Léo Nogueira mountes Braga Neto in the Heavyweight GP semifinal (Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com).
At this Sunday’s Copa Pódio Heavyweight GP, Léo Nogueira only lost to Rodolfo Vieira.
After tying with Keenan Cornelius, Léo took on and beat Xande Ribeiro and some more aces on his way up to the GP final.
Léo succumbed to GFTeam’s Vieira twice, first by a score of 9 to 0, next by 3 to 1 on advantage points in the grand finale.
Speaking with GRACIEMAG.com this Monday, after having reflected on his campaign, Léo addressed the two losses.
“Rodolfo’s a champion. But I do feel I missed two great opportunities to sweep him in the final. Once halfway through the match, and the other at the very end. I have to work on that game more,” he explained.
“I’m going to add some variations to my half-guard. I have to unbalance Rodolfo from more angles to get the sweep,” he said, revealing his new strategy, before weighing in about the innovative tournament.
“I had a good campaign. I gradually got better with every match. The toughest one was against Xande [Ribeiro]. He’s a phenomenal athlete, and I’ve always been a fan of his. Fighting him is always tough,” he said. “Now Cornelius came on strong. He showed he’s got an excellent guard, gave the veterans more than they could chew. This year he’ll win the Worlds at weight and open weight as a brown belt,” said the Alliance representative, who hopes to schedule some seminars and compete at the European Open.
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