The Official North American Grappling
and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships
Pro Division Program
Leverage.tv and Grapplers Quest present:
The Official North American Grappling
and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS: Marc Laimon (SPIKE TV's The Ultimate Fighter Grappling Coach), Dean Lister (ADCC Superfight Champion), and The Ultimate Fighter TV Show Finalist, Kenny Florian (Guest Referee)
- Featuring 83 Championship Belts and Gold Cups
for ADVANCED Divisions and BJJ Divisions
- 153 No-Gi and BJJ Divisions for All Ages and Skill Levels
Date: Saturday, September 10th, 2005
Location: Marist High School
1241 Kennedy Blvd.
Bayonne, New Jersey
Tale of the Tape:
Name: Saulo Riberio
Style: Black belt BJJ, Gracie Humaita
Notable Accomplishments: ADCC 2003, 2000 87K Champion, 6 time Mundial champion
www.sauloribeiro.com [2]
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 recently retired from Gi competition at this year`s mundials, but is still taking this opportunity to compete in the Grappler`s Quest
Name: Jason "Mayhem" Miller
Style: Purple Belt BJJ, Cobra Kai
Notable Accomplishments: UFC Veteran 13-4 MMA with 8 Subs
www.MayhemMiller.com [3]
Jason Miller may be more well known for his MMA accomplishments or colorful personality these days, but at his roots is a very solid, orthodox jiu jitsu stylist with tons of heart. Miller also possesses freakish flexibility and what coach Marc Laimon has dubbed "retard strength".
Name: Rafael "Formiga" Barbosa
Style: Black Belt, Brazilian Top Team
Notable Accomplishments: 1st 2005 Rio State BJJ, 3rd Worlds
www.bestwayjiujitsu.com.br [4]
A black belt from Brazil with an impressive gi resume, Formiga has been preparing for this tournament for quite sometime despite being announced only recently for the division.
Name: Ken Kronenberg
Style: Brown Belt, Tai Kai
Notable Accomplishments GQ Veteran
www.tai-kai.com [5]
The gatekeeper Ken Kronenberg has fought many Grappler`s Quest and is a favorite of the promoters, and when mentally focused he is a strong, dangerous opponent with dangerous leg locks.
Name: David Avellan
Style: Freestyle Fighting Academy
Notable Accomplishments: Numerous GQ and NAGA champions
www.floridamartialarts.com [6]
David Avellan is one of the most consistant performers on the grappling circuit. David is the younger brother of Marcos Avellan and usually considered the more dangerous of the two, but Marcos promises to kick his ass up and down the mat this time if they meet in the finals. 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: Rafael Lovato Jr.
Style: Black Belt BJJ, Carlos Machado
Notable Accomplishments:
www.Lovatojiujitsu.com [7]
The youngest American BJJ black belt, Rafael Lovato has trained and competed extensively in both the United States and in Brazil. Rafael is extremely technical, and possesses a very dangerous guard and is equally adept at sweeping, submitting or taking the back from this position.
Name: Joe Scarola
Style: Black Belt BJJ, Serra JiuJitsu
Notable Accomplishments
www.serrajitsu.com [8]
Joe Scarola is Matt and Nick Serra`s first black belt. Usually competing at 175 pounds, Scarola is the among the smallest competitors in this field but has shown his toughness many times before. He will likely have a home field advantage of sorts as well as he will likely have tons of supporters present.
Name: Beto Arruda
Style: Black Belt BJJ, Yamasaki Jiu Jitsu
Notable Accomplishments Pan American Champion, Mundial Bronze
www.grappling.com [9]
A noted Gi grappler coming from the Yamasaki camp, Beto recently relocated to the United States and has been active in competitions here, taking second at the Copa Atlantica Black Belt division.
Name: Jamal Patterson
Style Black Belt BJJ, Renzo Gracie
Notable Accomplishments (2005 North American Trial Winner)
www.RenzoGracie.com [10]
Jamal is one of the hottest grapplers competing in the US right now, and for well over a year has looked unstoppable on the submission grappling circuit, winning tournament after tournament. A powerful wrestler (and former football player), Jamal`s standup battles often go spilling off of the mat, but once he locks his opponent down has a series of submissions to go after including a series of dangerous guillotine chokes.
Name: Chris Moriarty
Style: Purple Belt BJJ, Alliance
Notable Accomplishments
www.alliancebjj.com [11]
Always an entertaining grappler to watch, Chris has been consistently turning in better and better performances as his skills continue to increase exponentially and he`s recently racked up some big wins including Fabio Nasseminto and Jamal Patterson. Renowned for his triangle choke, he`s become a specialist at taking the back lately as well.
