The Brazilian team championship has become a staple amongst the high level tournaments in Rio De Janeiro. Five-man teams from each school, weight class, and belt level battle it out to win 3 of 5 matches to move onto the next round and ultimately stand out as being the strongest overall group. This year was host to many great fights despite vying with another major tournament- the ADCC. The day started off with an astoundingly technical juvenile blue belt fight with the whole crowd going beserk. The fight ended with one competitor belly down with the other on his back, choking him unconscious. The competitor was stiff as a board and his legs were concave into the air- precedent was set and nobody was going to give up easily.
1- Nova União
2- GF Team
3- Equipe Marcio Rodrigues
There were so many good fights throughout the day that it is difficult to single out competitors or teams that were performing well but I did find a few particularly exciting. The Heavyweight adult men blue belt final was a showdown between Nova Uniao and GFTeam. Both teams looked strong in the early rounds, easily surpassing their competition and were ready to battle it out for the final. Nova Uniao took an early two fight lead and were looking strong half way into the third fight. GFTeam was able to hold out to win the third fight. After the momentum shift in the third fight, GFTeam went on to win the fourth fight and pulled off the overall win in the fifth fight with 2012’s Abu Dhabi world pro qualifier- Max Gimines pulling off a submission.
Other exciting fights worth mentioning that include videos on my youtube channel:
Matheus Evangelista Gonzaga (Marcio Rodrigues)
Marcos Paulo E. Gonzaga (Marcio Rodrigues)
Jonathan Daltio Rossi (Nova Uniao)
Paulo Miyao (PSLPB Cicero Costha)
Joao Miyao (PSLPB Cicero Costha)
Philipp Francisco Quesada (Nova Uniao)
Max Gimines (GFTeam)
Ricardo Evangelista (GFTeam)
Igor Silva (GFTeam)
… and many more.
A simple youtube search of these fighters names can give you an idea of some of the latest and greatest talent coming out of the Rio De Janeiro Jiu Jitsu scene.