World Jiu-Jitsu Expo Superfights - Video Mailbag

Kron Gracie Vs Vitor Estima

Nino Schembri Vs Bill "the Grill" Cooper

Lucas Leite Vs Rafael Lovato Jr.

Kyra Gracie vs Alexis Davis

World Jiu-Jitsu Expo Superfight Results

From over at MMAMania.com:
"Nick Diaz vs. Braulio Estima (No-Gi) (Diaz no-showed)
Rafael Lovato def. Lucas Liete via points (Gi)
Kron Gracie def. Victor Estima via advantage points (Gi)
Bill Cooper def. Nino Schembri via referee decision(Gi)
Kyra Gracie def. Alexis Davis via points (No-Gi)
Jeff Glover def. Caio Terra via points (No-Gi)" - this was a gi match?

and from MMAWeekly.com:
"Jeff Glover def. Caio Terra by points 10-6
Kron Gracie def. Victor Estima by one advantage
Rafael Lovato def. Lucas Leite by points 2-0
Bill Cooper def Nino Schembri by referee’s decision after tie in points and advantages
Kyra Gracie def. Alexis Davis 5-0"

I've heard internet rumblings about both sides accusing the other of not making weight.
I'm going to let the dust settle and the gossip hounds chill out before I comment.
I was also not aware Leite was subbed in for Kayron due to injury, but no way would I have bet on Leite against Lovato and his ridiculously long frame.

World Jiu-Jitsu Expo Superfight Predictions

Now, I have not seen the rules for the superfights coming up at this weekend World Jiu-Jitsu Superfights, but the matches and my predictions are as follows:

Nick Diaz vs. Bráulio Estima (No-Gi)         - Braulio by triangle - props to Nick Diaz for jumping into the
                                                                    shark tank. Hopefully he does better than GSP did in ADCC

Kayron Gracie vs. Rafael Lovato Jr (Gi)     - Kayron by sweep then guard pass

Victor Estima vs. Kron Gracie (Gi)             - Kron by  2 advantages. I think he was tired from the Absolute
                                                                    which hindered his performance at the Pans.

Nino Schembri vs. Bill Cooper (Gi)            - Cooper by ? I haven't watched him play much as of late  

Kyra Gracie vs. Alexis Davis (No-Gi)        -   Kyra by head/arm triangle

Caio Terra vs. Jeff Glover (No-Gi)             -  Caio by sweep and 2 advantages

In other Expo news, here's an article about Otavio Sousa (a guy I've posted about quite a bit on here, who comes from Gracie Barra Pernambuco, one of the places I trained while visiting Brazil).
Here's a mount attack from the man himself, Otavio Sousa:




Happy Trainingz!

Interview Friday: Marcos & Satoshi De Souza, and Rafael Lovato Jr.

Ralph Gracie Black Belt Diego Herzog on his way to winning the heavyweight and absolute at the American Cup in San Jose last weekend.

Interview with brothers and black belts Marcos and Satoshi De Souza

Rafael Lovato Jr. Interview

Grappling Links for your Tuesday

Graciemag has a follow-up piece on Otavio Sousa after his winning both weight and the absolute in the black belt at the NY Open. The piece on his NY Open performance is HERE along with a butterfly guard pass that one of my instructors teaches, incidentally.
My earlier pieces on Otavio Sousa are HERE and HERE.
If I'm not mistaken, he's also out of GB Pernambuco where I trained earlier this year during my stay in Brazil.

For those that don't know, I'm a big John Danaher fan. Not b/c he coaches GSP b/c I've heard so much about how amazing he is, but his approach to explaining the why and how we do things is refreshing. I'm much more interested in WHY a high level practitioner thinks the way they do than "show me an inverted spider guard to spiral guard transition to reverse omoplata."
I posted awhile back HERE about going inside the matrix with John Danaher. Coincidence I guess that the podcast I'm linking here went with that same angle. You'll also notice my post is dated January 16th of this year. Any how, whatever, the podcast is good and as always, Danaher says some things that make you reconsider or at least add to your perspective on grappling. And that's the difference between a good speaker and a great one.

