2013 Pan: Galvão is the next in line to try to dethrone Buchecha

Marcus Buchehca

Many have tried what Andre Galvão will try tomorrow, at the adult male black belt open class final.

The leader of Atos JJ San Diego already said that he is going to give his best to take the crown off of Marcus Buchecha’s head.

Last year, Buchecha closed out the absolute at the Pan with teammate Antonio “Cara de Sapato” Barbosa, and then went to dominate the absolute also at the 2012 World Championship.

This Saturday, in Irvine, the Brazilian ultra-heavyweight displayed once again an incredible amount of pressure and attack variations.

In the open class, in four fights, first he tapped Nathan Mendelsohn from the side control; then he caught Marcel Goulart with a triangle; the third match was against Guto Campos and although the tap out didn’t happen, the 19-2 score was proof enough of Buchecha’s superiority.

In the semifinal, Buchecha faced fellow world champion Bernardo Faria.

A takedown in the beginning put Buchecha in the lead, but Bernardo managed to make his trademark move work and swept the opponent from the deep half guard.

Buchecha soon swept back and worked the pass and a knee on the belly two times to close the score at 12-2.

Still humble, Buchecha talked about his performance: “The Pan is a very tough competition and I’m happy I got to be in the open class final. All my opponents were really well rounded and gave me a lot of work to beat them.”

Then he talked about Galvão, his opponent to be: “What can I say about him? He is a world champion, an ADCC champion, a real beast.”

Galvão also did not have an easy ride at the Bren Events Center.

First he beat Max Freitas with an armbar, then he choked Tanner Rice from the back.

The third fight against Orlando Sanchez was only decided by the referee, after a 0-0 tie.

“I tried everything, omoplata, choking from the guard, sweeping, but the guy was just too strong and heavy to bulge,” said Galvão.

The semifinal was against Nivaldo Lima, kind of a underdog, once he defeated world champion Leo Nogueira in the quarterfinals.

Galvão himself explains what happened in the fight: “Nivaldo has a very annoying guard, with a lot of strong sweeps, so I decided to play guard and get the sweep myself, which I did. Then he tried to sweep me back but I was able to resist.”

The 2-0 score secured his spot and the chance to dethrone Buchecha: “He is the absolute black belt world champion, so I don;t need to say much about him, All I gonna say is that it’s not going to be easy for him,” promised Galvão.

Here is an exclusive interview GracieMag did with the finalists.

Here is an exclusive photo gallery of the black belt open class this Saturday.

[flickr set=72157633074864102]

For the full coverage, go to GracieMag’s Google+ Page.