Combat Sports Report: 2011 BJJ World Championships, Kickboxing, and Beat The Streets

Every sport has a breeding ground for its future stars. In the case of mixed martial arts, the worlds of grappling, kickboxing and amateur wrestling are most likely to spawn the next Demian Maia, Mirko CroCop or Brock Lesnar. Collectively, these sports fall under the umbrella of “combat sports.” Every Wednesday, MMA DieHards reports on the biggest happenings in each of these realms of combat.

Grappling/ Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

By Gianni Grippo, four-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion

Tanquinho celebrates triumph (photo courtesy of John Lamonica/GracieMag.com)

For many different reasons, the World Pro event in Abu Dhabi has shaken up the jiu-jitsu scene for the time being. With the World Championships fast approaching, now we really can’t decide on who the favorites are in most of the weight classes due to the fascinating upsets that took place in Abu Dhabi. There are no more guarantees in choosing any of the black belts, and it should make things even spicier come June. Here are some of the most talked about and debated questions leading up to the 2011 World Championships:

Can Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes dismember the Atos army again in Long Beach?

In Abu Dhabi, Tanquinho was a man on a mission and didn’t stop until he finally claimed the 143.3-pound title. In his epic run to gold, he went through four Team Atos black belts, including Rafael Mendes in a riveting final where Rafael would fall short to Tanquinho by a judge’s decision. Can Tanquinho make it through that same group again in Long Beach, Calif.? The road will be a little less bumpy as two of his victims in Abu Dhabi — Guilherme Mendes and Ary Farias, will be fighting down at light-featherweight (141 pounds.) But there will still be Bruno Frazzatto, Eduardo Ramos and the reigning World Champion — Rafael Mendes, who is certainly still brewing over his loss. The featherweight division should be one for the fans to keep an eye on, can Augusto Mendes pull off the improbable twice and take out the Atos crew again or will there be payback in store for the tight knit group from Rio Claro, Brazil?

How will Michael Langhi respond to his first loss in three years at the Worlds?

Michael Langhi is widely considered one of the best jiu-jitsu players in the world today with an impassable guard. But the two-time World champion took a surprising set-back in Dubai as his “impassable” guard was beaten by newly minted black belt — Leandro “Lo” Nascimento. Lo went on to win the division beating another multi-time world champion in Celso Veinicius. But the eyes were still on Langhi. It should be interesting to see how it plays out, especially with such a stacked division where you can’t forget names such as Gilbert Burns, Jonathan “JT” Torres, Lucas Lepri, Zak Maxwell and Celso Veinicius. Whoever wants the world championship in the deepest division is going to be the one who works the hardest, and just wants it the most.

Can Rodolfo Vieira make a serious run at Roger Gracie’s absolute title?

Rodolfo Vieira is currently the hottest jiu-jitsu competitor on the scene right now. After dismantling everyone at the Pans, winning his division and absolute, then traveling to Abu Dhabi and conquering his weight and absolute out there as well, the debate has begun: “Can he beat Roger?” By the way he has been going of late, the critics must give him more than a punchers chance, but then again, we are still talking about the three-time absolute champion. Although Gracie has not been hot of late only because he competes once a year, he is still on an incredible streak having won the absolute title at the worlds three of the last four years and submitting 15 of his last 16 opponents in the process.

But at the same time, Vieira cannot be ignored. In 2009, Rodolfo Vieira burst onto the scene while only a brown belt, and beat black belt world champions Braulio Estima and Rafael Lovato Jr. to win the first Abu Dhabi World Pro event. Since getting his black belt, he has been virtually unbeatable, surpassing competitors such as Bruno Bastos, Bernardo Faria, Antonio Braga Neto, Michael Langhi, Leonardo Nogueria, Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles and Rafael Mendes.

So let’s have the debates begin, who do you believe will be the absolute champion at the World Championships in Long Beach? Will it be the three-time champion Roger Gracie? Or will it be the rising star Rodolfo Vieira or someone else perhaps? Let your voice be heard and comment below.