Name: Alexandre 'Xande' Ribeiro
Style Black Belt BJJ, Saulo Riberio
Notable Accomplishments: 2005 CBJJO Absolute Winner, 2005 ADCC Absolute 4th
www.xanderibeiro.com [12]
Xande is the younger brother of Saulo Riberio and many insiders feel he might even be stronger without the gi than his accomplished brother. He has been particularly active on both the BJJ and Submission Grappling Circuits both in the US and in Brazil. Xande is well rounded and dangerous from all positions, but can be particularly effective from his half guard, which is a difficult position to perform well at the level.
Name: Elliot Marshall
Style Brown Belt BJJ, Boulder
Notable Acomplishments: Multiple Pan Ams, IGJJF
www.bjjboulder.com [13]
Eliot Marshall has accomplished quite a bit in his relatively short grappling career and is something of a prodigy on the mat. Eliot has an orthodox jiu jitsu game couple with as much natural athletic ability as anyone in this field.
Name: Rick Macauley
Style Brown Belt BJJ, Balance Studios
Notable Accomplishments: Pam Ams Champion (Purple), Grappling
www.balancestudios.net [14]
Rick is one of the more exciting and explosive grapplers on the circuit these days, and he loves to work from the half guard and go for an array of sweeps and foot locks.
Name: Jorge Santiago
Style: Black Belt BJJ, American Top Team
Notable Accomplishments: GQ Lightweight Pro Champion 2004
www.americantopteam.com [15]
Jorge Santiago hails from the American Top Team, where he is described as a natural talent and laid back. He still brings an intensity to the mat however, and is very capable of controlling the pace or submitting his opponent.
Name: Marcos Avellan
Style: Freestyle Fighting Academy
Notable Accomplishments: 2005 North American Qualifier 87K, Beast of the East 4 man tournament Champion
www.floridamartialarts.com [6]
Over the last two years Marcos has competed at 155 and 191 and everywhere in between, so he he should feel at home in this weight class. Stylistically, Avellan is a very game, smart competitor who is going to make work for everything in the match. Marcos is more well rounded than he often gets credit for, but is especially dangerous while on top and attempting his unorthodox guard passes.
Name: Phil Cardella
Style: Brown Belt BJJ, Relson Gracie
Notable Accomplishments: Numerous Gi titles, Arnolds and Texas
www.austinjj.com [16]
Phil Cardella runs a Relson Gracie affiliate school in Austin, Texas. He has a number of accomplishments within his divisions in the gi, and typically competes in the lightweight class, thus making him among the smaller entries in the field.
Some Historical Match Ups:
Jamal Patterson vs Xande Riberio- Xande win in overtime at ADCC 2005 in a match that was not without controversy.
Jamal Patterson vs Chris Moriarty- Jamal might have been taking Chris a little lightly at GQ 2005 and paid the price for it, getting submitted in a triangle choke (a very rare submission loss for Jamal indeed).
David Avellan vs Rafael Lovato Jr.- David Avellan took this at GQ West 2004
Marcos Avellan vs Jorge Santiago- Jorge takes it 8-2 at GQ VA 2004
Joe Scarola vs Jorge Santiago- Jorge wins on a takedown in the finals of the GQ VA lightweight pro division.
Marcos Avellan vs Rick Macauley- Marcos Avellan over Rick Macauley at the 2004 ADCC North American Trials
Gumby`s Picks
1) Xande Riberio-
Xande Riberio is pretty much my favorite pick in almost any tournament he`s entered in, this one being no exception. He took third in his weight class and fourth in the Absolute division at this years ADCC, which would be pretty good for anyone except for Xande. Since then he`s actually looked revitalized and a whole lot meaner, and he took the CBJJO World Cup Absolute Title defeating Margarida and Jacare back to back. If he keeps up this new found level of intensity he`s going to be very difficult to stop.
2) David Avellan-
On the other side of the bracket stands David Avellan and I would list him as the favorite to win that side of the bracket. And if he can make it to the finals, he definitely has a chance to win the whole thing.
3) Jamal Patterson-
Jamal is among the toughest grapplers for anyone to deal with, and has been on a hell of a streak from late 2003, only looking human in his very most recent matches. The recent promotion to black belt will certainly help rekindle the fire within him however. The likely second round match up between Jamal vs Xande will likely be the most explosive of the tournament.
One things is for sure, I can`t wait until September 10th to see how this all goes down!
Can you do better at predicting the results than Gumby? Go round by round at the OTM Forum and see how you stack up!