Next Wave of Pro Grapplers Emerge: World Pro Brown Belt Champs Crowned
Next Wave of Pro Grapplers Emerge: World Pro Brown Belt Champs Crowned
The male brown belt division wrapped up on Friday at the World Pro, and some of the future stars of the sport were in action.
By Michael Sears
The male brown belt division wrapped up its 2017-18 UAEJJF season on Friday at the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, and some of the future stars of the sport were in action.
Division winners at brown belt took home $6,000, with second and third place taking home $3,000 and $1,500. Brazil dominated the brown belt level, taking the gold medal at every weight. Here is a quick recap of what went down:
Carlos Oliveira. Photo: Michael Sears
56kg: Perfect finish for Oliveira
GFTeam athlete Carlos Oliveira finishes the season a perfect 12-0 and ranked seventh overall at brown after winning three Grand Slams and finishing on top of the podium at the World Pro. After an opening round armlock over Gomez, Oliveira would go on to beat Crixel by advantage to secure the title.
- Gold: Carlos Oliveira (BRA)
- Silver: Pedro Crixel (BRA)
- Bronze: Joseph Gomez (USA)
62kg: $11k total cash prize for Sousa
Gabriel Souza didn’t just take home the $6,000 for his division, but a second place finish on the season netted him an additional $5,000. He finished this season 25-3 after three victories in Abu Dhabi on Friday, capped off by a 14-point victory in the final.
WATCH: Gabriel Sousa vs Mehdi Allaoui
- Gold: Gabriel Souza (BRA)
- Silver: Mehdi Allaoui (FRA)
- Bronze: Fernando Soares (BRA)
69kg: Maciel overcomes highly-ranked Sodre in semi
After two victories, Kennedy was matched up with 2017 World Champion and No.4 ranked Alex Sodre in the semifinal. Sodre is 34-3 this season and won three Grand Slams, a gold medal today could have landed him third in the rankings and finishing in the end of season money. The match ended 0-0, with Kennedy up 3-1 on advantages after attacking with guard passing attempts for most of the match.
WATCH: Kennedy Maciel vs Diogo Freitas
- Gold: Kennedy Maciel (BRA)
- Silver: Youngseung Cho (KOR)
- Bronze: Alex Sodre (BRA)
Leo Lara of Brazil. Photo: Michael Sears
77kg: Lara sweeps gold
The quarterfinal matchup between Lara and Jones-Leary was as looked forward to as Kennedy/Sodre, as both men won Pans recently and Levi also won Europeans this year. A sweep battle had Lara ahead late in the match, then a submission attempt going out of bounds gave him another two points for a four-point lead and the victory. Lara would go on to win twice more for gold, Levi had to battle back with four wins in repechage for third place.
- Gold: Leonardo Lara (BRA)
- Silver: Pablo Lavaselli (ARG)
- Bronze: Levi Jones-Leary (AUS)
85kg: Brazil beats Britain
No.11 ranked Gabriel Almeida of Checkmat needed four wins on Thursday just to qualify for the main bracket, and then another three on Saturday to claim the World Pro gold and cash prize. Almeida tapped his first two opponents to meet up with the Englishman Dillon in the final, where he came away on top by advantages 3-0.
- Gold: Gabriel Almeida (BRA)
- Silver: River Dillon (GBR)
- Bronze: Jakub Zajkowski (POL)
94kg: “Next big thing" continues hot streak
20-year-old Atos prodigy Duarte finished the season 15-0 and ranked 5th overall after dominating the field yet again in Abu Dhabi. A closed guard collar choke put his first opponent to sleep in only 36 seconds, then two points victories sealed the deal for Kaynan.
After this choke Kaynan Duarte went on to win the -94kg brown belt @UAEJJF World Pro final. His opponent quickly recovered shortly after. pic.twitter.com/sVkjsjUCcN
— FloGrappling (@FloGrappling) April 27, 2018
- Gold: Kaynan Duarte (BRA)
- Silver: Bruno Lima (POR)
- Bronze: Rida Haisam (GHA)
110kg: Gold icing on top of ranking cake for Felipe
Matheus Felipe ran away with the end of season $10,000 prize with an incredible 2700 points, 800 ahead of second place. Compiling a 46-3 record this season and gold medals at four Grand Slams, Matheus was a heavy favorite to win his division in Abu Dhabi. Two points victories and then a collar choke from closed guard in the final finished off an incredible season for the Checkmat athlete.
- Gold: Matheus Felipe Xavier (BRA)
- Silver: Zayed Obaid (UAE)
- Bronze: Anton Minenko (AUS)
