Abu Dhabi Queen of the Mats took place on January 17th and the first ever Heavyweight edition of the tournament delivered more than enough action. The tournament featured six of the best female grapplers available split into two groups of three. The groups followed a Round Robin format where each competitor was guaranteed two matches, with the top two ranked from each group progressing to the Semi-Finals. From that point it was a straight knockout round leading into the Final and Third Place playoff.
Group A Results
Gabrieli Pessanha v Thamara Silva – After conceding the first 4 points of the match, Pessanha launched a fantastic comeback when she passed Silva’s guard and settled into mount. Leading 6-4 on the scoreboards, Pessanha managed to sink in a Rear Naked Choke towards the end of the match.
Martina Gramenius v Gabrieli Pessanha – This match was incredibly even right up until Gabrieli managed to secure a backtake and score the only points of the match. She took the 4-0 lead all the way to the end of regulation time to win the match on points.
Thamara Silva v Martina Gramenius – The pressure was on in this match as Pessanha had already guaranteed her spot in the Semi-Finals. This was evident from Silva’s pace as she put constant pressure on Gramenius to score the biggest points difference of the group stages, winning 9-1.
Group B Results
Kendall Reusing v Samantha Cook – Reusing put on a fantastic display of pressure passing and a very heavy top game. While she wasn’t in much trouble, Cook did everything she could to avoid being scored on until the time ran out and Reusing took the victory 3-1.
Nathiely De Jesus v Kendall Reusing – Three time IBJJF world champion De Jesus showed exactly why she was one of the favorites going into the tournament here. She worked from guard before finishing Reusing early with a Kimura.
Samantha Cook v Nathiely De Jesus – In fine form again, De Jesus stamped her name on the group stages as the only woman to finish both matches. This time she worked her way to the back before finishing Cook with a choke.
Semi-Finals
Gabrieli Pessanha v Kendall Reusing – Despite having fought numerous times before, this match was nothing like their previous meetings. Normally known for technical back-and-forth action, Pessanha instead took Reusing’s back early and kept building her lead before making it to 11-0 at the end of the match.
Nathiely De Jesus v Thamara Silva – If the first two matches were impressive, De Jesus’ performance here was something special. She needed less than a minute to hit a slick backtake and finish the Silva with another choke from the back.
Third-Place Playoff
Thamara Silva v Kendall Reusing – The match started relatively even but Reusing managed to use her superb guard game to score a few sweeps and take an early lead in points. It wasn’t long before Silva got back in the game though and ended up taking the decision.
Abu Dhabi Queen Of The Mats Final
Gabrieli Pessanha v Nathiely De Jesus – This was the closest match of the day as the first few minutes went by without either fighter able to score a single point. Both De Jesus and Pessanha are at the very top of the food chain and neither one was willing to over-commit in case they made a mistake. Pessanha managed to hit a sweep late in the match to go 2-1 up on points and this was how the match stayed until the very end. After the full eight minutes against one of the best female BJJ athletes around right now, Pessanha was able to celebrate as Queen Of The Mats.
For full results of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Pro Tour taking place between 16th-18th January, click here.
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