My ADCC Experience Pt. 2

My next match was against Bruno Bastos. I have been very familiar with Bruno for a long time and I knew a lot about his game. We are the same size and we both compete a lot, so I knew it would be a matter of time before I would eventually face him. Xande won his next match and Saulo came back just in time to coach me. I felt really good going into my second match and I was very excited to get the win and make it to the semi-finals in ADCC for the first time. Bruno and I started off looking for angles on the feet. He attempted one of his famous flying arm locks, which I anticipated, and I was in his guard for just a minute before he stood back up. We were back on the feet and then I pulled guard. For most of the regulation period I attacked from my guard. I was attempting many omo-platas and sweeps, but I was unable to score on him. He did a very good job of being safe without getting called for stalling, I was doing everything I could to try to make him receive a negative point. With about a minute left in regulation, I stood back up with him and went into wrestling mode exactly the way we trained in our camp. Bruno attempted a shot which I defended using the whizzer and we went out of bounds. Back to the middle and Bruno shot in again. This time I was able to pummel in an under hook and I made it behind him with the body lock. I just started to get hungry to try and take his back, but he was very smart and he dropped completely to his knees to defend. He balled up well and right when I was getting set to look for hooks, regulation was up, time for my first OT at ADCC. I was so calm going into the OT. We trained so many OT rounds in our camp that it was just routine to go an extra five minutes. I wanted to start off aggressive, so I immediately started looking for take-downs. We eventually ended up in a pummeling position and I was able to hit a lateral drop. That was a take-down that I was using a lot in the training and I knew it would be a good take-down to use for ADCC, because it lands in a position where you can keep the guy from turning to his knees to avoid points. I got my two points and I felt a rush of excitement, I had this match as long as I kept my pressure on and played smart. Bruno began using his very smooth half guard to look for ways to sweep me. I was staying out of danger, but I was trying to keep a decent amount of pressure on him as well to not allow him to gain momentum. In the course of him trying to get underneath me, I was able to gain a front head lock control which I used to set up the Darce/Brabo choke. I was able to get it locked up and with less than a minute left, I got the submission. Immediately I had a rush of emotions, I was pumped! The first day was done for me, I made it to the final four! I was very excited, but I didn't think about it too much yet, because we still had teammates who had matches.

As I was walking back to the warm up area, I caught the end of the Kron vs Marcelo match. I saw the end of the regulation when Kron almost got to Marcelo's back and I got very excited for Kron. I was getting filled in on how the match was going up to that point and everyone was telling me that it was very even. In overtime Marcelo was able to get the upper-hand on Kron, but I was still very impressed with Kron's performance. That was only Kron's 2nd no-gi event ever and he was able to do very well with the much more experienced Marcelo. I went back out to coach Rader against Mendes. They had competed against each other before at the 2008 No-Gi Worlds and we knew that it was a matter of time before they would meet again. Rader did very well with Rafael the first time they met, staying ahead of Rafael on points most of the match until Rafael was able to take his back and get the submission. Unfortunately for Rader, Rafael was dead on that weekend and he was able to get a step ahead of Rader right away and lock up a choke. Lastly, Rani defeated Glover by points and our day was done. Saulo, Xande, Rani, Penny, and I all made it to the final four and Kron and Rader put on impressive performances for the first time at ADCC.

I had so much fun that day. Five out of seven of us made it to the final four. We were all very relaxed and we were enjoying ourselves even in the heat of battle. Pretty much everything had gone as planned, and we could all feel how well prepared we were. The rest of that evening I ate and relaxed and I had a positive vibe for the next day. I had Braulio in the semifinals. This would mark the fourth time I have faced Braulio. Braulio beat me in our previous meetings and I was anxious to have another chance at him.

