On May 10 the third season of the Copa Podio lightweight grand prix will be held in the Botafogo Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro. The names of the ten athletes come from five different countries with the majority right from Brazil. All are black belts, except for Marcio Andre and Hamzeh Rasheed.
The names will be randomly drawn and distributed into two groups: green or yellow. Each athlete will have a six-minute match with every other member of their own team, win or lose. Points will be earned through winning a match by submission, winning a match by points and a draw. No points will be awarded for defeat but win or lose, every athlete will have five matches.
The top two athletes from each group will face each other, the semi-finalist of green vs the finalist of yellow and vice versa. The finals will determine the overall winner of the grand prix.
The list of athletes is as follows:
Leandro Lo – Brazil (2-time black belt world champion)
Fernando Vieira – Brazil (2004 black belt world champion)
Luca Anacoreta – Italy (European champion 2-time brown belt, third black belt)
Victor Silverio – Brazil (Brazilian nationals champion brown belt go and no-gi)
Marcio Andre – Brazil (European champion brown belt, WPJJC champion brown belt)
Gianni Grippo – United States (Pan silver medalist black belt)
Simone Franceschini – Italy (European champion brown belt, third black belt)
Gilbert Durinho Burns – Brazil (2011 black belt world champion)
Hamzeh Rasheed – Jordan (Abu Dhabi Cup open weight champion brown belt)
Gregor Gracie – Brazil (ADCC bronze 2009, MMA 7-4)
City Challenge: Ottaviano “La Maquina” (Buenos Aires) vs. Abraham Marte (Dominican Republic)
No-Gi Challenge: Igor Gracie (Renzo Gracie) vs. Haider Rasheed (Team Mirza, Jordan)
You can purchase the livestream of the event and see the schedule at www.copapodio.com
UPDATE: Here are the chosen groups:
