Lo bravely resists a leg lock to win. Dionathan Santos
Last weekend saw a clash of titans on the mat at the Curitiba Fall Open. Vying for absolute gold and the points to secure the No. 1 spot in the IBJJF ranking, Leandro Lo and Erberth Santos faced off once more.
With attacks flying from both sides in a scrambled fight, Leandro Lo managed to sweep to win, but saw himself in danger when Erberth locked a tight leg lock in place. Leandro stood his ground, got free and made sure he wouldn’t get swept back.
Graciemag caught up with Lo this Monday. “The last fight was war,” he said. “I swept — it was okay until then. But then I attempted the foot lock, and he countered with the leg lock. He was going to come up and score two, which is why I yielded the leg lock again, and things got complicated. It hurts, of course, but nothing too bad. I haven’t trained since — I’m resting, — but I think tomorrow I’ll be already back training with a focus on the Worlds.”
About the season-long race with Santos, he said: “I was very happy with the top spot in the ranking. I didn’t even know it was possible to do it. After my victory at the Brazilian Nationals, my sponsor told me that, if I fought the following opens, I could score the points to secure first place. So I did, and it all worked out.”