Kickboxing & Muay Thai
by Rob Tatum

Headlining this week’s slate is the news that Dutch promotion It’s Showtime is nearing a television deal in the US.  Since K-1 parent company FEG has faced financial struggles of late, It’s Showtime has become the biggest player in the kickboxing world.  The promotion recently signed a deal with the Fight Network in Canada and owner Simon Rutz recently posted on his Facebook page that the promotion may have a contract in place before their May 14 event.  No word on what network would be picking up the fights, but both HDNet and G4 have been thrown out as possible destinations.

Antuan Siangboxing cleaned house at WMC I-1 World Grand Prix on April 21 from Hong Kong.  The event featured an eight-man tournament and the Thai veteran defeated Rhassan Muhareb in the quarterfinals, Vladimir Konsky in the semii and Kurt Finlayson in the final, all by decision.

Shootboxing held its second event of the year on April 23 in Tokyo.  As expected, two-time K-1 MAX champ Andy Souwer defeated Yoshihiro Sato by unanimous decision.  The Dutchman appears to be back on track after defeating L’houcine Ouzgni in March and no dispatching of Sato.  Also on the card, Hiroaki Suzuki took a decision over Wu Hu Kim, Satoru Suzuki stopped Masahiro Shimada in the second round, and RENA looked unimpressive in an exhibition bout against Erika Kamimura.

The Fight Zone 5 event taking place May 7 in Lyon, France will feature a prominent Muay Thai contest between UK fighter Liam Harrison and Bovy Sor. Udomson.  Harrison was most recently in action against Saenchai, dropping a decision.

Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament participant Sergei Kharitonov will return to kickboxing on May 28 to battle Mighty Mo Siliga at the Golden World Series Finale.  Kharitonov’s last bout did not end well, as he was finished by Singh Jaideep at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in a non-tournament bout.  Mo, meanwhile, failed to qualify for the Grand Prix Final after dropping his quarterfinal bout to Peter Aerts.

It’s Showtime recently announced that Polish fighters Rafal Dudek and Michal Glogowski will face off on June 11 in Warsaw.  Glogowski, as some may recall, was a quarterfinalist in last year’s K-1 World MAX tournament, but will likely have his hands full against the lengthy Dudek.

In American muay thai news, rumors are swirling that Joe Schilling will face Kaoklai Kaennorsing.  The rumored bout is being targeted for August.

Finally, Russian promotion W5 is targeting current K-1 MAX champ Giorgio Petrosyan for an event in late October.  The promotion saw fellow K-1 MAX competitor Mike Zambidis claim a four-man tournament just a few weeks ago.

Amateur Wrestling
by Staff, The Open Mat

(photo courtesy of Derek Montgomery/The Badger Herald)

This week there were a few big headlines in the world of amateur wrestling.

NCAA champion Andrew Howe of Wisconsin is starting to get healthy again.

And he’s now ready to make a run at making his first U.S. World Team in freestyle wrestling.

Howe made a triumphant return this weekend, outlasting two-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake of Cornell to win the University Nationals freestyle championship at 163 pounds on Saturday afternoon at the University of Akron.

Penn State, fresh off its NCAA team title last month, turned in a strong performance by crowning four champions.

Winning titles for the Nittany Lions were Andrew Long (138.75 pounds), Andrew Alton (145.5 pounds), James English (154 pounds) and Quentin Wright (185 pounds).

Wright, the reigning NCAA champion at 184, beat past NCAA runner-up Mack Lewnes of Cornell in the finals. Wright repeated as champion.

Wright beat Lewnes in the finals of the 2010 University World Team Trials.

A host of world, Olympic and NCAA champions are included in the final lineups announced today for the freestyle wrestling dual meet between the United States and Russia, part of the 2011 Beat the Streets Gala on Thursday, May 5 at New York’s Times Square. The event will be held in Duffy Square in New York City, located in the historic Times Square setting at 46th Street. The event is free to the public, and will also be streamed live on TheMat.com by USA Wrestling and be shown on the single largest facing LED screen in Times Square.

The USA vs. Russia freestyle wrestling dual meet will begin at 6 p.m., following a card of exhibition matches featuring young athletes who wrestle in the Beat the Streets youth progra as well as high school wrestlers from the Public School Athletic League, which will begin at 3 p.m.