Second day of the Copenhagen Open black belt results: Braulio, Finfou, Barbosa & more

Braulio Estima gets the tap. Photo: Jesper Aggergaard

The second day of the IBJJF’s event in Copenhagen saw many competitors take to the mats for a second time, along with a few new faces who felt that the faster-paced no-gi event was more their speed and had saved themselves for the later competition. There was also the opportunity for some interesting matches and rematches from those who had missed the opportunity to test themselves against each other day before. The black belt results were as follows:

This time around there were only two competitors in the lightweight division, and the lightweight gi champion Robson Barbosa defeated Poland’s Arek Zienkiewicz to add the no-gi title to his collection for the weekend.

The middleweight division also consisted of a straight final, but it was a final with some history. Thomas Oyarzun of Alliance had defeated Nic Ruben Nikolaisen of Frontline Academy, Norway not just once, but twice the day before in their division. But in the no-gi, it was Nic Ruben who would come out on top, securing the back with hooks to win by 4 points to zero.

Medium-heavyweight was a three-man affair, with local Dane Nic Osei of Checkmat / Arte Suave overcoming Tito Beltran in the first round by advantages, sending Tito across the bracket to face none other than Braulio Estima. Braulio defeated Tito by rear naked choke to keep his submission streak for the weekend alive, and earn his place opposite Nic in the final. After securing a stepover triangle from the top position, Braulio forced the tap from his opponent and acquired his third gold medal of the weekend.

Sadayoshi Kurimori, champion in the gi division the day before, was unfortunately injured and unable to compete on the second day in his heavyweight division. This allowed Maksymilian Wisniewski to pass through to the final, where he would face the winner of Renato Tavares and the USA’s Alberto Crane. After ten minutes of action, Renato managed to outscore Alberto by 4 points to 2 and pass from his side of the bracket to the final. Maksymilian was able to secure an armbar and with it take the the heavyweight championship.

Alan Finfou with the kimura. Photo: Jesper Aggergaard

Finally, for the super-heavyweights there was another three-person division, placing teammates Alan ‘Finfou’ do Nascimento and Chico Mendes of Checkmat on opposite sides of the bracket. Chico faced Michal Bittner of the Czech Republic in his first fight. After a spectacular early takedown by Chico and a long period of top control, Michal was able to secure an armbar from the bottom position and take the come-from-behind victory. With Chico stepping aside for his teammate, the final for the division saw Finfou facing Michal with the aim of avenging his teammate. After an aggressive start, Finfou’s relentless passing and movement allowed him to secure a pass and a kimura lock that gave him the submission victory.

The open class was not quite as busy as the previous day’s, with the number of matches causing competitor numbers to dwindle slightly, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t full of action all the same. Braulio Estima continued his rampage through the competition, defeating Thomas Oyarzun by rear naked choke and Tito Beltran by the ‘Estima Triangle’, and booked his place on one side of the final. On the other side of the bracket, Alberto Crane defeated Karim Khalifa before in turn being defeated by Robson Barbosa by a single advantage, creating the climactic match of the black belt openweight division. After an early takedown, Braulio was able to transition directly into an arm triangle. Although Robson bravely defended for a period, eventually Braulio was able to advance to the mount, lock the submission in tightly, and acquire his final submission of the weekend and concluding his perfect streak.

For full results of the no-gi results at the 2014 IBJJF Copenhagen Open, click here.

For full photo album of day two, click here.