This Saturday, at Sports Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, another round of tryouts for April’s World Pro event in Abu Dhabi was held. The big standout was Marcus Bochecha. The CheckMat black belt beat all his opponents both in the over-92 kg division and the absolute. In both divisions, Bochecha had Antonio Braga Neto as his opponent in the gold-medal-deciding match, winning via points on both occasions. Now, besides fattening up his bank account with the five-thousand-dollar payout for the absolute, he heads to Abu Dhabi with all expenses paid.
Bochecha on Braga Neto's back / Foto: John Lamonica
In the under-92 kg division, Kevin Casey took top spot. Kron Gracie and Rômulo Barral didn’t face off in the under-83 kg decider. Both went into the match on the back of submission wins, but Rômulo felt pain in his knee – the same knee that kept him out of the World 2010 final against Roger Gracie.
In the under-74 kg division, Zak Maxwell qualified, while Caio Terra again trampled all his opponents to take the under-65 kg division.
The Las Vegas tryouts were produced by Abu Dhabi Pro, a company run by black belt Fernando Paradeda. The next two events will be the San Diego tryouts, on March 5 and 6, and the ones in Gramado, on March 19 and 20. Find out more at www.abudhabiprojj.com.