under 76.9 Kg « ADCC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BARCELONA 2009

Leo Santos

September 6, 2009 — ADCC BARCELONA

Home: Brasil
Style: brazilian jiu-jitsu/submission fighting
Team: Nova União
Division: under 76.9 Kg

MMA Record: 6 – 3 – 0 (67% of victories by submission)

Leo Santos is one of the most important light-weight fighters in the history of brazilian jiu-jitsu. He won everything and everyone in BJJ tournaments before he starts fighting MMA.

Leo is famous for his butterfly guard and for his really nice sweeps, but all professional fighters have to be complete on their game and have to adapt depending on who you are fighting. A good example is the fight he did against Zulu, the best brazilian wrestler at that time, at the ADCC trials 2005:

Zulu knew that Leo was better on the ground and was waiting the first five minutes. After that he took Leo down, making the 2 points, and then tried to hold him down to the end of fight-time. Leo realised Zulu was just waiting and did a surprise attack, concluding with the best take-down of the tournament, winning the 2005 trials.

At the 2005 ADCC World Championship, Leo Santos faced great fighters, but the most commented fight was the beautifully flying armbar he did on GSP as you can see below:

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: 2009, adcc, barcelona, bio, butterfly guard, flying arm-bar, georges st pierre, gsp, leo, leo santos, leonardo, mma, nova uniao, profile, record, santos, spain, video, world, zulu. 1 Comment »

Gregor Gracie

September 5, 2009 — ADCC BARCELONA

Born in 1986
Home: Brasil
Style: BJJ/submission fighting
Team: Renzo Gracie
Division: under 76.9 Kg

MMA record: 2 – 1 – 0

The Gracie family is still the reference when you talk about brazilian jiu-jitsu. First because they’ve developed the style to the higher level which conquered the world in the beginnings of the 90′s. Now Roger Gracie is dominating all BJJ tournaments in a way never seen before. Gracies, as everybody knows, are a huge family and their business is fighting. So they will always have big names at BJJ and MMA scene.

Gregor is one of the Gracie names we will hear a lot. He already have a successful career at BJJ and that starts to pop up at MMA: With only 23 years old he has three MMA fights (2 – 1 – 0). Gregor is two times World champion, Brazilian champion, Pan-Am champion and two times National Teams champion. He basically won every major competition he has been!

This year Gregor is going to compete at under 77 Kg division at ADCC Barcelona 2009. This is the same division as Kron Gracie. It would be interesting to see two Gracie competing against each other… But for that to happen we can’t forget that they will, depending on the brackets, have to pass through names like Marcelo Garcia, Ben Askren and Pablo Popovich, which is a very difficult task for any fighter in the world.

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: 2009, adcc, adcc barcelona 2009, barcelona, ben askren, bio, BJJ, family, gracie, gregor, jiu jitsu, kron, marcelo garcia, mma, pablo popovich, pan ams champion, profile, record, renzo, spain, video, world champion. Leave a Comment »

Bill Cooper

August 21, 2009 — ADCC BARCELONA

billcooper01

Nickname: The Grill
Home: California – USA
Style: BJJ/Submission Fighting
Team: Paragon
Division: under 76.9 Kg

We have seen some North-Americans competing at top level Bjj and Submission Fighting for the last years, people like Bj Penn, Rafael Lovato, Baret Yoshida, Dean Lister and some others did a great job because of their incredible talent, but we can’t forget that most of them have been many times to Brazil, staying their to train and compete, and some times for a long period.

Now you don’t need to go to Brazil anymore if you want to train with the best and compete against the best, most of the best Bjj fighters live now in USA and the most important tournament is there to, and the result for that is the new American generation that is coming with an amazing grappling game, they are not yet at their full potential but many of them like Ryan Hall, Jeff Glover, Justin Rader or Bill Cooper are very young, and when you see a fighters around 20 years doing what they are doing now and you think they are going to be at their best in four or five years you wonder what is going to be the future of Bjj and Submission Fighting.

