The Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship, which ended this past weekend in Rio de Janeiro, featured some true warriors. Even before the finals, there was no lack of hotly-disputed matches on the mats of the Tijuca Tennis Club.
At featherweight, Bruno Malfacine (Alliance) plowed through his adversaries before managing three guard passes in the final against Felipe Costa (Brasa). Now Guilherme Mendes (Atos) submitted his first opponent with a triangle and defeated Bernardo Pitel with a guard pass and back mount to go on and beat Gabriel Moraes (Monteiro) in the light featherweight decider, where he got the back mount yet again.
At featherweight, champion Rafael Mendes (Atos) had a total of four matches. Before the final against Cobrinha, he finished his first one with a choke from behind, his second with an armbar and beat Theodoro Canal by 6 to 2. At lightweight, Gilbert Durinho (Atos) didn’t have it easy. Of the five matches he was in, he had to make it past hard-nosed competitors like Helder “Sponge Bob”, who he finished with a reverse omoplata hold, and Augusto Tanquinho in the semifinal by 3 to 1 in advantage points. In the final he faced Jonathan Torres (Lloyd Irvin) and, with the score tied at 2 to 2, he eked out the win by 3 to 1 in advantage points.
The party in the middleweight division was left to Barbosa’s duo Tiago Alves and Murilo Santana. Alves had four matches and defeated CheckMat’s Luis Gustavo “Guga” in the semifinal. Now Murilo had three matches. In the semifinal, he submitted the game Victor Bonfim (Gordo). In the medium heavyweight, not even the tooth he cracked in the absolute division the day before could hinder Tarsis Humphreys. The Alliance athlete had a total of four matches. In the semifinal he submitted a tough Rodrigo Fajardo with a choke. At the other end of the bracket was Nivaldo de Oliveira (CheckMat), who left in his wake such stalwarts as Eduardo Telles. In the final, Tarsis got the takedown, swept and scored another two points from a penalty to win 6 to 4.
The heavyweight division was a rocky one. Both absolute finalists fell along the way. Bernardo Faria was overcome by Alexandro Ceconi (Rilion Gracie) with a guard pass. Now Rafael Lovato lost to Léo Nogueira (Alliance) in the decider, after a 2-to-2 draw. In the final, Ceconi got the takedown and guard pass to capture the gold. Thiago Gaia (Nova União) had been just barely striking out but, this year, he managed to get his gold at a Brazilian Nationals. He submitted Paulo Tarcísio in the decider with a choke from north-south position. Now Rodrigo Cavaca submitted all three of his opponents to make it to the top of the ultra heavyweight podium, even the game Igor Silva (Brasa) who came off a 13-to-2 triumph over Antonio Peinado. In the final, Cavaca caught him in a foot lock.
After his campaign on Saturday (see here), Bernardo Augusto got top position and passed Rafael Lovato’s guard to win the absolute yet again, just like he did at the Jiu-Jitsu Pan.
To see all the results, click here.
Check out the photo gallery from Sunday at the Brazilian Nationals below:
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