Hey guys!
This past weekend I had the honor of competing in the Dojjo Confere Event and am excited to say I was able to come away with my first submission at black belt! I was invited to compete in the place of friend and training partner Diogo Moreno Araujo after he suffered a hand injury on his way to taking second place at the Copa Podio. The fight would be at middle heavyweight, a weight higher than I usually compete, against a black belt named Gabriel Ramos from the academy Brigadeiro. The event was awesome. It was very official, consisting completely of single match superfights across all belt levels from blue to black. Many of my training partners from Soulfighters were competing as well, though I was the only black belt. When it was time to fight only the camera crew, the commentators (including Roger Gracie pictured above) the ref, the athletes to fight the match at hand and their coaches were allowed inside the fighting area while the rest of the competitors and spectators watched on a screen outside. I felt really good going into the match and was thankfully able to impose my game. I pulled guard, swept, passed, took the back and finished with a bow and arrow choke. Video should be posted in the next week on Dojjo.com and when it is I will post it here as well. I was very honored to be able to take part in this event and look forward to competing other Dojjo events in the future! I would like to thank Bruno Tanque Mendes and Diogo Araujo for the opportunity and the coaching, my supporters On The Mat and Scott Nelson, Matt Slatter and Slatter Construction, Greg Amundson and Crossfit Amundson, my master Claudio Franca and Coalition 95 BJJ and also Soulfighters BJJ. Looking forward to my next opportunity to compete!
Stay Tuned! Osssss