Combat Sports Report: Abu Dhabi World Pro, Isuzu Cup, Sad Farewell to Uni. of Nebraska – Omaha

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

Surprising Leandro attacks Celso to win the under-74kg gold medal. Photo: John Lamonica/GracieMag.com

For three days, the Abu Dhabi World Pro shook up the Middle East once again. This past weekend, the qualifiers donned their gi’s and stepped back onto the competition mats, all vying for the gold, glory and some cash to go along with it. The competition was fierce, as the top black belts in the world went head to head once more. There were plenty of unexpected upsets by some of the newer black belts. Many also came back and showed their old, dominating form, putting on a great display for the fans in attendance and those watching it online around the world.

The 65-kg (143.3 pound) division was stacked with all of team Atos’ best black belt competitors (five total) yet none of them were able to reach the top of the podium at the end of the day. The division would belong to Soul Fighters black belt — Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes, who came in fighting a weight class below his normal competition weight category. Tanquinho went on a tear beating top competitors such as: Ryan Hall, Ary Farias, Eduardo Ramos and Guilherme Mendes. In only one day, Tanquinho had dismembered three of the five Atos competitors himself, but Rafael Mendes was still waiting for him in the final. The much anticipated final between Tanquinho and Rafael went down to the wire, and would be left for the judges to decide the winner after a 4-4 draw. In the end, it was Tanquinho who would be awarded the win and the $8,000 prize to go along with it, much to the dismay of Rafael and the Atos gang who cried foul, believing Rafa had been robbed of gold. With this, a rivalry has been started between the Atos team and Augusto Mendes, which should make the featherweight division very intriguing at the World Championships in June.

The biggest surprise of the entire tournament may have come from the 74-kg (162 pound) dispute, where old and new ended up meeting in the finals. The division was led by Celso Venicius, who was coming off an injury and was competing for the first time since his silver medal showing at the 2010 Worlds where he lost to Michael Langhi. In Abu Dhabi, Celso had a string of tough wins against the likes of Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles and Gilbert “Durinho” Burns getting him to the finals. On the other side of the bracket was where the real surprise came. New black belt Leandro “Lo” Nascimento had his coming out party in the quarterfinals where he beat the reigning two-time World Champion Michael Langhi, who suffered his first loss in nearly three years. Nascimento also beat another up-and-comer in Zak Maxwell to propel himself into a finals showdown with Celso. In this final between new and old, the younger competitor was able to control the match for the entire six-minutes and when time expired he would be leading by 4-1 in advantage points, giving him his first major title as a black belt.

In the 82-kg (181 pound) weight class, it was Claudio Calasans who turned out to be king of the division once again. Calasans showed why he is one of the best middleweights in the World, beating every opponent in his path including Vinicius Corrales in the finals, after Corrales had just come off a big upset win over Romulo Barral by a 6-4 score. With Calasans win in Abu Dhabi, he has now won the Europeans, Pans and World Pro titles in the same year. Is the World title next for this rising Atos ace? We’ll see once he returns to California in June, where Marcelo Garcia is expected to be as well for a much anticipated rematch.

Rodolfo Vieira has been on a tear in this past month. He was recently the winner at the Pans in California in his weight group and open weight division, beating reigning champion Bernardo Faria twice. In Abu Dhabi, he kept up his winning ways by dominating the 92-kg and under (-202.5 pounds) weight class. In the finals, the GF Team member fought Bruno Bastos in the finals and ended up with in dominant fashion, 15 to 2. Bastos had a great run to the finals, beating a string of hard-nosed competitors including last week’s Nogi champion Rafael Lovato Jr., but Vieira was too much, and Bastos was forced to settle with the silver. For Rodolfo, this was his second World Pro title, and his first since 2009 where then he beat beasts such as Lovato Jr. and Braulio Estima while still only a brown belt.

In the heaviest weight class, 92-kg and over (+202.5 pounds,) it was Lucio “Lagarto” who would be the star of the division. In his very first fight, he would defeat two-time absolute champion Alexandre Riberio, in a close battle. That momentum of beating a great champion like Riberio, carried Lagarto all the way to the finals where he would face the young CheckMat star Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida. In the final, Lagarto would control the match by sweeping Almeida and then passing his guard in the closing seconds to secure a solid 5 to 0 win, giving him the gold and the $8,000 cash prize to fly home with.

Kickboxing & Muay Thai
by Rob Tatum

Although the action was a little slow this week in the world of kickboxing and Muay Thai, there were a number of fight announcements.

