine
Delson Pé de Chumbo and Weelington Alemão drew
Espen Mathiesen def. Diego Borges
Paquito Ramalho and Renato Canuto drew
Isaque Bahiense def. Delson Pe de Chumbo on advantages
Wellington Alemão def. Caio Almeida on points
Diego Borges def. Renato Canuto on points
Paquito Ramalho def. Hugo Marques on advantages
Delson Pé de Chumbo def. Caio Almeida via choke
Celsinho Venicius def. Wellington Alemão on points
Espen Mathiesen and Paquito Ramalho drew
Hugo Marques def. Renato Canuto on advantages
Isaque Bahiense def. Wellington Alemão
Semifinals
Espen Mathiesen def. Delson Pé de Chumbo
Isaque Bahiense def. Diego Borges on points
3rd place match
Diego Borges def. Delson Pé de Chumbo
Final
Isaque Bahiense def. Espen Mathiesen
No-gi challenge
Dany Gerard def. Joaquim Mamute by DQ
Brown belt superfight
Felipe Trovo def. Philipe Pomaski via sudden death
3-round challenge
Renata Marinho def. Raquel Pa’aluhi via leg lock in R2