2019 Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship

Erberth Santos Is Back With TWO Events In The Coming Weeks: World Pro & F2W

Look out grappling fans, because Erberth Santos is making a comeback!

Apr 16, 2019 by Hywel Teague

Erberth Santos Is Back With TWO Events In The Coming Weeks: World Pro & F2W

Look out grappling fans, because Erberth Santos is making a comeback! After a couple of months on the down-low Erberth has got two big events on the horizon.

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Look out grappling fans, because Erberth Santos is making a comeback! After a couple of months on the down-low Erberth has got two big events on the horizon.

He's in for the Abu Dhabi World Pro (April 23-26) where he'll aim for his second World Pro title following wins in 2016 and 2018.

And then shortly after Erberth will head to Chicago for his first ever Fight 2 Win appearance. He'll face Gutemberg Pereira of GF Team in the main event of F2W 111 on May 4th in a submission-only match.

For those of you wondering where Erberth has been, we last saw him in action in a now-infamous superfight with Felipe Pena back in February. That devolved into a gigantic brawl after the match had barely gotten started, with Erberth escorted from the venue after duking it out with a number of Felipe Pena's supporters.

The reaction from the community was swift in admonishing Erberth for his behavior– we even went so far as to say he brought the sport into disrepute– but as this was in a private event there were no official sanctions or punishment handed down to him.

So let's take a look at what lies in store for Erberth. He's signed up at 94kg, which is a division lighter than the 110kg weight class where we've seen him compete for the last three years in Abu Dhabi.

The 94kg division promises to be one of the most interesting and competitive of the 2019 Abu Dhabi World Pro. Just look at some of the names that are signed up:

Kaynan Duarte
Jackson Sousa
Renato Cardoso
Abdurakhman Bilarov

Kaynan Duarte (Atos) is just a couple of gold medals away from confirming himself as the best heavyweight in the world but he's never faced Erberth. Kaynan is an incredible competitor who is versatile to compete under any ruleset, and he poses the biggest threat to Erberth's plans for a successful return. Pan champ, European champ, World No-Gi champ and KASAI Pro 5 champ– Kaynan's habit of winning is going to be hard to break.

If anybody can do it then Erberth has to be near the top of that list. He's got the physical tools, the savvy and the experience to go head-to-head with Kaynan in these 6-minute matches. It's our expectation that they'll meet at some point or another as picking somebody to beat either of them is no easy task.

Erberth vs Jackson Sousa

Don't forget there are others at 94kg who could pose problems for Erberth. Jackson Sousa and Renato Cardoso are two veterans with plenty of experience of going up against Erberth and know his game and his tricks well. The Russian Abdurakhman Bilarov holds a submission win over Erberth, albeit it was a no-gi match and via heel hook.

We'll hold off from diving too deep into the match between Erberth and Gutemberg until after World Pro as we want to see how Santos performs at such a high-level tournament. He has a great test facing him, and we'll be watching very closely to see how he does.

WATCH: Erberth Santos vs Fernando Reis, 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Rio