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Tuesday, May 20, 2003

Abu Dhabi Day 2 Crowns Champions:leozinho & Garcia Dominateand Lister Emerges In The Absolute!:



Abu Dhabi Day 2 Crowns Champions:
Leozinho & Garcia Dominate
and Lister Emerges in the Absolute!:

By Eduardo Alonso

      The second day of competition of the Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World championship 2003 finished the competitions on the mats at the Ibirapuera Gymnasium, in Sao Paulo Brazil, this Sunday May 18th. After all the struggles and uncertainties regarding the famous tournament, it was great to finally see all of the champions crowned. And most importantly the event showed some amazing grapplers at the top of their games, proving that the sport is evolving and there’s no huge favorites anymore. Some amazing surprises and great battles took place, with the downside of the event being the lack of paying audience, and the unexplainable treatement towards the press on the first day of competition, which made it nearly impossible to get a decent picture of the first fights, even for the most experienced photographers. However, the balance is positive and day 2 of Abu Dhabi brought the finals of each division as well as the entire absolute brackets.
      In the up-to-66kg division, Leonardo Vieira completed his amazing showdon beating Barret Yoshida and proving he was on a different level at Abu Dhabi 2003. Vieria dominated all of his fights and earned his title in great fashion, leaving no questions unanswered. Another amazing fighter in the tournament was Fabio Gurgel student Marcelo Garcia. Garcia just ran over the competition in the up-to-77kg, beating names like Renzo Gracie and choking out Vitor Shaolin Ribeiro, to finally defeat Otton Oslon in the final. Marcelo was so impressive that he also won the prize for the most technical athelete on the competition. In the up-to-88kg category, veteran Saulo Ribeiro took home the gold surprising the always impressively improving Ronaldo Jacare in the finals, and showing Saulo is still one of the best in the world, with a strong game in every aspect. Marcio "Pe de Pano" Cruz proved why he was the favorite in the above 99kg division, by winning the finals against Fabricio Werdum, showing very solid ground skills, but he unfortunately turned the crowd against him due to his antics. Oddly enough he would lose to Werdum in the 3rd place match in the absolute. The biggest surprise of the finals was probably Norwish fighter John Olav Einemo winning the up to 99kg division, susprising the favorite Alexandre Cacareco with a choke! Einemo was a huge underdog in the tournament, and someone must have made good money betting on him.

Lister (right) working a submission on Cacareco
Lister (right) vs. Cacareco


      The absolute division saw another surprising champion being crowned! KOTC Champion Dean Lister went to the arena just to watch the second day of competition, since he wasn’t cogitated to be in the absolute, but due to injuries and such, he ended up participating in the brackets and bringing home the title! In an amazing Absolute run, he defeated Mario Cruz in the semifinal, getting his back in the last seconds of the fight, tapped out Saulo Ribeiro in the quarterfinals and amazingly tapped out Alexandre Cacareco in the final, showing why he is considered great at leglocks and toeholds. Needless to say, Dean was all smiles after the competition as he was probably the biggest underdog to become Absolute champion in ADCC’s history, and earned the right to do a superfight next year. Here are the final results of the event:
Up to 66kg Division:
1st Leonardo Vieira (Brazil)
2nd Barret Yoshida (USA)
3rd Royler Gracie (Brazil)

Up to 77kg Division:
1st Marcelo Garcia (Brazil)
2nd Otton Oslon (USA)
3rd V

posted by Full Contact Fighter @ 8:00 pm
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