The Friday night before the Tournament we hung out at Scotty’s brother Cade;s party he throws every Friday at Boardners on Hollywood and Cherokee. If you’re in the Los Angeles area definitely check it out!
The Friday night before the Tournament we hung out at Scotty’s brother Cade;s party he throws every Friday at Boardners on Hollywood and Cherokee. If you’re in the Los Angeles area definitely check it out! Deep house and hot girls, a combination that makes us happy the location is newly remodeled with a good dance space and comfy sofas upstairs. Tell them that Onthemat.com sent you and get in for free! Please tho’ be on your best behavior! This set the tune for the rest of our weekend, relaxed, fun with a bit of an edge. We’re talking about the Fifth Annual Copa Pacifica tournament, hosted by newlyweds Cleber and Lily Luciano (congrats to the happy couple). This event has quietly (or not so quietly) evolved into the largest tournament in California, and in turn probably the world as many schools sent large teams to this event. The Rickson Gracie squad (led by the man himself) brought 40 competitors alone! The tournament contained many suprises, lots of action and plenty of good times. On Saturday the White Belts and Purple Belts. As we entered superfight competitor Jorge "Macaco" Patino was working the concession stand as we arrived, preparing hot dogs and tasty snacks for all the visitors! Macaco is truly one of the most humble and approachable fighters out there, and he pulled triple duty this weekend as he not only competed, worked the booth but also refereed both days as well. Hats off to you Macaco! The White Belt Tournament was among the largest in recent memory, and it was refreshing to see the next generation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Competitors, as well as the large amount of friends and supporters that came to cheer them on. The level of the average white belt competitor has certainly gone up as well, and anyone passing on this portion of the tournament for lack of excitement definitely missed out. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Pride Veteran Gilbert Yvel entered the Super-Heavyweight white belt division! Gilbert tapped out his first two opponents (via armlock and guillotine) before losing in the semi-finals to a young giant out of the Gracie Academy. In the purple belt tournament there were many exciting matches as the best talent that has yet to break on through to the big stage gave it their all. In the lightweight division our good friend Scott Bierri of Nova Uniona and Pedro Ellias (Caique’s son) mowed through their competition en route to an extremely memorable and exciting final match which you can view to the right. In the middleweight division Tyron Glover of Paragon looked impressive as usual. Tim Credeur tapped out three of his opponent s in the light heavyweights. In the day’s onl y superfight referee/vendor/fighter Macaco defeated James Avalanche Boran on points. Sunday morning saw the blue belts in action. Jason "Handsome" Collard wins the light-heavy weight divsion yet again and the CEO Don Geddis (of Bjj.org infamy) wins the executive featherweight. The day also saw the black belt super fights. Alberto Crane looked very impressive against Coyote and Franjinha of Paragon/Alliance completely dominated Japa but could not secure the submission against his strong willed opponent. The best action of the tournament was reserved for the brown belts, and a lot of them stepped up to the plate to show what they had. Thiago Vella defeats his two opponents. Jeff Higgs taps out two of his opponents! All eyes were on the Heavyweight division as Rorion’s sons Ryron and Renner competed in regualr sports jiu-jitsu rules. First up, Rener Gracie defeats Mike Ross on points. Then came Lovato Jr. vs Ryron Gracie which has been built up to for some months now. Ryron is a big kid himself, but he gives up at least 20 – 30 pounds to Lovato Jr.! Lovato scored the first set of points in the match, but Ryron remained calm and turned the tide, eventually mounting Lovato and securing the cross collar choke in the final minutes of the match! Wow! Rener and Ryron step up in a huge way and close out the division together. The finals for the team competion saw Cleber’s school in first place, Rickson and Paragon sharing second place, Fabio Santos in third, Rodrigo Meiderios in fourth and Fernando Vasoncellos in fifth. A special shout out to my friends in the booths adjoining the Onthemat booth at bodyquicken and Tapout. (Especially to Tapout which had one of the most intersting items for sale at a MMA event I’ve seen yet!) Huge props and thank you again to Cleber and Lily Luciano for running such a great event. And finally, thanks to everyone who took the time to compete, to represent, and who said hello to us. You are very much appreciated.