The great Saulo Riberio returns along with 8 ADCC veterans and some very dangerous new comers to make this one of the most intriguing divisions of all. ADCC 77 – 87.99 KG Weight Class
The third weight class of ADCC may have the least amount of buzz among the divisions, but a careful analysis reveals the depth of this field and the true “anything can happen spirit” of competition. The great Saulo Riberio returns along with 8 ADCC veterans and some very dangerous new comers to make this one of the most intriguing divisions of all.
77 – 87.99 KG#1 Saulo Ribeiro 2003 World Champion (Brazil)#2 Damian Maia 2005 Brazilian Qualifier (Brazil)#3 David Avellan (USA)#4 Marko Helen 2005 European Qualifier (Finland)#5 Hidemi Mihara 2005 Japanese Qualifier (Japan)#6 Larry Papadopoulos 2005 Australian Qualifier (Australia)#7 Robert Sulski (Poland)#8 Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza (Brazil)#9 Dennis Hallman (USA)#10 Andy Reese (USA)#11 Takefumi Hanai (Japan)#12 Jorge Patino ‘Macaco’ (Brazil)#13 David Terrell (USA)#14 Bento Ribeiro (Brazil)#15 David Biekhelden (Sweden)#16 Matt Horwich (USA)
Name: Saulo RiberioStyle: Black belt BJJ, Gracie HumaitaADCC Record: 16-4 (2003, 2000 87K Champion, 2001 87K 2nd Place, 1999 98K 2nd Place)www.sauloribeiro.com
Saulo is a two champion at ADCC and a six time world jiu jitsu champion. Within this sport he is probably the most cerebral athletes of all and the consummate competitor, he will constantly alter his strategy and play to win. Saulo is capable of winning a match in a myriad of different ways. Saulo also holds the record for most wins at ADCC, so anything less than the championship will likely be a disappointment to someone so accomplished.
Name: Demian MaiaStyle: Black Belt BJJ, Brasa TeamADCC Record: First Appearance (2005 Brazilian Qualifier)www.brazilianblackbelt.com
Perhaps no other combatant in the tournament had a longer road to ADCC than Demian Maia, who had to win both phases of the Brazilian Trials and defeated seven determined opponents in all to make it here. He is also an Absolute champion in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Although you may not be aware of him yet, Demian Maia is definitely one of the top up and coming fighters of all. Look for him to be able to score a lot of points before taking the back and securing the choke.
Name: David AvellanStyle: Freestyle Fighting AcademyADCC Record: First Appearancewww.floridamartialarts.com
David Avellan earns his shot at ADCC after several years of dominant performances on the submission grappling circuit. Older brother Marcos actually earned the slot here in the North American Trials, but willingly stepped down a weight class to make room for his brother which he proudly admits is the more dangerous of the two (hard to believe). Stylistically the two are very similar, employing a nose to the grindstone style along with unorthodox guard passes and slick leg locks, David also possesses a very finely honed killer instinct.
Name: Marko HelenStyle: Tampereen Ju-jutsukouluADCC Record First Appearance (2005 European Champion) www.tjjk.fi
Hailing from Finland, Marko has won numerous European championships before getting his invitation to ADCC be choking out he defending champion in the Trials. This will be his first appearance in the US and on the World stage, but it doesn`t look like Marko is used to losing and should prove a formidable opponent.
Name: Hidemi MiharaStyle Cobra KaiADCC Record: First Appearance
Hidemi was a bit of a surprise as the champion of the Japanese qualifier, but comes from a highly regarded school. Not much information is available on him as of press time, but it is known he fought a gi match (brown belt) against Luke Stewart and lost 12-0.
Name: Larry PapadopoulosStyle Extreme Jiu JitsuADCC Record: 1-1www.extremejjg.com
Larry Papadopoulos has been in this sport since the very inception, and had his first MMA match back in 1994. Down on points, he earned his ticket to Long Beach with a submission victory in the final three seconds of the bout. Wrestling seems to be the primary background for Papadopoulos, however it should be noted that with a recorded MMA record of 4-5-3, four of those losses were by submission. He seems to favor the guillotine choke.
Name: Robert SulskiStyle: Submission WrestlingADCC Record: 0-1
Robert Sulski comes in representling Poland, but has done the majority of his training in the United Kingdom. In his own words Sulski prefers to be on top, be aggressive, score his points then look for the submission (he is dangerous with heel hooks).
Name: Ronaldo “Jacare” SouzaStyle: Black Belt in BJJ, Brasa TeamADCC Record 3-1 2003 87K 2nd Placewww.brazilianblackbelt.com
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza was selected as OntheMat`s Jiu Jitsu Player of the year for 2004, and did so by earning the top two Absolute Titles for the year in the CBJJO and CBJJ organizations respectively. Take away the gi and the strongly judo based fighter loses some of his weapons, but none of his aggressiveness.
