Meet the black belt No-Gi world champions

Xande Ribeiro at 2012 No-Gi World Championship / Photo by Ivan Trindade

Here’s how the black belt contest at the 2012 World No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championship played out in Long Beach, California, this Sunday.

ABSOLUTE
FINAL: Xande Ribeiro defeated Leandro Lo by a single advantage point after 0-0 score.
Lo pulled open guard and was actively trying to reposition the whole time, but Xande wouldn’t let him. The 0-0 scoreline remained until the ninth minute, when Xande grabbed one of Lo’s leg and tried stacking his way past. The pressure was so great that Lo was forced to turn on all fours. The resulting advantage point turned out to be decisive. Xande’s “old school” Jiu-Jitsu prevailed.

SUPERHEAVYWEIGHT
FINAL: Xande Ribeiro defeated João Assis via judges’ decision.
Xande Ribeiro and João Assis were the first to compete in an adult black belt final at the tournament. Xande pulled guard and took an advantage-point lead, but Assis drew even with a sweep. Xande then broke ahead with another advantage point, and Assis, knowing he didn’t have much time left, pulled half-guard and attacked Xande’s foot, tying the score in the final second. The three judges scoring the match deemed Xande the champion.

ROOSTERWEIGHT
FINAL: Caio Terra defeated Fabbio Passos via choke from the back.
Caio swiftly took Fabbio’s back and sunk a choke, forcing the Alliance black belt to tap out in just 31 seconds. Could this be the kind of thing Caio’s teaching Carlos Condit?

LIGHT FEATHERWEIGHT
FINAL: Henrique Costa e Silva defeated Rafael “Barata” Freitas by 4-1 on advantage points.
The Alliance black belt brought on topside pressure, took a three-advantage-points lead and won.

FEATHERWEIGHT
FINAL: Rubens Cobrinha outpointed Justin Rader by 13 to 0.
Rubens Cobrinha started out trying to sweep and scored on advantages. The Alliance ace calmly drew Rader to his sting. Towards the end of the match Cobrinha finally struck, sinking a leglock, sweeping and moving to back control. Justin refused to tap out. Cobrinha scored another two points when the pair rolled out of the match area while he had a choke in place as time ran out.

LIGHTWEIGHT
FINAL: Augusto Tanquinho defeated JT Torres on advantage points
With eight minutes of standup action, JT and Augusto Tanquinho put on a show. JT opened the scoring with two advantages from a takedown but got penalized for being passive. Towards the end, Augusto pulled open guard and scored an advantage for sinking a triangle with leverage on the arm, which JT escaped from without worry, but the referees saw it as having been dangerous. Tanquinho won in the final seconds yet again. Dramatic!

MIDDLEWEIGHT
FINAL: DJ Jackson defeated Clark Gracie by 5 to 0.
The pass-savvy DJ Jackson didn’t fall for any of guard-player Clark’s tricks, winning by 5 to 0, while showcasing a sharp pass.

MEDIUM HEAVYWEIGHT
FINAL: Pablo Popovitch defeated Romulo Barral by 3 to 0
The greatly awaited final was prodding along, until Pablo Popovitch woke up halfway through the match and passed Barral’s guard in impressive fashion.

HEAVYWEIGHT
Final: Roberto Tussa defeated Rafael Lovato Jr. via judges’ decision (1-1 on advantage points)
Lovato offered danger the whole time with his guard, but Tussa didn’t quit until making it past his American counterpart’s guard. With one advantage point apiece, the judges gave it to Tussa. Highly technical bout!

ULTRAHEAVYWEIGHT
Final: Roberto Cyborg defeated Gustavo Elias by 6 to 0
Cyborg swept the giant from Gracie Humaitá three times, making good use of his tornado guard.

BROWN BELT ABSOLUTE
FINAL: Keenan Cornelius (Lloyd Irvin) defeated his teammate Wilbur Leonard on points after getting the tapout in all his
other matches.

ABSOLUTE:
FINAL: Tammy Griego defeated Bia Mesquita via judges’ decision.
After beating Luzia Monteiro, Bia took on Tammy, who earlier outpointed Michelle Nicolini. The open weight final was electrifying. Bia took the back to make it 4-2. The Gracie Barra black belt went for all or nothing towards the end, sweeping and drawing even. Tammy was handed the win by the judges for her frenetic flurry late in the match.

FEMALE:
LIGHTWEIGHT: Beatriz Mesquita beat Thayssa Ramos by 3 advantage points to 1 after a 2-2 draw.
Thayssa, a team Avengers rep, swept Bia in the early action, to which the Gracie Humaitá black belt responded with an attempted kneebar, footlock and then armbar to turn the tides on the scoreboard. Thayssa proved she’s a tough nut to crack and withstood till the very end. With 15 seconds left, however, the three judges saw Thayssa to be too passive and docked her two points. With the draw, Bia won on advantage points.

HEAVYWEIGHT
FINAL: Fernanda Mazzelli defeated Tammy Griego by 4-2.
Fernanda swept Tammy early on, but the Gracie Barra black belt didn’t fold. Upon landing on top, Griego pressured for the pass, nearly getting it. Fernanda regrouped, swept and won. Tammy scored two points, but it was too little too late.

LIGHT FEATHERWEIGHT
FINAL: Sofia Amarante defeated Oceane Marie by 2-0.
Sofia swept Oceane seven minutes in and won.

FEATHERWEIGHT
FINAL: Ana Carolina Vidal outpointed Sayaka Shioda by 15 to 0.
For being a bracket of three, Carol had to beat Shida twice this Sunday to become champion. The first time was a drubbing. Shioda got past Jennifer Petrina and went through to the final but lost again, this time by 15 to 0. Ana passed and mounted but did have to endure a sinister leglock from the Japanese fighter.

MIDDLEWEIGHT
FINAL: Luiza Monteiro tapped out Penny Thomas via kneebar
The all-blond bombshell match turned out to be a lesson in defense. Luiza tried an armbar on Penny, who deftly escaped. Penny countered with a takedown, but Luiza tied the score and, with 30 seconds left on the clock, freed herself of Penny’s attack and caught her knee.

ABSOLUTE:

FINAL: Bia Mesquita vs. Tammy Griego

Check out the action photos at the GRACIEMAG Facebook page here!