Pedro Mello was the big standout of this weekend’s South Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
The 2012 South Brazilian Championship crowned its champions this Saturday in São José, Santa Catarina State, Brazil.
There were 50% more competitors in the mix this time around compared to 2011, with 560 competitors taking to the mats.
Pedro Mello of team Gracie Floripa was the biggest winner of them all.
The Alexandre Souza student tapped out the three opponents that stood between him and gold in the absolute black belt division—that after choking out two opponents to win the medium heavyweight contest.
The decider was a short-lived affair, with him quickly taking the back of Gracie Barra’s Hugo Britto and getting the tapout.
The result is a resounding competition return for Mello: “I’d been out of action. I won the South American in 2007 as a black belt. In 2011 I took bronze at the Rio Open and silver at the South American.”
CHECK OUT WHO ELSE PUT ON A GREAT BJJ DISPLAY IN SANTA CATARINA
The winners of the other absolute divisions were: female blue belt Luana Muniz of Gracie Floripa, female purple belt Joana Conti of Rilion Gracie, male blue belt Josemar Brandão of Gracie Floripa, male purple belt Gustavo Santiago of Gracie Floripa, male brown belt Fernando Bonfanti of Rilion Gracie.
In the black belt weight groups, gold went to: Cicero Costha light featherweight José Thiago Barros, Ribeiro JJ featherweight Renato Vieira, Mestre Wilson lightweight Taedes Junior, Gracie Barra middleweight Guilherme Lunes, Gracie Floripa medium heavyweight Pedro Mello, Gracie Barra heavyweight Hugo Britto, Gracie Barra super heavyweight Paulo Victor Velozo Martins (without competing), Sul JJ Caixias do Sul ultraheavyweight Lucas Bernardi Rizzon (without competing).
In the masters and seniors divisions, the absolute black belt winners were: GB’s Leonardo Ramos at master, Elite JJ’s Ronilson Silva at senior 1, Rilion Gracie’s Danilo Rodacki at senior 2, João Roque JJ’s Lucio José dos Anjos at senior 3 (without fighting).
For the South Brazil Jiu-Jitsu Championship team contest, the CBJJ counted the points scored across all the divisions—adult, female, juvenile and masters and seniors. The overall point count saw the following teams place in the top three:
1st – Gracie Florianópolis, 212 pts
2nd – Gracie Barra, 163 pts
3rd – Gueto JJ – 96 pts
Check out the exclusive photo gallery with the best of what went down in São José.
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Photos: Ane Nunes and Ivan Trindade
The post Get a glimpse of the South Brazilian Championship champions in photos first appeared on Graciemag.