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: adcc barcelona, bill cooper, BJJ, jeff glover, justin rader, ryan hall, usa. Leave a Comment »

Ben Askren

August 17, 2009 — ADCC BARCELONA

AskrenB Nickname: Funky
Born in 1984
Home: USA
Style: Werstling/Submission Figthing
Team: ATT
Division: under 76.9 Kg

Werstling record:

HS Achievements
2x State champion career record of 153-7
Runner-up NHSCA senior nationals
Junior national FS champion 2002, 4th place 2001
Cadet greco-roman 5th place 2000
Wisconsin state record most takedowns in a season
2x 371(1999-2000) 401(2000-2001)

College Achievements
2x National Champion
4x National Finalist
3x Big XII champion
4th most pins in NCAA Div 1 history (91)
2x Dan Hodge Award Winner
2x Wade Schalles Award Winner
2006-2007 Big 12 Athlete of the year

Post Collegiate Career
2008 US Nationals Champion
2008 Olympian

Askren is the most decorated wrestler to ever come from the University of Missouri. He was a four-time NCAA finalist, winning the 174-pound crown for the Tigers in 2006 and 2007. Those same years he also won the Hodge Trophy as most dominating college wrestler. While at the Columbia, Missouri school, he scored at record-setting 153 wins, 87 coming consecutively during the course of his junior and senior seasons, 91 career falls and 29 single-season pins. He was also a three-time Big 12 champ.

Askren has taken this season off from wrestling and has focused on mixed martial arts. He’s won his first two fights and has another fight coming up later this month. He also plans to compete in a big grappling event that is coming up in Europe. source: www.examiner.com

“I got big news this mornign that I got invited to the Abu Dhabi Combat Championships, which is the biggest grappling tourney in the world. I am pumped, but I gotta get real good real fast or I wll get my ankle torn off. It will be in Barcelona on Spet 26.” http://www.benaskren.net/blog/post

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: 174 pound, adcc, barcelona, big 12 champ, europe, hodge trophy, ncaa, olympian, pins, usa, wrestling. Leave a Comment »

Milton Vieira

August 9, 2009 — ADCC BARCELONA

Nickname: Miltinho
Born in 1978
Home: Rio de Janeiro – Brazil
Style: luta-livre/BJJ/submission fighting
Team: Brazilian Top Team
Division: under 76.9 Kg

MMA Record: 9 – 6 – 1 (67% of victories by submission)

Milton Vieira has been invited to ADCC Barcelona 2009 because of his submission fighting agressive style. At ADCC Brazilian trials he was always fighting foward and taking risks. This luta-livre and BJJ black belt is famous for his arm-triangle and his anaconda-choke, the very same submission used at ADCC Absolute final in 2007 by Drysdale.

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: 2009, adcc, barcelona, BJJ, btt, invites, jiu, luta livre, miltinho, milton, mma, profile, record, spain, video, vieira. 2 Comments »

Yoshiyuki “Zenko” Yoshida

August 4, 2009 — ADCC BARCELONA

yoshiyuki_yoshida_prev Nickname: Zenco
Born in 1974
Home: Tokyo – Japan
Style: Judo
Team: Tokyo Yellow Mans
Division: under 76.9 Kg

MMA Record: 11 – 3 – 0

Yoshida is an experienced 4th dan judo and MMA fighter, at ADCC Barcelona 2009 a he will face very difficult task since he is at the same division as Marcelo Garcia, GSP, Kron Gracie, Pablo Popovich and many others.

Zenko’s judo background and his MMA training give him some good tools to be one of the top fighters at 76.9kg. He is extremely fast on his submissions and very difficult to put and control on the ground.

BIO:

In 2007, Yoshida has entered into a Cage Force welterweight tournament sponsored by the Worldwide Cage Network. In the opening round of the tournament he defeated two-time interim Pancrase champion Katsuya Inoue by knockout. Zenko went on to defeat Matt Cain in the quarterfinals and former Shooto champion Akira Kikuchi in the semi-finals of the tournament. In the finals, he defeated Dan Hardy by disqualification after being struck by a kick to the groin, becoming the first Cage Force welterweight tournament winner.

Since the tournament’s closing, Yoshida has been offered a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It was originally speculated that the winners of the Cage Force tournaments were to be selected to compete in the UFC’s active roster. Yoshida made his debut in the UFC at UFC 84, defeating The Ultimate Fighter 6 contestant Jon Koppenhaver by anaconda choke submission. He was scheduled to meet Karo Parisyan in September at UFC 88 but Parisyan pulled out of the bout only two hours before the weight-ins citing an injury. Yoshida then faced Josh Koscheck at UFC: Fight for the Troops on December 2008, a fight which he lost by knockout in the 1st round. UFC reported “Tokyo’s Yoshida, who remained on the canvas while being tended to by commission doctors, was removed from the Octagon on a stretcher as a precautionary measure. He was later treated and released from a local hospital for a concussion”.

Yoshida won his last fight against Brandon Wolff at UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida on May 2009 by guillotine choke in the first round.

Yoshida is slated to fight at ADCC BARCELONA 2009 and Anthony Johnson at UFC 104

See you in Barcelona!