Name: Dennis “Superman” HallmanStyle: Submission WrestlingADCC Record 0-1www.americantopteam.com
Now affiliated with American Top Team West, Sherdog`s official fight finder has Dennis Hallman listed 32-10-2, but the truth is he probably has at least twice as many fights under his belt as he has been in many smaller shows that are not listed. Of 32 of those wins, 25 of those wins come via submission (including two over Matt Hughes).
Name: Reese AndyStyle: Submission WrestlingADCC Record 2-2
Reese Any makes his second appearance in ADCC where he went 2-2, defeating very tough opponents in Dennis Kang and the enormous Mark Robinson, but losing to Ricardo Almedia and Cacareco. Still his performance was impressive enough to warrant an invitation back. Reese also recently had his first MMA match (in superbrawl) in which he won an unanimous decision.
Name: Takefumi HanaiStyle: Combat WrestlingADCC Record First Appearance
He is the best “foot-locker” in Japan. At Combat Wrestling Championship that held a day before ADCC qualifier, Hanai tapped everyone with his foot-locks. (also received MVP.) He spent only 2 minutes for all the match combined. Hanai lost at the final at the ADCC qualifier but he could fool-lock any body. (Thanks to No Bi for the 411)
Name: Jorge “Macaco” PatinoStyle: Black Belt BJJ, Macaco Gold TeamADCC Record 2-2www.macacogoldteam.com.br
Macaco (which means monkey in Portuguese) is one of the sports veterans and a definite gate keeper to the division. A classical jiu jitsu stylist, Macaco has probably never had a dull fight in his life, however he does have a tendency to run hot and cold on certain days or even during the course of the match!
Name: David TerrellStyle: Black Belt, BJJ, Cesar GracieADCC Record 3-1 (2003 North American Trial Winner)www.ncfa.tv
Forget the fighter you saw at the previous UFC for a moment, Terrell is an extremely dangerous submission grappler. Very hard, if not impossible to score upon, Terrell is an explosive counter grappler who will make his opponents pay dearly for their mistakes. Consequently Terrell`s match are often drawn out affairs interspersed with intense, blink and you miss it, action and finishes.
Name: Bento RibeiroStyle: Black Belt BJJADCC Record First Appearance
Bento Riberio is a tough BJJ fighter coming out of Brazil who has had some classic match ups with Jacare in the brown belt division
Name: David BiekheldenStyle: Team ScandinaviaADCC Record First Appearance
David Biekhelden is a tough MMA fighter out of Sweden who has a record of 8-3. Most of those fights were in Europe with an appearance at the AFC show. Biekhelden is a ground and pound fighter, primarily, with one win coming via submission (armbar).
Name: Matt HorwichStyle: Wrestling, Team QuestADCC Record First Appearancewww.tqfc.com
The entry into ADCC is Matt Horwich from Team Quest. In MMA, Matt holds a record of 9-3-1 with all nine wins coming via submission! Although he is currently a protégé of Randy Couture, Horwich began his career at the tender age of 17 training very intensely under Royce Gracie.
Some Historical Match Ups:
Saulo Riberio vs David Terrell- Very close match in the semi finals of ADCC 2003 in which Saulo won by two points which Terrell and his team vehemently protested.
Saulo Riberio vs Jacare- Another close match in the finals of ADCC 2003 but Saulo wins by three points.
Hidemi Mihara vs Takefumi Hanai- This occurred in the finals of the Japanese Qualifier. Hanai makes a mistake and Mihara wins by rear naked choke.
David Avellan vs David Terrell- Terrell wins this one at the Gracie open in 2003 by virtue of two takedowns, although this was a very close match with Avellan narrowly missing scoring on his own.
Macaco vs David Terrell- This happened at least six years ago at the very first Gracie Open, back when Terrell was a new purple belt. Macaco wins in overtime via referee decision.
Macaco vs Jacare- In Jacare`s first MMA match, the seasoned veteran Macaco wins by KO early in the first round.
Jacare vs Bento Riberio- The two fought as brown belts in the CBJJO Cup 2003 with Jacare coming away the winner.
Gumby`s Odds:
No doubt you`ll notice that I already made some predictions on Kid Peligro`s Ask the Experts article (http://news.adcombat.com/article.html?id=9238) but as testament to the depth of this field I`ve revised my picks here after much review.
The Safe Bet- Saulo Riberio
For the third straight weight class in a row, I`m picking the safe bet as the previous year`s champion. Saulo Riberio has way more experience than anyone in this field and his overall record is tops among all ADCC competitors. His talents immense, his game is well rounded and he will make the adjustments he needs to tailored to each opponent.
The Money Bet- Demian Maia
Demian has already won seven bouts to get to this point, and has defeated some VERY tough competition to get this far including Braulio Estima and ADCC veterans Cumprido and Margarida. Maia has takedowns, he can run up the score and he can submit you. With this much momentum coming in he is going to be very difficult to contain.
The Long Shot- (Tie) David Terrell and David Avellan
I had a hard time deciding between the two, so I decided to include both of the David`s. Stylistically they both have similar games of countering and exploding. Terrell has a slight advantage actually as he has won the head to head match up, however Avellan has more competition experience and has been through (and won) many more tournaments.
Next up is the 99 and under!