The winners at the WPJJ Trials in Gramado

Bochecha finalizou todas as lutas até chegar a final e foi o grande nome do evento. Contra Léo Nogueira, meteu 11 a 2. Foto: Ivan Trindade.

Before the clock struck 6 pm, all the winners at the Gramado tryouts for the WPJJ were settled, and next up for them now is all-expenses-paid travel to Abu Dhabi in April.

65kg: Isaque Paiva submitted Bruno Frazatto via triangle at 5:47 min.

74kg: Davi Ramos outpointed Thiago Baiano by 2 to 0 (takedown).

83kg: Victor Bonfim outpointed Guto Campos by 2 to 0 (sweep).

92kg: Alexandre Souza outpointed Tarsis Humphreys by 4 to 0 (back mount).

+92kg: Marcus Bochecha outpointed Leonardo Nogueira by 11 to 2.

Female:

63kg: Luanna Alzuguir submitted Erika Almeida via kneebar.

+63kg: Fernanda Mazzeli defeated Talita Treta via judges’ decision.

The most surprising elite Sunday match-up had Aryzinho Farias pulling guard on the always dangerous Isaque Paiva right off the bat. He took the lead with a reversal, but the lithe Isaque’s legs were unyielding. Ary took a caution that tied up the score, and Isaque went on to win the judges’ decision. Paiva’s opponent in the final would be Bruno Frazatto, Ary’s teammate at Atos and the one elected the most technical of the tryouts. Bruno started out better, looking good to tame the wily legs of the smiley Paiva. Bruno was winning by an advantage point when Isaque launched an assault that ended with a triangle in the final minute. Frazatto held his breath, tried his best but couldn’t withstand the pressure, tapping out 13 seconds from the end of the match. In celebrating, the Saikoo team black belt couldn’t resist the urge to celebrate and rushed to the VIP area to celebrate – where the likes of Minotauro was watching. The rules are clear; you can’t leave the match area, and the young revelation of the event was thus disqualified. But after his hand was raised and he was promptly booed, Bruno had a word with the referee, who subsequently awarded Isaque the win.

DAVI SHOWS MIGHT AT UNDER-76KG

In the under-74kg division, Davi Ramos showed why he’s widely considered one of the best in the weight class. He started out by taking down and getting back control on up-and-comer Rodrigo Aquiles, an Elan Santiago and Alexandre Paiva student at Alliance Rio. With 6-0 on the scoreboard, Davi hovered on his opponent’s back the entire match, until the six regulation minutes were up. “He messed up early on, but he doesn’t yet have the mileage it takes to face someone as tough as Davi on even terms. The result could be expected,” remarked Paiva.

In the final against Thiago Baiano, a CheckMat rep who submitted Caloquinha and Tiago Rocha (Alliance) with footlocks, Davi left no openings. They started out attacking each other’s feet, but Davi imposed his game, scoring 2-0 and attacking the guard and then the back without scoring. The Atos ace is now through to Abu Dhabi.

BONFIM SWEEPS GUTO CAMPOS

In the under-83kg division, Guto Campos and Eduardo “Português” Santoro had the most heavily anticipated semifinal match, but Guto only one by attacking more, from bottom position. The thriller was between the relentless Victor Bonfim and Rodrigo Pimpolho, where Bonfim landed a Hail Mary takedown that tied the score at 2-2. A well-deserved win for Victor on advantage points, having kept up the pressure and attacked the entire time against someone with as sharp a sweep as Pimpolho.

In the final, Guto started out better and mercilessly from top position, scoring two advantage points. But at the halfway mark, Victor landed a well timed sweep from which Campos was unable to recover. Bonfim nearly rushed to the crowd to celebrate, but remembered the rules in time and stayed within the competition area.

SOUZA BEATS TARSIS WITH HIGH PRESSURE JIU-JITSU

In the under-92kg action, the very first Abu Dhabi World Pro absolute champ, Tarsis Humphreys, returned from injury and put on a barnburner against Alexandro Ceconi this Sunday, turning on the pressure and winning by 2-0.

In the final against a relaxed Alexandre Souza, who himself has been missing, Tarsis started out playing on bottom, where he was unable to withstand the pressure wielded by the teacher at Gracie Floripa, who made it to side- and then back-control. Tarsis held out, not tapping to the choke but ultimately losing anyways.

BOCHECHA SCORES QUICK 9-0 ON NOGUEIRA

The heavyweight final had Marcus Bochecha taking on Léo Nogueira, who put in a splendid performance on Saturday, in a repeat of the 2011 World Championship final. Bochecha, who submitted all his opposition in Gramado, commented to GRACIEMAG.com about the re-encounter.

“Léo and I trained together back when I was a kid. That final took a while for me to come to terms with, since it was the first time I ever let a match end in a draw. I think at the Worlds I let him stall some and, as I don’t put together strategies, I got desperate and opened my guard haphazardly at that point, when he scored. It’ll be a rough one again. Let’s see what happens,” said Bochecha before their showdown.

After routing the Alliance guard-playing ace 11-2, Bochecha remarked:

“I felt he was going to try and hold me back to sweep more towards the end, so I surprised him with a blitz early on. I took him down, passed and mounted, scoring 9-0. That’s hard to come back from in a six-minute match. I think at that point he didn’t have it in him to rally back,” said the big name of the qualifying tournament, having even sunk an armbar on Nogueira, who defended well.

What do you think, gentle reader; who was the big name at the Gramado tryouts? Comment below!