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: adcc, adcc barcelona 2009, barcelona, judo, kron gracie, marcelo garcia, mma, pablo popovich, record, yoshida, yoshiyuki, zenko. Leave a Comment »

Pablo Popovich

July 28, 2009 — ADCC BARCELONA

Born in 1979
Home: Ft. Lauderdale-Florida
Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Fighting
Team: Team Popovitch
Division: under 76.9 Kg

BJJ/submission Fighting record:

2009 Grapplers Quest Pro Allstar Champion

2009 The Dog Fight Pro Jiu-Jitsu Champion

2008 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Champion

2007 World Jiu-Jitsu Champion

2007 World Submission Fighting ADCC – Finalist

2007 USA Team Trials Champion

2007 Atlantic Cup Superfight Champion

2005 World Submission Fighting ADCC – Finalist

National Champion USA- 10 times

Grapplers Quest Champion- 7 times

2003 North American World Submission Champion

2003 USA Team Trial Champion

Casca Grossa Pro division Champion

Music City Pro Division Champion

III Northeast Grappling Tournament Pro division Champion

Texas Submission Pro Division Champion

World Extreme Shoot Challenge XI Champion

World Extreme Shoot Challenge XII Champion

ICG Grappling Pro Champion

Popovitch became involved in BJJ as a precocious 5-year-old. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Popovitch began instruction at Barra Gracie School, where his teachers were the Machado brothers, Rigan, Carlos and Jean Jaques. “I knew early on that I wanted to be the best” Popovitch said. “I had my first tournament when I was eight. I defeated Carlinhos Gracie in the finals. He and I were really good friends, but we were very competitive on the mats.”
“I was always very close to the Gracie family because my father (Jorge Popovitch, 7th-degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and Master instructor at Fort Lauderdale’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center) had a great friendship with them. My aunt was married to Crolin Gracie. My cousins are Lyra, Kivia and Rullivan Gracie.”
The Popovitch’s moved to Florida in 1995 when Pablo was 15. He continued to study BJJ under Carlson Gracie. His training partners were members of the legendary Carlson Gracie Team and members of the current Brazilian top team. While attending high school in Florida, Popovitch was introduced to collegiate-style wrestling. His already accomplished skills at grappling lead to success and several offers from colleges to continue at the highest level of that sport. Popovitch opted instead to continue his devotion to his first love, BJJ.

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: 2009, adcc, barcelona, carlinhos, carlson, gracie, pablo, pablo popovich, popovich, profile, record, team. 1 Comment »

Marcelo Garcia

July 27, 2009 — sebastianvalle

Nickname: Marcelinho
Born in 1983
Home: Minas Gerais – Brasil
Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Fighting
Team: Alliance
Division: under 76.9 Kg

ADCC record:
2007 – under 77 Kg Champion / Absolute: silver
2005 – under 77 Kg Champion / Absolute: bronze
2003 – under 77 Kg Champion

Abu Dhabi Pro Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Cup record:
2009 – under 75 Kg: silver/ Absolute: bronze

Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championship record:
2007 – under 82 Kg Champion

Brazilian National Championship record:
2006 – under 82 Kg Champion / Absolute Champion
2004 – under 82 Kg Champion / Absolute: silver

World Jiu-Jitsu Championship record:
2009 – under 82 Kg Champion
2006 – under 82 Kg Champion / Absolute: bronze
2004 – under 82 Kg Champion / Absolute: bronze
2003 – under 82 Kg: silver

Grappling record: 56 – 8 – 0 (70% of victories by submission)

Marcelinho Garcia is a world-renown teacher and competitor of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Considered by many to be the best pound for pound submission grappler (for no-gi) in the world, Garcia is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Fabio Gurgel of Team Alliance. In addition to his current titles, he has won the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Championships at all belt levels (blue, purple, brown and black), and the Submissions Fighting World Championships (ADCC) three times in a row (2003, 2005, and 2007), in which he was voted the most technical competitor in 2003 and 2007, and participant in the best match of 2005. In addition to his competition experience, Marcelo is a foremost expert in teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. With his careful attention to detail and his friendly and charismatic personality, he is one of the most sought after instructors in the world, teaching seminars and lessons to professional fighters and grapplers, celebrities, hobbyists, and aficionados of martial arts.
At K-1 HERO’S Korea 2007, Marcelo lost his MMA debut against Dae Won Kim twenty seconds into the second round by doctor’s stoppage due to a cut above his eye. Recently, it was announced that Garcia has joined up with American Top Team in Florida in order to improve his MMA skills. He will continue to fight in BJJ competitions under the Alliance team while representing ATT in future MMA events. In September 2008, Marcelo opened up a Jiu-Jitsu school in Pembroke Pines, a city in south Florida located between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: 2009, barcelona, FACEBOOK, garcia, marcelinho, marcelinho garcia, marcelo, marcelo garcia, profile, record. Leave a Comment »

