Defying expectations, Gabriel Sousa got past Gianni Grippo in his second match of the tournament and Grippo’s first.
Sousa’s first match was against Max Peter De Been, and it was a clinic. Sousa pulled guard, swept, and then hit a beautiful torreando pass after briefly getting stuck in closed guard. Once he had side control it was the beginning of the end. He quickly moved to mount, took the back, and found a nice collar choke.
Gabriel Sousa was then matched up with Gianni Grippo, who got a bye in the first round.
Both men started off playing a strategic, somewhat tentative game, with Sousa being slightly more aggressive throughout. Right away they double guard pulled, but Grippo came on top to get the advantage. Sousa found the single leg x guard. He transitioned between different x style controls before going for a kneebar, ending up in fifty fifty. They sweep back and forth a couple of times from there.
Sousa insists on the fifty fifty, looking to invert and go back to a leg attack. After one such attack he ends up on top, getting the sweep points. Grippo desperately goes for a toehold, but Sousa ignores it, maintaining top position and winning the match 6-4.
The man who’s been cleaning up at recent US IBJJF events opens, Deandre Corbe waits for Gabriel Sousa in the next round tomorrow.
Brackets for every age and belt category for the IBJJF European Championships 2020 can be found on the IBJJF website here.
This article is part of our coverage of the IBJJF European Championships 2020, click here for the latest news.
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