Andre Galvao versus Romulo Barral at the 2012 IBJJ Pro League, two middle-heavyweight legends. Photo: Erin Herle
The 16th reason for following the 2013 World Championship from May 29 – June 2 pertains to the underdogs. Watch the matches to see how the newer generation of black belts can take on the legends on the mats of the Long Beach Walter Pyramid.
Reason #16: Watch the black belt division filled with new and experienced to see who takes the top spot.
Every year we have newer black belts who enter the realm at the World Championships to test themselves against the best. It’s one thing to go against the best purple belts or the top level brown belts, but black belt has no limits. Whether you are a “solid” black belt or not, whether you’ve won at every other belt or not, whether you’ve never won a championship in all your years of training, you are entering a serious division and there is no easy route.
With that said, there is always a time for upsets to happen and there are always competitors who enter the black belt division as an underdog and do exceptionally well. When Rodolfo Vieira initially came into the spotlight, he was considered the black belt hunter for his outstanding performance in the World Pro beating top black belts to get the gold even before having the black belt around his own waist. And on the same token, when he came into the black belt division he was still stopped early on before the podium. But still, after only two years, he took the top spot against guys who have been winning in the division for years.
This year at the 2013 World Championship, the divisions are full with both fresh black belts and veterans. In the middleweight division, DJ Jackson will be fighting his first Mundials and facing some big names like Claudio Calasans, Clark Gracie, Lucas Leite, Otavio Souza the champion of 2012, and Marcelo Garcia who was the champion for three years in a row prior. While Marcelo may or not be present this year, we have all these names who have protected the podium year after year. DJ Jackson has made a quick ride to black belt but has won Worlds at both purple and brown including the 2012 No-Gi Worlds at black belt. Magid Hage can also do damage with his baseball choke in the middleweight division at his first black belt Mundials, as well.
In the middle-heavy division we could see Felipe Pena do well against such names as Andre Galvao, who has ruled that division before as well as Felipe’s coach, Romulo Barral. We have other big names and champions like Rafael Lovato, Jr., Sergio Moraes who won at 2012, Tarsis Humphries, Braulio Estima in the past and more. Felipe has done well winning the past two years at purple and brown in both weight and absolute.
At black belt it’s anyone’s game but it’s always a very cool sight to see the newer generation take on the legends. There is no such thing as taking a title because in Jiu-Jitsu, your titles are always yours, never replaced.
See who does well at the 2013 World Championship whether they’re seasoned or fresh by following our Google+ page for live coverage.
And if you’re a last minute procrastinator, you still have a chance to register yourself for the most prestigious championship in our sport by clicking here. It is the last day, ending at midnight PST.
