The third Desafio Black Belt (Black Belt Challenge) was to bring out the top gi fighters in Brazil. Our favorites, Frédson Paixão, Marcelo Garcia, Fernando Tererê, and Ronaldo Jacaré would be among those dueling. It was too much for Scotty and myself to resist a 6-hour bus ride to São Paulo. We arrived the night before, and spent a grueling hour trying to find a vacant hotel. Along for the ride were Josh Griffiths from New York, and Gabriel Kitober (Academia Oswaldo Alves), who won second place in the Mundials Absolute as a purple belt. The afternoon of the fights, we met up with multiple time Mundial Gold medallist, Frédson Paixão (Academia Oswaldo Alves) for lunch. Frédson was full of cheer and jokes, which was quite unexpected given he fighting that night. After lunch, we went to Frédson`s hotel room. Frédson commanded, "Justin, let`s go!" It was training time! I was ecstatic to get the chance to roll with one of the best fighters in jiu-jitsu. He kept a relaxed pace as I unsuccessfully tried passing his butterfly guard. It was impossible for me to keep his hips pinned to the ground. Frédson took me down and finished with a wristlock from side. I was relieved that Frédson applied the lock slowly; there are horror stories of Frédson`s wristlocks leaving people injured for days. After Frédson toyed with me for 10 more minutes, I had enough and told Scotty to jump in. Frédson was clearly playing with Scotty. Scotty made a good attempt at a front headlock. In response, Frédson turned on the heat like a pit bull. Within two minutes, Frédson had snapped 2 hard wristlocks on Scotty, the first one bending Scotty`s wrist inward, and the second hyper-extending it outward. "Frédson! Calma!" Scotty yelled. Scotty`s wrist was left hurting for a week. We arrived at the event at 8:30 PM, with enough time to setup and film. The organizer of the event greeted Scotty and I with press passes, allowing us to sit ringside to take photos. At 9:15 PM, the event kicked off with the women`s fight. LetÃcia Ribeiro (Gracie Humaitá) vs. Simone Ribeira (Godói Jiu-Jitsu) LetÃcia Ribeiro dominates, passing Simone`s guard to take side control several times. She accidentally hits Simone in the eyes, stopping the match temporarily. (15×0) Bibiano Fernandez (Clube Pina/Oswaldo Alves) vs. Matsumato (De La Riva) Bibiano recently won the Mundials in the Pluma division, putting him on top. At the beginning of the match, Bibiano almost takes side control, but instead goes for a quick arm lock. Matsumato defends. Bibiano goes from De La Riva guard to a double leg, scoring two points. Later, Bibiano scores another double leg from the De La Riva. (4×0) Frédson Paixão (Oswaldo Alves) vs. Reinaldo Ribeiro (Castello Branco) Neither fighter scores points. Paixão carries Ribeiro out of bounds once with a single leg. In a dramatic ending, times runs out with both fighters in simultaneous foot locks. (0x0,on advantage of 3×2) Leonardo Santos (Nova União) vs. Carlos Eduardo Vieira (Cia Paulista) Santos pulls off an incredible three butterfly sweeps against Vieira, and controls side once. He dominates the entire fight with ease. (9×0) Marcelo Garcia (Alliance) vs. Eduardo Santoro (Cia Paulista) Marcelo does his famous half-guard pass, takes side, and from side pulls off an awesome technique to take back while Santoro tries to turn into him. Santoro escapes into half-guard. Garcia proceeds to mount. Santoro escapes an arm lock attempt by Garcia, and ends up in Garcia`s half-guard. (11×0) Jorge Patino Macaco (Gold Team) vs. Roberto Godói (Godói Jiu-Jitsu) Macaco and Godói have a long time rivalry over a fall out while running an academy together. Godói pulls guard, and most of the match remains there. Several minutes in, they are on feet again. From guard, Godói almost gets Macaco`s back. The crowd, in anger, goes crazy and starts throwing bottles of water. A bullet is thrown and hits Josh in the back. Godói is unable to get both hooks in, and lands having Macaco in his half guard. Macaco almost passes, but times runs out, leaving the match even at 2 advantages for each opponent. In a controversial decision, judge Gürgel awards the match to Macaco. (0x0, on advantage of 2×2) Fernando Tererê (Master) vs. Fábio Nascimento (Lótus) Nascimento pulls guard. Nascimento stands with Tererê`s leg and pushes Tererê out of bounds. Tererê pulls guard, and goes for Nascimento`s back. A scramble ensues, and again they are out of bounds. Tererê takes down Nascimento for two points. Nascimento recovers to standing. Nascimento pulls half guard, stands with Tererê`s leg, but is unable to take Tererê down. Tererê pulls Nascimento into half guard, and sweeps for two points. (4×0) Fernando Paradeda (Brazilian Top Team) vs. Jefferson Moura (Gracie Barra) 2003 Copa Do Mundo winner against 2003 Mundial winner. Paradeda controls the pace and almost passes, but is unable to outdo Jefferson`s guard. Jefferson goes for several takedowns from butterfly guard, but is unsuccessful. At one point Jefferson almost gets the sweep, but Paradeda is back on his feet too quickly for points to be scored. (on advantage of 3×2) Luis Guillermo Guigo (Guigo Jiu-Jitsu) vs. Phillipe Lira (Gracie Pitbull) In the super heavyweight match up, Guigo trips Lira, obtains side control, and Lira is unable to get out. In the middle of the match, Lira gets cut in the face, and the match stops temporarily for the doctor to fix Lira`s cut. Guigo is absolutely enormous, and it`s surprising that Lira stayed in the match with all the pressure from side. (5×0) Alexandre Café (Gracie Barra) vs.
| Gabriel ‘Napao’ Gonzaga |
(Gold Team)
| Gabriel ‘Napao’ Gonzaga |
made a spectacular showing at the Copa Do Mundo, placing 2nd in the Absolute and in his weight as well. Café, who placed 3rd place Absolute at this year`s Mundials, walks into the ring dancing to 50 Cent as if he`s already in the club. Café scores an early 2 points with a takedown.
| Gabriel ‘Napao’ Gonzaga |
is unable to score points, and the match ends with Café ahead. (2×0) Gabriel Vella (Gracie SP) vs. Adriano Maciel (Godói Jiu-Jitsu) Vella, of Ryan Gracie`s academy, scores an early 2 points with takedown. Another 2 points are scored with a second takedown. Vella clearly dominates throughout the entire match. (4×0) Ronaldo Jacaré (Master) vs. Délson Pé-de-Chumbo (Gracie Pitbull) This was Jacaré`s first competitive fight as a black belt. Within the first 10 seconds, Jacaré throws Pé-de-Chumbo on his head, and then gets knee on belly, bringing the match to 4×0. Pé-de-Chumbo is resilient and escapes to his feet. Pé-de-Chumbo attempts a takedown. Jacaré reverses the takedown, landing in Pé-de-Chumbo`s half guard for 2 more points. (6×0) Final Thoughts The Desafio Black Belt gave us what we wanted, the best fighters pitted against each other. It`s held every 2-3 months in SÃ¥o Paulo, and if you`re in Brazil, it`s definitely worth the effort to see. The techniques I witnessed certainly improved my game, and are bound to improve yours.