It seemed to be playing out for Felipe Pena just as it did in 2015: a silver medal in the -99kg division, this time coming up short to Yuri Simoes in the final. It seemed all too familiar, given the same thing happened to him in brail two years ago when he lost out to Rodolfo Vieira. 

This time Pena put his name into the absolute division, and his gamble paid off. He emerged the winner of what is widely considered to be the toughest absolute division in the world, beating four incredibly tough opponents along the way in the shape of Celso Vinicius in the opening round, Victor Honorio in the quarterfinal, Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida in the semi (by submission no less) and Gordon Ryan in the final, taking his back much the same fashion he did in their first epic match back in December 2016. 

Pena's absolute division victory earned him the right to face ADCC superfight champion Andre Galvao in 2019. They have plenty of history having fought a number of times in the gi, but this will be their first scheduled no-gi match. Pena said he's already thinking ahead to the challenges and will train for it accordingly. 

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​WATCH:

Felipe Pena vs Celso Vinicius 
Felipe Pena vs Victor Honorio 
Felipe Pena vs Marcus Almeida 
Felipe Pena vs Gordon Ryan 

Photos: Hywel Teague / FloGrappling