BJJ Stars: The Return marked the return of superfights events to Brazil.
The night of this Saturday, July 25, is one for the history of jiu-jitsu. With Brazil still counting an average 1,000 daily deaths from the coronavirus, BJJ Stars, led by the promoter Fepa Lopes, delivered a high-level tournament in São Paulo while following a rigorous protocol of safety an hygiene, marking the return of BJJ competitions in the country. On the card, there were 12 duels with elite black-belts.
The main fight saw Kaynan Duarte (Atos) defeat João Gabriel Rocha (Double Five), who replaced an injured Felipe Preguiça on short notice, by points. Before that, Lucas Hulk of Atos beat Leandro Lo (NS Brotherhood) on points as well. Additionally, Patrick Gaudio (Alliance/DreamArt) had a highly anticipated rematch with Erberth Santos, winning by advantages.
Read about the most important moments below.
Kaynan fights smart, and João gets injured
In the final match of the night, Kaynan Duarte and João Gabriel had a technical duel. Kaynan, following his normal strategy, pulled guard with the intent to sweep and get ahead. But as he pulled haphazardly, Kaynan didn’t think twice before turning to the 50/50 to avoid the danger of João fighting on top with his weight and pressure. With lots of adjusting, Kaynan came up to score two points, but João promptly responded. With 4-4 on the board, still on the 50/50, João came up with his knee tangled, and felt pain. Arguing with the doctors, João asked to keep fighting. Kaynan came up to gain a lead of 6-4 and got rid of the guard. Even hurt, João tried to take him down and fought until the end, but the numbers remained at 6-4, giving Kaynan the win. Now Kaynan leads João in their encounters, 2 to 1.
Lucas takes Lo down
In the penultimate fight, Lucas Hulk wasted no time. In the first seconds, he shot for a successful takedown, scoring two points. On top and with firm grips, Hulk avoided the unpredictable guard of Lo, who was moving between the foot on bicep, the lasso and a sitting guard, trying to unbalance Hulk. With Lo visibly tired at the end, Hulk exploded, leaving Lo’s guard and trying to get his back. Lo defended, but wound up having Hulk on his back trying to choke him. Lo avoided the choke, but Hulk’s two-point advantage persisted to the end.
Patrick attacks and scores to beat Erberth
In one of the matches the fans were most hungry for, Patrick Gaudio and Erberth Santos took their social media spat to the mat. The fight was tense at first, with a lot of caution all around. After two penalties and one advantage each, for lack of combativeness, Patrick pulled guard and spun under Erberth, coming out on the leg lock. Erberth foiled the move by spinning his knee, and Patrick scored an advantage. Erberth tried to employ a leg lock of his own, but was ineffective. Then Erberth pulled and tried to sweep, but Patrick controlled on top and won with a 2-1 lead on advantages.
Also noteworthy were Gabriel Napão’s winning armbar over Léo Leite at the last second of their match, Isaque Bahiense’s ezequiel choke on Claudio Calasans, and the north-south choke applied by Serginho Moraes to beat Luis Marques.
Complete results:
BJJ STARS: THE RETURN
São Paulo, SP
July 25, 2020
Kaynan Duarte def. João Gabriel Rocha, 6-4 points
Lucas Hulk def. Leandro Lo, 2-0 points
Patrick Gaudio def. Erberth Santos, 2-1 advantages
Gabriel Napão def. Léo Leite, armbar
Isaque Bahiense def. Cláudio Calasans, ezequiel
Gabriel Rollo def. Caio Almeida, bow-and-arrow
Anna Rodrigues def. Bia Basílio, 3-1 advantages
Sérginho Moraes def. Luis Marques, north-south
Meyham Maquine def. Cleber Clandestino, 8-6 points
Charles Duende def. Gustavo Ximu, 1-0 advantages
Renata Marinho def. Sabatha Lais, 4-2 points
Marcos Petcho def. Robinho Jesus, 4-0 points