Felipe “Preguiça” Pena with the belt. Marcelo Dunlop
An evening of great jiu-jitsu went down with BJJ Stars’s Black Belt edition being held this Saturday, Feb. 23 at the Hebraica gymnasium in São Paulo. Both idols of the new generation and names already in the history books were present.
However, aside from the remarkable losses of Marcus Buchecha to João Gabriel Rocha and of Leandro Lo to Nicholas Meregali, the talk of the town was the main event. Felipe Preguiça and Erberth Santos began the match with a thick air of tension around them, and after an injury took place, Erberth went to confront a member of the audience and caused generalized turmoil among the spectators. In the end, Preguiça was deemed the tourney’s champion.
“All I can say is it was disgraceful,” said Fepa Lopes, who didn’t rule out taking legal action.
But, back to BJJ, here are some plays and the complete results:
Felipe Preguiça vs. Erberth Santos
Just past the 3-minute mark, Erberth felt his knee act up, and before being treated by the doctor, he ran to the audience, and a big commotion ensued. By the end, Felipe had been declared champion.
João Gabriel Rocha vs. Marcus Buchecha
In an eventful, fun match, João Gabriel Rocha earned one advantage as he tried to take Buchecha’s back and opened a lead of three advantages to zero — enough to win the superfight.
Nicholas Meregali vs. Leandro Lo
Nicholas and Leandro got the crowd going crazy in the second-to-last superfight from this edition of BJJ Stars. Six minutes in, Lo attempted a lob sweep, but Nicholas landed on his feet, causing the gymnasium to roar. With 30 seconds to go, the fight was tied, and then Meregali slid to Lo’s back, spread the chicken and went for the collar choke. Lo squirmed to escape, but the win belonged to the young talent from Alliance: 4-0. A BJJ spectacle.
Roberto Godoi vs. Renato Babalu
The crowd went crazy here too, in the six-minute match of legends, especially when Godoi swept to win by 2-0. Before the duel, organizer Fepa Lopes confirmed that this isn’t it for the promotion: BJJ Stars is set to take place October 2 in Manaus. And the first fight was announced: Saulo Ribeiro vs. Godoi.
Marco Barbosa vs. Wellington Megaton
Before his sizeable, enthusiastic mass of supporters, Barbosinha fought Megaton standing and on the ground for ten minutes, winning by 2-0 (penalties).
Isaque Bahiense vs. DJ Jackson
Isaque Bahiense beat DJ Jackson by decision and received his trophy from Bruno Malfacine.
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Patrick Gaudio vs. Tim Spriggs
After some exciting back-and-forth at the start (when Spriggs almost mounted), Patrick Gaudio went on turbo mode, passed guard, got the back and ran the score up to 14-2. “With my daughter here, there was no way I was gonna lose,” said the GFTeam fighter, adding, “I’d like to ask the organizers for a fight with Erberth Santos next time.”
Delson Pé de Chumbo vs. Fernando Tererê
Pé de Chumbo put pressure on Tererê’s open guard, passed it at the three-minute mark, and finished on the neck from side control at four minutes. “I still feel like a kid,” he assured us.
Gabriel Rollo vs. Celsinho Venicius
Rollo managed a comeback win by three advantages to Celsinho’s two.
Bianca Basílio vs. Michelle Nicolini
Bia fell mounted on Nicolini five minutes in (7-0) and went to try to squeeze a kata-gatame. Nicolini did her best, defending well and reversing the position, but Bia kept her cool and her guard well protected. At the end of ten minutes, 9-2 on the board.
Ricardo Pingo vs. Carlos Eduardo
The first superfight saw Ricardo Pingo finish Carlos Eduardo via armbar at 7’43” after attempting a triangle and changing to an omoplata.
Super 8 GP
The first BJJ Stars belt went to Luis Marques, who beat Jurandir Conceição by one advantage by passing in the last seconds. After coming down from the platform, he sat away from the cameras and got emotional. “I hurt my shoulder and foot soon before the event and feared I wasn’t gonna be able to fight,” said Luis, who also beat Diogo Almeida in the quarterfinal stage and Paulo Procópio — whom he choked after scoring 28 points to zero — in the semifinal stage.
