Hugo Marques after winning the under-76kg final. Spyder Invitational
To kick off its 2018 season, last Saturday the Spyder Invitational BJJ Championship held a tournament in Seoul, South Korea. The tournament was a qualifier for the main show, which will take place in July.
In the over-76kg division, Kaynã Duarte was the big winner. The Atos fighter placed first, followed by Vinícius Ferreira (Alliance) and Victor Hugo (Ribeiro JJ).
In the under-76kg division, black-belt Hugo Marques represented Soul Fighters in style to take first place. Due to Spyder’s unique set of rules, which pits athletes of different ranks against each other, purple-belt Victor Nithael took second, showing that he is another one of Rodrigo Feijão’s students at Nova União to watch. The third-place finisher was Atos brown-belt Jonnathas Gracie.
With these six athletes, the two brackets for the July event are now complete. The qualifiers will be joining last year’s champions, as well as the invitees. Here’s how the divisions look:
Under 76kg
Shane Hill Taylor (Team Lloyd Irvin)
Wanki Chae (Beast Gym)
Paulo Miyao (Unity Jiu-Jitsu)
Hugo Marques (Soul Fighters)
Victor Nithael (Nova Uniao)
Jonnatas Gracie (Atos Jiu-Jitsu)
Over 76kg
Matheus Godoy (Alliance)
Rudson Mateus (Caio Terra Academy)
Keenan Cornelius (Atos Jiu-Jitsu)
Kaynan Duarte (AtosS Jiu-Jitsu)
Vinicius Ferreira (Alliance)
Victor Hugo (Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu)
Check back with Graciemag for coverage of the Spyder Intivational, and click the video below to watch the qualifier matches.