BJJ Heroes has a piece up on Vitor Toledo HERE.
(the guy who Kayron crossfaced to hell and beat recently at the Pan Ams).


Graciemag also has a piece up on Minotauro HERE, the one, the only, the legend. It also includes a guillotine prevention bit. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The World Jiu-Jitsu Expo in Long Beach is also heating up to be quite the fan friendly and hardcore grappling fan's dream:
Kayron will face Rafael Lovato Jr.
Victor Estima will face the wily Kron Gracie (Victor lost by DQ at the recent 2012 Pan Ams to Kron via reaping the knee).
And for the ladies, Kyra Gracie has thrown her name in the mix with an as of yet unnamed opponent being sought out.

At any rate, Happy Trainingz!

Firsthand Observations from the IBJJF Pan Ams 2012

This picture is the one I would use to sum up the entire event.
The crowd, the refs, the other competitors, the coaches, the staff.....everyone was silent in anticipation of this match.

I'm going to put together some observations as a competitor about my match, my division, the event and such once I've had time to sit down and do some reflection. I got back at nearly midnight last night and I'm back at work.
The tournament was great, but as always, I'll try to comment on what was great and what was lacking.

Some thoughts on seeing the event first hand as a spectator:

Quick Rundown as a spectator -
Kron Gracie: black belt for consistently looking to advance and finish
Malfacine: blue belt for stalling to the win over Gui after the takedown
Sambazon and Silvio's Brazilian BBQ: black belt for yummy acai bowls with granola and bananas and yummy BBQ, respectively
IBJJF: black belt for running nearly all the divisions on time throughout 4 days of competition
UC Irvine at California: black belt for being the exactly right size for the event and minimizing confusion that is often expected at grappling tournaments
Juvenile competitors: black belt for promising futures and careers. My only concern is that the points game of 50/50 to winning by advantages or waiting to sweep until 2 min's remain may prove detrimental to their overall Jiu-Jitsu and the spreading of the sport to casual observers.
---------
The long breakdown as a spectator -
Rafael Mendes vs Cobrinha - spellbinding. Much like Graciemag comments here, at the start, everyone began thinking it would be another war of the 50/50 leg scissor, but after Rafael's sweep, the end was quick and decisive. From where I sat, I swear, I could feel the surprise in Cobrinha. 

Kron Gracie in the Absolute - did well, finally succumbing to kneebar, I believe. It visibly wore on him just a bit as he entered his divisions at weight the following day. I must admit, as compared to say Gui or Malfacine, Kron does not jerk around or stall. He paid the price with his gas tank for being a true competitor and looking to advance and sweep and finish throughout his matches.

Bruno and Gui Mendes - Bruno got the takedown and was content to stay (hide?) low in Gui's guard who for his part, also, did not do a whole lot other than feed Bruno's right lapel to the left side around his head. Bruno won after roughly 8 min's of stalling and the same of Gui not opening up to force an opportunity. Lackluster and anti-climactic.

De La Riva is the new Blue Belt - even up to the Heavyweights, the DLR was in constant display. My opponent and numerous others were diligent players of the DLR guard and used it to great effect to sweep and unbalance opponents.

Juvenile Blue Belt - the technical and "get after it" Jiu-Jitsu I saw in the Juvenile blue belt was some of the best of the tournament.

Pulling guard to 50/50 - the leg scissor was in full effect at all of the higher belts. More to come on this topic.

Miyao Brothers - the one I saw compete did what I expected: inverted reverse DLR/spiral to backtake and then hunt for RNC.

Bocheca - tough, tough dude. He ran roughshod over a lot of guys in both weight and the absolute.


It was a surprise seeing Lovato lose the ref's decision and not continue on through his bracket.


It was a surprise seeing how quickly Justin Rader got armbarred to wristlocked by Gui Mendes.

Kayron Gracie - stayed cool, calm, and collected while maintaining control throughout most of his matches start to finish.