Abu Dhabi [UAE], July 21 (ANI/WAM): The Abu Dhabi Grand Slam (ADGS) Jiu-Jitsu World Tour kicked off on Friday in Rio de Janeiro, with crowds flocking to see the competition.
The three-day event is taking place at the Carioca Arena, featuring 2,000 male and female fighters from around the world, with strong competitors in the junior category.
The ADGS Rio de Janeiro is the most competitive and the largest in terms of participant numbers compared to previous rounds, due to the popularity of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil and the high number of practitioners.
Headlining the first day of the event, the Youth category saw fierce competition from the UAE’s Commando Group team, who secured fourth place with a total of 35,000 points, surpassing many international clubs and academies.
The ADGS Rio de Janeiro concludes on Sunday, with the Professional category matches, featuring the most experienced practitioners in the sport, including brown and black belt holders from the UAE, Brazil, Colombia, Kazakhstan, and other countries.
Rodrigo Valerio, Director of Operations at the Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Professional (AJP), said that the championship, held in Brazil for its tenth season in 2024-2025, is seeing record participation featuring stars from outside Brazil.
He affirmed that the championship offers an ideal opportunity for practitioners worldwide to develop and refine their skills, highlighting the AJP’s commitment to providing an exceptional sporting experience for Jiu-Jitsu enthusiasts worldwide.
Saturday’s matches saw black-belt masters of the men’s division take to the mats, delivering remarkable performances. In the under 56kg category of the Master 1 category, Emerson Cassio and Deeysson Cardoso were evenly matched, with Emerson pulling off a last-minute sweep and closing the scoreboard at 9-7 to become the lightweight champion in his home country.
For the featherweight final, Leo Alves brought a very technical Jiu-Jitsu to the under 62kg category. Facing the Chilean Nicolas Ponce, the Brazilian athlete came out victorious with a 3-0 score.
The under 69 category saw Thiago Macedo and Thiago Marques face off, ending with a narrow 1-0 score, with Thiago Macedo taking the ADGS gold.
Luan Carvalh went up against Lucas Barros in the under 77kg final. Luan kept the upper hand and, in the final seconds of the bout, landed a takedown counter and closed the scoreboard at 6-1 to become the welterweight champion.
In the under 85kg division gold round, Lucas Laet Moutinho was matched against Manoel Junior. With both sides looking for a chance to take the other down, the competitors ended up receiving two penalties for lack of combativeness. With a 3-3 on the scoreboard, the duel remained deadlocked throughout the regulated time. After a takedown attempt during the golden score, Lucas managed to convince the referees and got the victory via decision.
Leandro “Baiao” Santos had to face a tough battle before conquering the light heavyweight (under 94kg) title. Going up against Jackson Sousa, Leandro found himself evenly matched during the five minutes of the regulated time but managed to break the tie and decide the match with a timely sweep, putting the scoreboard at 2-0.
A quick win for the highly decorated Felipe Bezerra in the under 120kg category of the ADGS Rio de Janeiro. In the opening moments of the match, Juan Bitterncourt tried to pull guard but Felipe used the move to quickly slide to the back, locking an iron grip on Juan’s collar and choking the super heavyweight title right out of his opponent.
Meanwhile, the women’s Master 1 division also gave brilliant performances across 4 matches. Alexa Yanes emerged victorious in the under 55kg division and added another gold to her collection of ADGS medals, with a 2-1 score.
In the lightweight final, Andreia Cavalcante needed less than a minute to take the gold medal. Facing Melise Cavenaghi in the Rio de Janeiro mats, Andreia started by pulling guard and immediately attacking the foot, quickly locking the submission and crowning herself an ADGS champion.
Elen Tito made full use of her pressure to beat Barbara Brito in the under 70kg final. After a brief struggle while standing up, Elen managed to take her opponent down twice, following the latter move with a back take to put the scoreboard at 7-0.
A very well-balanced match decided the fate of the Master 1 heavyweight gold, as Portugal’s Carla Leal faced the local “Karlona” Albuquerque. With three penalties for each side and 6-6 on the scoreboard, Carla spent the extra minute of the golden score working from the guard, unable to score against her seasoned opponent but doing well enough to convince the referees and take her spot atop the under 95kg podium. (ANI/WAM)
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