It was just one year ago when Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson fell to a late replacement's short jab on CBS on the last card of the ill-fated EliteXC promotion. ... Read More
In the 2009 ADCC absolute championship, the Gracie Barra black belt showed he was not content with just simply having captured the 88-kilogram division title, and was magnificent in conquering the open-weight field, culminating with a victory over 99-kilo division champ Alexandre "Xande" Ribeiro in the finale.
The inverted triangle that Estima used to tap Andre Galvao in the 88-kilo final reared its head again, as he locked it in on the defensively superb Ribeiro. ... Read More
One of grappling's most underrated and overlooked competitors, Braulio Estima has finally earned himself an Abu Dhabi title with a sensational inverted triangle submission over Andre Galvao in the 88-kilogram final.
Estima, the category's runner-up to Saulo Ribeiro in 2007, was aggressive from the beginning of the final, attacking Galvao constantly on top. When Galvao was able to sweep and get back to the feet, Estima quickly put him back on the mat with a slick single-leg takedown, and continued to push the pace despite not even being in the points period yet. ... Read More
Neither woman was especially impressive, but 2007 ADCC champions will square off in the women's over-60-kilogram final when Penny Thomas meets Hannette Staack Quadros.
Thomas, 2007's over-67-kilo champ, went for a leglock early in her semi-final bout with Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, but wound up giving top position to the Strikeforce 145-pound champion. Cyborg's top game was markedly better than she showed Saturday, and she nearly won the bout with a smooth pass to side control late in the points period, but was unable to hold position for the three seconds necessary to score points. In the first overtime period, Santos was penalized for accidentally kneeing Thomas in the head during a scramble. That penalty point wound up being the difference, as Thomas advanced to the final, (-1)-(-2) on points. ... Read More
Weidman, a 25-year-old understudy of Matt Serra and Ray Longo, won the ADCC East Coast Trials to earn his berth to Barcelona. In the deep and talented 88-kilogram division, a dominant first-round points victory over Spaniard Daniel Tabera on Saturday assured the native New Yorker nothing but crowd hostility, and a quarter-final match-up against one of the best pound-for-pound grapplers in the world, Andre Galvao. Yet, in spite of the gulf in submission experience, the BJJ purple belt was sensational against one of the world's best black belts. ... Read More
The 2009 edition of ADCC is now just about half over. Though there were a few notable upsets across the seven divisions, the final fours in each weight bracket are largely those that you would expect.
In the men's 99-kilogram-and-over category, 2007 divisional champion Fabricio Werdum was clinical, tapping Rogent Lloret with a kimura in the first round before beating Tomasz Janiszewski 3-0 on points to earn his spot on Sunday. BJJ legend Saulo Ribeiro -- typically an 88-kilogram competitor -- outpointed Koji Kanechika and Romulo Barral to advance, while 2005 divisional champ Jeff Monson did likewise, grounding Karol Bedorf and Janne-Pekka Peitilainen. Also advancing to Sunday was Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu, who bested Tom DeBlass and Asa Fuller on points. ... Read More
It will be 3 a.m. in two minutes by my watch. Through the phone receiver, Jason High waxes philosophical on what makes a proper piece of walkout music ... Read More
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