The XI Long Island Pride tournament this past weekend in Queens, New York, had 352 competitors from 56 different schools, some coming from as far as Ecuador. The event was well organized and had some very good matches including a superfight between black belts Daniel Tavares from SAS Team and Kevin Sheridan from Alliance, both of whom took the match on short notice as Hermes Franca had to pull out a couple of days earlier from the previously advertised match between him and Jared Wiener.
Photos: Dan Rod
Milton Almeida, one of the event’s promoters, said that his goal was to continue to promote and expand Jiu Jitsu in the area by continuing following the same guidelines and rules as the IBJJF. At the end of the tournament, the real winner was the gentle art itself, when, in the last match of the night for the Purple Open Class, Rafael Fernandes with 145 lbs beat Nick Liaskos from Ricardo Almeida at 205 lbs with a baseball choke, showing, once again, how with proper technique a smaller opponent can overtake someone weighting almost 50% more. The next Long Island Pride event is scheduled for May 22nd.
Overall results:
KIDS DIVISION
1st place with 46 points GRACIE BARRA LI
2nd place very close with 44 points KIOTO BJJ
3rd place with 40 points MAXMUM
ADULT DIVISION
1st place KIMURABJJ 135 points
2nd place KIOTOBJJ 96 points
3rd place RENZO GRACIE 69 points