Kron Gracie

July 22, 2009 — ADCC BARCELONA

Born in 1988
Home: California – USA
Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Team: Rickson Gracie
Division: under 76.9kg

Kron Gracie is a special kind of fighter. Everybody expects great achievements of him because he’s son of one of the biggest legends in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA. Nowadays with the incredible development of BJJ, Submission Fighting and MMA it’s a lot of pressure for this 21 years old boy to do in a couple of years what many great fighters took a life-time to achieve.

When you see Kron figthing you start to understand why he’s a special fighter: He doesn’t hide under his name, instead he put his heart and his mind 100% on the tatami. He doesn’t look desperate to get on the top, he takes his time… Kron is getting better each tournament and you can also see that is a lot of hard work behind each victory. He’s not fighting to do some points and win at any cost, he is developing and opening his game. It’s impossible to know if he’s going to be the best BJJ and Submission fighter in the world, but he have a good chance to show his development at ADCC Barcelona 2009.

BJJ Record:

- 2009 European Champion

- 2008 Rickson Gracie Cup:
1st Place – Adult Middle Weight Division – Brown Belt
(4 matches, 4 submissions)
1st Place – Adult Open Division – Brown Belt
(4 matches, 4 submissions)

- 2008 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championship – Carson, CA
1st Place – Adult Middle Weight Division – Brown Belt
(4 matches, 4 submissions)
1st Place – Adult Open Division – Brown Belt
(6 matches, 6 submissions)

- 2007 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship – Long Beach, CA
1st Place – Adult Middle Weight Division – Brown Belt

-2007 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championship – Carson, CA
1st Place – Adult Middle Weight Division – Brown Belt

-2006 BJJ World Championships – RJ, Brazil – July 30th
1st Place – Adult Light Weight Division – Purple Belt
(6 matches, 6 submissions)

-2006 World Cup of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – Niteroi, RJ, Brazil – July 20th
1st Place – Adult Light Weight Division – Purple Belt
(5 matches, 5 submissions)

-2006 Naga Championships – Chicago, IL – May 20th
1st Place – Adult Light Weight Division – Purple Belt
(4 matches, 4 submissions)

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: adcc barcelona 2009, BJJ, FACEBOOK, gracie, jiu jitsu, kron, kron gracie, profile, record, rickson, world. Leave a Comment »

Enrico Cocco

July 17, 2009 — sebastianvalle

Nickname: “Teenage Phenom”
Born in 1987
Home: Florida – USA
Style: Grappling
Team: FFA Miami
Division: under 76.9 Kg

BJJ/ADCC record: Winner of ADCC 2009 West Coast Trials
MMA record: 2 – 1 – 0 (both victories by submission)

Bio: Enrico Cocco, who used to be known as the “Teenage Phenom”, got his reputation from winning Men’s Advanced divisions across USA but he was only 16 years old, and at that age he tapped out his first BJJ Brown Belt. Having disappeared from the grappling scene for a little while to focus on MMA, Enrico made his return to grappling this year and won a couple of NAGA tournaments.In ADCC 2009 West Coast Trials Enrico put on a show. He dominated his first opponent by a barrage of points, submitted his second opponent by triangle choke, then submitted his third opponent, Brian McLaughlin, by guillotine in under a minute, and then submitted Jacob Wolkmann in the finals by foot lock in about a minute as well. Dangerous guy.

He’s also 4th degree Black-Belt in Tae Kwon Do under his father Jose Cocco and Grand Master Chong Tae Lee.

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: cocco, enrico, enrico cocco, FACEBOOK. Leave a Comment »

Rodney Ellis

July 12, 2009 — sebastianvalle

Born in 1978
Home: Cronulla – Australia
Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Team: Nova Uniao/ Extreme
Division: under 76.9 Kg

BJJ/ADCC record:
- 2006 Pan Pacific Jiu-Jitsu Champion, Black Belt Open Weight
- 2008 Pan Pacific Jiu-Jitsu Champion, Black Belt Gi Div < 79kg
- 2009 ADCC Oceania Submission Wrestling Champion < 77kg
- Only Australian recognised by the Rio de Janeiro State Jiu-Jitsu Federation as a teacher

Bio: Whilst in Rio in 2004, 2005 and 2006, Rodney spent the afternoons training with Andre’s Vale Tudo team. There would often be up to 15 black belts on the matt training, and Rodney was proud to be one of Vitor Shaolin’s main training partners for his fights at this time. On 2005 there was TV camera crew at Andre’s gym interviewing fighters for fights in upcoming events. After interviewing the fighters and then André himself, they watched and recorded as André Pederneiras presented Rodney with his black belt. Nowadays, Rodney has returned fulltime to his profession and teaches jiu-jitsu every night, and on weekends.

