João Gabriel turned the game around against Erberth Santos and got a big round of applause. Beatriz Lina.
The black belt absolute division of the 2017 Pan kicked off this Saturday. To define the finalists that will fight for the gold this Sunday, men and women went at it on the mats assembled in Irvine, Calif.
After all was said and done, the men’s final had been shaped to pit Leandro Lo (Brotherhood), against João Gabriel Rocha (Soulfighters).
Leandro Lo passes Nicholas Meregali’s guard to reach the final. IBJJF.
To secure his spot in the final, Lo beat Lucas Rocha, Dany Gerard and Nicholas Meregali — the latter of which had beaten Otávio Nalati, Mahamed Aly and Alexander Trans. A semifinal match saw Lo pass Meregali’s guard.
Meanwhile, João Gabriel got through Admilson Gobi and Lucas Lepri before meeting Erberth Santos in a semifinal. Santos, who had beaten Raphael Souza, Matheus Diniz and Ricardo Evangelista, was leading after scoring four points, but João Gabriel managed to react and score 12 points — and then sank a kata-gatame.
Tayane Porfírio beat Bianca Basílio and Bia Mesquita to make it to the absolute final. Beatriz Lina.