Tanquinho rewards two points for sweeping Big. Photo: Carlos Ozório.
Igor Silva was one of the competitors to come up big at the World Pro tryouts in Gramado, Brazil. The fighter tapped out aces like Márcio Pé de Pano and Luiz Big Mac in securing a spot for himself in the main event, in Abu Dhabi.
“I had five matches in all and couldn’t have had a better showing. I feel that if I made any mistakes, I made little ones. The first day I started out poorly against Pé de Pano; he caught me in an omoplata and made things rough. On the second day I did better and managed to get my game going just right. It was great!”
The opponent in the final was Big Mac, known for his excellent base. Few are those who have managed to sweep the big fellow, and Igor joined this select group.
“A lot of people told me pulling Big Mac into guard would be insane, but there was no way I could change the game I’d been doing nor could I deal with him standing; Big Mac’s a black belt in judo. I had faith, my sweeps were sharp and, thank God, I managed to sweep at the right moment, besides defending myself when he was attacking. It was the way to go to pull off the win,” said the Muzio De Angelis student in analysis.
With his latest results, Igor now figures among the favorites at black belt. The fighter commented on what he’s doing differently in training:
“I always fought much stronger athletes, so I’m working on my strength a lot more. From heavyweight up the gang is really strong and I improved my strength work. And now, besides training with the gang at Brasa, I’m training at GFTeam. I have a lot of different training partners and that’s helping me a lot. I’m also entering more championships and that’s getting me into rhythm. I won the Asian Open, Rio Open , Euro Open, I’m on a solid series of wins and I want to continue like this,” he says in closing.