Michael Langhi surprisingly playing on top in the Pan 2013. Photo: Ivan Trindade / GRACIEMAG
The dispute of the Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Pan warmed the week in Irvine, Calif. with high-level matches. On Sunday, the eight mat areas were like a red carpet for Michael Langhi (Alliance), who made his return to competition and did well. He got the gold medal in the lightweight closing the division with his teammate Lucas Lepri.
But, before the final, things weren’t easy for Michael, and he had to pass the semifinal against the tough Jonathan Torres, JT. After the fight, the pupil of Rubens ‘Cobrinha’ commented on the triumph with reporter Ivan Trindade:
“The fight against JT was very hard, but I managed to sweep and then submit with a choke from the back,” he recalled.
Langhi was out of the Pan and the Worlds last year because of a setback in his visa to the U.S. Rubens ‘Cobrinha’s student talked about the feeling of winning again on the mats of California:
“The feeling is of being alive again. It is always a pleasure to have Lucas (Lepri) beside me as a fight companion, we feel stronger with each other. I spent one year without coming to the United States, but I’m back and I started the year very well, winning the European and the Pan. Surely there’s more to come,” said the Brazilian, who is confirmed in the Lightweight GP in Copa Pódio, on May 3 and then in the Worlds.
And he promises even more news:
“I have played more on top, wanting to pass the opponents’ guard more. I feel even more confident in any situation, very comfortable both on top as on bottom,” he explained.