Two weeks ago, in Barcelona, my friend Rafael Haubert, with great support from his partner Jordi Fite and all the crew at BTT Barcelona, put up a great show. The first Catalunya Vulkan had good prizes (400 euros for the black belt winner, and Vulkan GIs for every champion), great fights and a superb organization. The white and blue belt divisions were run on the Saturday, and the purple, brown and black belts fought on the Sunday.
I was reffing throughout the comp, so I was in a privileged position to watch many memorable fights. In the blue belt, Alberto Gonzales from Sevilla looked very sharp, submitting his 2 opponents with chokes from his guard, always in the first minute. Among the purples, huge props to Pablo Cabo, from Malaga. This kid fights like a professional, he knows when to attack and when to rest, and knows how to use the rules to secure great wins against good opponents in one of the busiest divisions. I won’t surprised if he carries on and win big tournaments in Brasil in the near future.
In the brown and black belts, it was the brazilians that scored big time, with Mathias Ribeiro (Fabricio Werdun Madrid) taking the brown belt open division. Yan Cabral and Paulo Sergio shared the money prize in the black belt open after defeating no less than 4 guys from Gracie Barra in order to take home the 400 euros.
Yan Cabral and Paulo Sergio are living in France where they have clubs in Montpelier and Toulouse, and came well trained to score big time victories that left no doubt they were the names of the event. The structure of the event was better than the one I found at the European last January, with electronic scoreboards, a great venue and the crew worked well to deliver the comp without compromising the schedule at any time. All the brown belt and black belt fights had 3 refs instead of one, avoiding mistakes and making clear that it can be done everywhere if there is a will to make things right.
Some results:
Brown belt open
1. Mathias Ribeiro – Fabricio Werdun Madrid
2. Rogent Lloret – Gracie Barcelona
3. Rodrigo Rosario – BTT
3. Waldinei de Almeida – BTT
Black belt open
1. Paulo Sergio – Aranha Montpelier
2. Yan Cabral – Aranha Montpelier
3. Leonardo Pelucio – GB Tarragona
3. Alessandro Oliveira – GB Nantes
Team Results:
1. BTT Barcelona
2. Fabricio Werdun Madrid
3. Gracie Barcelona
For complete results please visit their website:
www.barcelona-jiu-jitsu.com
RIO GRAPPLING CLUB 