Sunday morning came and all I could think about was "This is my day." I had a nice breakfast and I even had a special visitor at my table for breakfast. Braulio stopped by my table and we wished each other our best and we began to talk a little bit. He ended up sitting down at my table for a little while and we talked about our matches from Saturday. After talking for a few minutes, we wished each other good luck and he went back to his table. I have known Braulio for a long time, in fact we used to train together some back when we were brown belts. He is a very nice guy and very professional, so it isn't weird for us to talk and be friends when we are not on the mat against each other. I got back to the event and went back to our warm-up mat from yesterday and we proceeded to do our routine once again. I was going out to coach Saulo against Werdum, so I got nice and loose before Saulo needed me. Saulo had a tough match against Werdum, that went to two overtimes. Werdum won the decision, which I thought he deserved, but it was very close. I immediately returned my focus to my match with Braulio. I got another little warm-up as I peaked occasionally to watch Xande vs Pezao. Xande beat Pezao on my points and then it was my turn.

I didn't have to much of a strategy for Braulio. I know his game very well and I know how he likes to move. I just wanted to try and get my game going right away and let him know that I was prepared for a war, and I expected to have one. The match starts out with both of us feeling each other out on the feet. He eventually jumped guard, looking to close it right away. As I defended against the closed guard, he was able to lock his guard around my legs and go for a sweep. I didn't mind getting swept since there were no points yet, so I took the sweep to look for his leg. He came up and defended against the leg lock attempt. He is back in my guard starting his knee in the middle passing game. He came in with his knee hard and I spun underneath him to look for his back or a sweep (similar to Cyborg). He then went for my leg to defend against that position. I defended my leg and he is back in my guard. Everything was very fast paced and aggressive, which is exactly how I like to play. I was feeling great and things were going exactly how I had imagined it, then everything changed in an instant. Braulio is still in my guard working his passing. I knew that he likes the straight ankle lock, him and his brother both go for them a lot. His final with Xande from 2007, had a lot of ankle lock attempts, so I was prepared for him to go for my foot, but nothing like what happened. Braulio locked his arms similar to an RNC around my ankle, but my foot was not in his arm-pit it was against his ribs. I didn't feel any danger and as he proceeded to sit back, I thought no way is he going to get my leg like that. A second later, my foot snapped three times. My foot was stuck against his ribs and he twisted to his side and applied pressure in a way that I had never felt before. I didn't feel any pain before he locked it, it just snapped in an instant, and I verbally tapped. My ankle immediately started to swell up and it felt like it was on fire. Braulio did his celebration, but when he realized I was hurt badly he checked on me and apologized. I had to have Saulo help carry me back to the warm up area. I started icing it right away and I started to think about how I lost. It was easy & hard to deal with all at the same time. I was upset that I got caught and didn't even see it coming, but I was also content because I didn't feel like I made a big mistake or anything. He just got it in a way that had never been done to me before. A few minutes after I made it back to the warm-up area, Rani came back holding his arm, showing signs of pain. Cobrinha came rushing back to him, offering him help and apologizing for hurting his arm. I didn't know what had happened until Rader told me, I couldn't believe that we had both just gotten hurt. At least we were injured by classy competitors, like Braulio and Cobrinha. I spoke to Braulio back in the warm up area. He was very nice, I told him not to feel bad, it is all apart of the game. I wished him luck for the final and I asked him what he did to me. He said that it wasn't how he planned it either, but he felt my leg was caught against his body and he just went with it. Now I had to figure out what I was going to do about my third place match.

Nobody thought I was going to be able to do my third place match. After icing my ankle for a while, I got back up and tested it out. It was hurt pretty bad, but I was able to put some weight on my heel and limp around a little bit. I didn't want to get that far and then have my name erased from history, which is what would have happened if I pulled out and let Bruno Bastos back in. So, I talked to David Avellan and told him I wasn't going to pull out and he said that he wouldn't destroy my leg if he managed to get it. This was the hardest part to deal with. I could deal with losing, I could deal with getting hurt, but I couldn't deal with not being able to go out there and do my best. I basically limped onto the mat, I sat to guard, moved around as much as I could and when David went for my leg, I had to give up immediately. I know that David didn't like to win that way either. We know how tough the other is, because we had an hour long match four years ago that neither one of us were going to give up on. I wish we would've had another war and maybe I could have made it to the podium or maybe not, but at least I would have had the opportunity to give it my best shot.

