2019 IBJJF Worlds: 3 Players to Rule Super Heavyweight
2019 IBJJF Worlds: 3 Players to Rule Super Heavyweight
Though stacked with talent, three men in the particular from the Super-Heavy category stand in prime position to write their names in the history books.
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The 2019 World Championship black belt super-heavyweight division is stacked with talent, but three men in the particular stand in prime position to write their names in the history books.
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Can Mahamed Shake off the Cobwebs, Repeat 2018 Success?
Mahamed Aly hasn't had the year we've expected.
The TLI monster took silver at the 2019 Pan Championships after a double-digit loss to Fellipe Andrew in the final and had a few inconsistent results at IBJJF opens. Hardly a disaster by any standards, but still a bit unexpected (and certainly unsatisfactory for Mahamed himself).
Despite the hit and miss year, Mahamed is the #1 ranked seed. He'll be facing the winner of Tex Johnson and Lukasz Michaelc – and bare a massive upset, Aly will move on to face the winner of Rodrigo Cavaca and Igor Schinder.
It's our position that Mahamed actually matches up better for either man in the quarter-final match and should pass smoothly into the semi-final, which is where things will turn up a notch, as all estimates point to Gutemebrg Pereira standing across from Aly in the semi-Final
Gutemberg Pereira vs Mahamed Aly - 2019 Pan Championships
Gutemberg Pereira holds two wins over Mahamed Aly.
The matches have been close; Gutemberg won by advantage in 2018 and by two points n 2019, but still, that kind of momentum has to inspire confidence for him and puts on the onus on Aly to try something new.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's review Gutemberg's path to the semis.
First, he'll be facing Rafael Vasconcelos from Atos. Vasconcelos is a talented athlete with numerous opens wins to his name, but he's yet to medal at a major tournament, Gutemberg should be able to impose his will in this bout.
From there a match rematch with Tanner Rice is the most likely scenario – Gutemberg won that the first time but Tanner.
Nicholas Meregali: the Great Divider
Nicholas Meregali is an extraordinary individual. He can flip the switch and turn from an affable gentleman into a savage beast in the blink of an eye.
He also has the distinct quality of dividing the crowd like few can.
But despite the contention surrounding the athelte, no one can deny his jiu-jitsu is superb. His versatile guard, incredible passing, savage loop chokes, and sheer desire to win have carried him to a world title once before, and we should expect all those tools to be in play this weekend.
His route to the semi's could be considered fairly smooth by World's standards. Meregali's opening match will be against Roberto Torrablas from TLI, followed by the winner of Helton Junior and Elliot Kelly.
Both of the aforementioned athletes are exceptional, but it's tough to see them as being on Meregali's level after the Alliance star's double gold performance at Brazilian Nationals a few weeks back.
It's reasonable to expect Luiz Panza or Fellipe Andrew to be standing across from Meregali in the semi-finals.
Meregali holds two submission wins over Fellipe Andrew, and though he has yet to face Panza yet, the simple factor of activity leads us to believe Meregali should fare well against the Checkmat as well, giving him a berth in the super-heavyweight final.