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: ellis, FACEBOOK, rodney, rodney ellis. Leave a Comment »

Don Ortega

July 12, 2009 — sebastianvalle

Professor Maia and Don Ortega

Born in 1981
Home: New Mexico – USA
Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Team: Gracie Barra New Mexico
Division: under 76.9 Kg
Bio: After graduating from Adams State College Don Ortega Started training Jiu Jitsu in 2003. Studying under Alberto Crane and Draculino, Ortega took quickly to the art. Entering many grappling and jiu-jitsu tournaments Ortega was undefeated. In the summer of 2004 Ortega made his MMA debut by defeating UFC veteran Brad Gumm. The following year Ortega returned to Adams State College to finish his final year of wrestling eligibility. With a rekindled fire for competition Ortega claimed 7th place at NCAA National Championships earning All-American Status. Ortega then returned to Jiu-Jitsu by storm winning many titles in the Gi and No Gi divisions. Most notably, he won the the trials for the ADCC Barceclona 2009 and the 2008 IBJJF World Championships in Long Beach, California. Ortega became the first American to win the brown belt middle heavy division in the IBJJF’s history of the tournament. Ortega trains daily and teaches at Gracie Barra NM.

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: don, don ortega, FACEBOOK, ortega. 2 Comments »

Toni Linden

July 12, 2009 — sebastianvalle

Home: Finland

Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Division: under 76.9 Kg

Team: FFG/HILTI

BJJ/ADCC record: Gold Medal in European ADCC Championship 2008

MMA record: 1 – 0 – 0

Bio: Toni Linden had an excelent 2008: He won the European ADCC Championship against Mariusz Szczerek in the finals and finished his first professional MMA fight with a beautiful rear nacked choke against Victor Cheng, in FinnFight 10.

Toni’s MMA video.

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: FACEBOOK, linden, toni, toni linden. Leave a Comment »

Marcelo Azevedo

July 8, 2009 — sebastianvalle

Nickname: Uirapuru
Home: Rio de Janeiro – Brasil
Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Team: Gracie Fusion
Division: under 76.9 Kg
MMA record: 3 – 6 – 0
Bio: “Uirapuru” nickname (after a bird that jumps a lot), comes from his capoeira background. He was an instructor of this classical brazilian martial art when he saw Royce Gracie winning the first UFC editions. Then he learned BJJ with his master Draculino and used it to submit opponents in 2 of his 3 victories in MMA.

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: azevedo, capoeira, FACEBOOK, marcelo, marcelo azevedo, uirapuru. 1 Comment »

Murilo Santana

July 7, 2009 — sebastianvalle

Home: São Paulo – Brasil
Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Team: Barbosa JJ (Mario Yamasaki)
Division: under 76.9 Kg
.

Bio: Murilo Santana is a calm and relaxed Mario Yamasaki’s black belt, who nowadays represents Barbosa JJ, with an explosive Jiu-Jitsu. The São Paulo native succeeded in winning one of the most difficult categories of all times in the ADCC Trials Brasil 2009. “Acho que cada campeonato é um desafio. Lá terão alguns adversários diferentes e vou ter que me preparar para isso. O importante é estar sempre treinando para dar o máximo nas competições”

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: FACEBOOK, murilo, murilo santana, santana. 2 Comments »

Keita Nakamura

July 6, 2009 — sebastianvalle

Nickname: “K-Taro”
Born in 1984
Home: Tokyo – Japan
Style: Ju-Jitsu
Team: Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo
Division: under 76.9 Kg
MMA record: 17 – 4 – 2
Bio: Nakamura is a senior, studying Law in college while pursuing a professional career in martial arts.

Posted in MALE, under 76.9 Kg. Tags: FACEBOOK, k-taro, keita, nakamura. Leave a Comment »

ADCC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BARCELONA 2009

FIGHTER’S PROFILE

Leo Santos

Gregor Gracie

Bill Cooper

Ben Askren

Milton Vieira

Yoshiyuki “Zenko” Yoshida

Pablo Popovich

Marcelo Garcia

Kron Gracie

Enrico Cocco

Rodney Ellis

Don Ortega

Toni Linden

Marcelo Azevedo

Murilo Santana

Keita Nakamura

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