I spent the rest of the day at the tournament icing my foot and watching the awesome matches. I got to see Saulo officially retire from professional competition, Werdum and Cyborg do a great final, Xande play a smart game and win his second title with energy to spare, Braulio submit Andre Galvao with a crazy reverse triangle, Papovitch finally get a hard earned win over Marcelo, and I also got to watch with amazement, as Rafael Mendes and Cobrinha put themselves in the craziest positions and do a beautiful match. Then it was time for the absolute.

During our training camp, we all had our personal missions that we were working towards fulfilling. For myself, it was to get my first ADCC title. Saulo was going to win his third title against the big boys. Kron was going to be the new champion of the division. Rader & Rani were going to do an awesome final and for Xande, it was all about winning his second title and becoming absolute champion, like he has done in every other tournament. By the time the absolute had made it to the semi finals, it was clear that Xande and Braulio were going to be in the final. Braulio showed he was having one of those great days after he beat Marcelo soundly and Xande was on his path after beating Galvao. Then Xande submitted the big surprise of the absolute, Gunnar Nelson, and Braulio beat Pezao by points. The moment had arrived, Xande was there, exactly what we had trained for. Within a couple minutes of the final, Braulio had managed to find the reverse triangle again, this time on Xande. Xande had great defense and was able to get his hand in front of Braulio's leg to give him space. After a couple of minutes, Xande was able to free himself and he was back in Braulio's guard. Xande began putting pressure on Braulio and as he was pummeling inside to Braulio's half-guard, Xande grimaced and made a sound of pain. It was over! Xande got hurt too. I had no idea what happened until I was able to talk to Xande about it. I felt so bad for Xande, he was there and he wasn't able to complete the match. He was the third one of us to get injured that day and Kron hurt his knee with Marcelo the day before. After such a great start, we all ended up getting injured. Xande was upset of course, but he handled it well. It just wasn't his day and it was definitely Braulio's.

Back at the hotel I wasn't going to let my injury keep me from enjoying myself a little bit. The hotel lobby had a bar and there was a big group of competitors there unwinding from the tournament. Some of them had plans to go out, others were just going to stay at the hotel bar all night. I couldn't really get around too well, so I was hanging out at the hotel all night. I got to talk to Roberto "Cyborg" and Romulo a little bit. I have faced both of them in the past and it was nice to get to talk to them a little bit. They are both very cool and humble. I also got to talk to Saulo and Xande about the weekend. They were both in good spirits and trying to have themselves a good time. I always enjoy hanging out with my training partners and teammates after a tournament. After weeks of sweat, pain, and trying to kill each other, it is nice to be stress free and have a good time with your close friends. Braulio stopped by the bar for a little while and Xande and I gave him a hard time for injuring us. I also got to hang out with Jeff Curran and Joel Tuder for the first time, they are both very cool. Glover provided a lot of entertainment and at the end of the night, I got to hear some crazy stories from Mike Fowler about Japan, movie-like stories that you wouldn't believe. All in all it was a great night and a great experience. Sure it didn't end the way I had hoped, but I can look back at it and know that I gave everything I had in the training and in the competition. I also got to travel to Europe and have a great time with my friends, training partners, and other competitors.

I want to thank all of you that supported me during my training and sent me good luck messages. I would also like to thank my European fans who said hello and gave me compliments about my blog. Also, I want to thank Saulo, Xande, Steve Maxwell, and everyone at the University of Jiu-Jitsu for the awesome training. All my students at home for their support and patience while I was gone. My sponsors, Tapout, OTM, Lucky Gi, and Nutrient Technologies for all their help. I would also like to give a special thanks to my fiance, who was behind me every step of the way and allowed me to have 100% concentration on this event. I hope everyone has enjoyed my story. Sorry, again, for taking so long to write it.