Rodolfo Vieira is the back-to-back WPJJC absolute champion.
Temperatures in Abu Dhabi can easily exceed 122 degrees in summer.
Despite the proximity of the desert of Arabia, the locals say it is a stifling heat, damp.
Rodolfo Vieira feels at home in Abu Dhabi.
A native of Campo Grande, west of Rio de Janeiro, Rodolfo is used to heat and humidity.
“In Campo Grande it’s not so much heat, but Meier, where the academy of Master Julio Cesar is, is too hot,” jokes Rodolfo.
In this Saturday, April 14, Rodolfo proved once again that he feels at home in the UAE!
By defeating Roberto Alencar in the -94kg and then Andre Galvao in the open, two-time absolute world champion Rodolfo reached the mark of six golds across the various editions of the WPJJC.
Before the eyes of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, patron of the event, the Rio native has become undoubtedly the supreme leader of the Emirate of Jiu-Jitsu.
In the absolute final, a balanced confrontation with Galvao.
A takedown opened the scoring, but the São Paulo native countered with a beautiful sweep.
Rodolfo returned to the lead on the scoreboard with another sweep.
By the end, Andre prevented Rodolfo from passing his guard, but failed to equal the score.
After the fight, two interesting pieces of analysis, first from Galvão: “He [Rodolfo] is very balanced on top and is very well trained in judo. Now I’ll train harder and I beat him at the Worlds, in Long Beach,” he promised.
Rodolfo answered: “I hope he’s wrong. I’m no psychic to say whether I win or not, but I will train even stronger for the Worlds. Andre is very tough, but I used my usual game plan, throwing and trying to pass guard. This time I could not pass, but I won,”he said.
Gabi also crowned and more Jiu-Jitsu
Among the women, Gabi Garcia wrote another chapter to her supremacy in the category.
She first defeated Maria Malyjasiak 7-0 in the +72 kg and then scored 3 x 2 in Beatriz Mesquita, the absolute.
About the tight scoring in the open class final, Gabi was frank: “I took the lead and decided not to take risks. In the end the judge punished me with two points, but I was safe.”
Michelle Nicolini took advantage of an injured ankle to finish Kyra Gracie, Luanna Alzuguir beat Luiza Monteiro by an advantage; Fernanda Mazelli did the same thing against Jessica Oliveira, and Nyjah Easton routed Samara Reis, notching 17-0.
Back in the men’s division, Fernando Vieira Thiago defeated Baker 3-1 on advantages; Samuel Canquerino scored 15-0 on Raphael dos Santos, Roberto Satoshi defeated Lucas Lepri 2-0; Claudio Calasans Jr. outscored Lucas Leite 2-0, Andre Galvao submitted Vitor Toledo from the back, Rodolfo Vieira finished Roberto Alencar by armbar, Xande Ribeiro defeated Bernardo Faria 2-0, Marcus Buchecha finished Antonio Braga Neto by ankle lock.
Kudos to Xande Ribeiro for his incredible sweep on Bernardo Faria, seconds from the end, to turn the tides on the scoreboard, and then there were also some super submissions: Galvao did not relieve teammate Vitor Toledo, and Bochecha found the foot of Braga Neto in less than a minute.
Check out an exclusive photo gallery of the emotions this Saturday WPJJC 2012.
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Photos: Ivan Trindade and Luca Atalla
The post WPJJC 2012: Rodolfo supreme in the Jiu-Jitsu Emirate first appeared on Graciemag.