Much more to be added later!
Full results at http://www.cbjj.com.br/resultados/2005pan.htmThe Pan Ams this year had a phenomenal group of athletes in every belt rank, including Jeff Glover, Bill Cooper; Mike Fowler, Brad Court, Jared Weiner, Marcio Feitosa, Andre Galvao, Cleber Luciano, Rey Diogo, Cassio Werneck, Pe De Pano, Pe De Chumbo, Eduardo Telles, Shawn Williams, Xande Ribeiro, Rafael Lovato, Jr….I could go on… Some of the most exciting fights included Cassio Werneck vs. Shawn Williams (who battled in Brazil vs. USA and met up again in their weight division). Both matches were action packed, with Cassio beating Shawn by points in the Brazil vs. USA match, and finishing with a kimura in their 2nd. Shawn beat Joao Silva in his previous match by points. A real standout in the black belt division was Andre Galvao – this was his first competition as a black belt, after walking through the Mundials as a brown. He was nothing short of amazing on the mat. A memorable moment in one of his matches was when his back was taken, both hooks were in – he looked like he was in real danger – he calmly worked his escape, eventually ending up on top, passed the guard, mounted, took the guy’s back and choked him out. Andre showed an amazing display of jiu jitsu – all technique, beautiful sweeps, such a well-rounded game. He’s definitely someone I’m looking forward to seeing more of. Other noteables there were Xande Ribeiro who won his division and lost to Pe De Pano (somewhat controversially) in the absolute division. The middle weight division was stacked, with Andre Galvao winning the division in impressive fashion over opponents that included Cassio Werneck, Regis Lebre, and Shawn Williams. Pe De Pano looked impressive on his way to winning the absolute division, beating Rafael Lovato, Jr., Eduardo Telles and finally Xande Reibeiro. Rey Diogo came down with a chest cold Friday night, but had no second thoughts about competing. He had no one in his weight division, so he entered the absolutes so he would have some fights. His first match was against Milton Regis – Rey finished the match on points while working a choke as time ran out. He went on to beat Ica Medina on points, then meeting his student Martin Escobar in the finals. Martin bowed out to Rey, giving him the gold. Kron Gracie took his division with very solid technique. Bill Cooper had a great showing – all of his matches were non-stop action. Jeff Glover swept his division, submitting everyone save one opponent. Mike Fowler lost his first round against a tough opponent – the score was 2-2, Mike lost to an advantage. Barring one or two incidents, the level of sportsmanship was incredible. The weekend was extremely long… Saturday the tournament started right on time and pretty much stayed on schedule the whole day, ending around 9:30ish (or that’s when I left anyway). I think the time change on Sunday had everyone a little off. The Brazil v. USA matches started around 30-45 minutes late, and the whole day seemed to drag behind schedule…. I left around 11:30 Sunday night and they were still finishing up the brown belt absolutes. Keep an eye out for the huge picture gallery coming soon!