Gabriel Vella defeated Roberto Cyborg at the 2013 Dallas Open
Black belt Gabriel Vella is 30 pounds lighter.
His secret is simple: “I cut gluten completely and I don’t eat any carbs or sugar after 4 p.m., only proteins and salads.”
The weight cut meant more gas and speed to Gabriel, but also a loss: “With the weight I lost some strength as well,” he revealed.
This Sunday, May 5, in Denton, Texas, Gabriel displayed his new shape during the adult black belt open class division.
In two fights, he armbared Nic Ruben and then waged a 10-minute war against Roberto “Cyborg”Abreu, won with a takedown and the 2-0 lead.
Besides weight division, Vella also changed addresses. He is now living in California: “I decided to leave São Paulo, where I was teaching at the same place for the last five years and came here to compete and to teach. My goal is to open an academy in the USA,” said Vella, who is training both at Street Sports BJJ, in Santa Monica, and eventually at Fabio Leopoldo’s Gracie Morumbi.
Vella, 33, is looking ahead and is already thinking in his new challenge, roughly a month away: “I’m considering competing at the Worlds!”
As Vella, everyone else in the Jiu-Jitsu community is now thinking about the next event in the calendar, the most important of them all.
The 2013 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship kicks off next May 29 and stretches for an unprecedented 5-days.
Click HERE to register for the 2013 Worlds.
At the last stop of the Gentle Art bandwagon, the 2013 Dallas Open was a success.
Mackenzie defeated Fabiana Borges at the Dallas Open
Among the black belt women, Mackenzie Dern rested in her weight category to claim the open class gold in two fights.
First she choked Sofia Amarante from the back and then she defeated Fabiana Borges 4-2, with one takedown and one sweep.
In the master and senior divisions, a Gracie Barra domination.
In the master black belt open class division, Fábio Villela defeated Alex Nascimento 6-0 for the gold.
In the Senior 1 division, the absolute title went to Erik Wanderlei, who closed the bracket with teammate Tyler Bosard.
The other black belt champions were:
Male
Light-feather: Luiz Sergio Correa closed out with Gustavo Carpio (Carpio took gold)
Feather: Denilson Pimenta closed out with Italo Silva (Italo took gold)
Middle: Carlos Diego choked out Albert Hughes
Heavy: Diego Gamonal was alone in the bracket
Super-Heavy: Gabriel Vella was alone in the bracket
Ultra-Heavy: Roberto Cyborg choked out Luis Rubalcava
Female
Light-feather: Nyjah Easton defeated Sofia Amarante by Refs Decision
Feather: Mackenzie Dern was alone in the bracket
Light: Thayssa Silva won by WO over Fabiana Borges
In the Teams Overall competition, the standings were:
1 – Nova União – 243
2 – Gracie Barra – 189
3 – KG BJJ – 127
Watch an exclusive video with the highlights fo the two adult black belt open class finals.
Go to our Google+ Page for the complete coverage of the 2013 Dallas Open.
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