The Isuzu Cup finally has a final.  After an illness delayed the second semifinal bout, Kem Sitsongpeenong and Prakaisaeng Sit Or. battled on April 16 to determine who would take on Nopparat in the event’s final.  As expected, the explosive Kem took home victory, forcing a referee stoppage in the fourth round.  The final against Nopparat will determine the 67 kg (147.4 lb) representative in the Thai Fight 2011 tournament.  Video of the bout can be found below:

Also in action on April 16 was Australian standout Nathan Corbett.  Carrying a five year undefeated streak, Corbett easily dispatched of Piotr Lepich with a first round knockout in Perth, Australia.

K-1 parent company, FEG, announced that its MMA entity, DREAM, would be returning in May.  Unfortunately they did not release any information on when K-1 would be back in action, although there are rumblings of a 63 kg (138.6 lb) tournament when the promotion does return.

Fight Code will host its fourth event of the year from Budapest, Hungary on May 1.  The event will feature K-1 veterans Vitali Akhramenko and Freddy Kemayo, as well as the conclusion of the opening round of the 72.5 kg (159.5 lb) tournament.

It’s Showtime has added a 65 kg (143 lb) Muay Thai showdown to its May 14 card from Lyon, France.  Squaring off will be Houcine Bennoui (brother of current It’s Showtime 61 kg champion Karim Bennoui) and promotional veteran Mosab Amrani.

Japan will host Big Bang 5 on May 15.  Notably, Sergey Golyaev, who defeated Takanori Gomi in 2008 Sengoku fight, will face Yasuhiro Kido in a 70 kg (154 lb) bout.

In more It’s Showtime news, Amir Zeyada and Sahak Parparyan are slated to face off for the now vacant 85 kg (187 lb) title on May 21 from The Sand in Amsterdam.  As noted a few weeks ago, former titled holder Melvin Manhoef was forced to give up the belt after not defending it for over a year.

Krush will be back on May 29 with its own 70 kg (154 lb) tournament.  The Japanese promotion had some significant setbacks due to the earthquake, and looks to build on its strong 2010.  Participants are yet to be revealed at this time.

May 31 will feature an intriguing Muay Thai fight between Belarusian Andrei Kulebin and Saiyok Pumpanmuang.  Kulebin is coming off a victory over Angelo Campoli in March and faced a number of big names in the Muay Thai.  Saiyok, meanwhile, is one of the more dominant 70 kg (154 lb) fighters in Thailand.

Back to Dutch promotion It’s Showtime yet again, as they have announced that Rafi Zouheir will face William Diender on their June 18 card in Madrid.  Zouheir is known primarily for his win in the K-1 MAX tournament in Madrid.  Diender has been on a bit of a slide of late, most recently dropping his opening round bout at the W5 Grand Prix in Moscow.

Finally, despite the momentum the promotion has been gaining of late, It’s Showtime was forced to cancel its July 23 from Sochi, Russia.  The promotion stated that they hope to return to the city sometime in 2012.  No word on how this will affect the planned 70 kg (154 lb) tournament featuring current champion Chris Ngimbi and K-1 MAX champ Giorgio Petrosyan.

Amateur Wrestling
by Staff, The Open Mat

Coach Mark Cody made big waves by leaving American University for the University of Oklahoma. (photo: Hector Castro/MMADieHards.com)

The big news in College wrestling this past week was that Mark Cody, the reigning national college wrestling coach of the year, has been named the head wrestling coach at the University of Oklahoma. He succeeds Jack Spates, who retired from the position following the 2011 season, his 18th with the Sooners.

Cody, who comes to OU after nine years at American University, led the Eagles to a program-best fifth-place finish at the recently completed NCAA Championships. The team produced three All-Americans after qualifying six for the tournament, while also posting a school record 3.48 grade point average.

While the Sooner fans are excited and at the same time a program that is on the rise suffers a tough loss in Cody.

UNO Wrestlers said their goodbye this week. It’s one last hurrah for a program that strived for excellence and thrived for decades, the University of Nebraska-Omaha Wrestling Team.

As UNO made the move to a new division, wrestling was cut last month. On Friday night, the program recognized alumni and this year’s championship team.

“It’s sad it had to come to this, but I think it’s nice for people to come and honor a great wrestling team and cry a little,” said former head coach Don Benning.

Legendary head coach Don Benning set the standard for what would become one of the most decorated athletic programs in the state.

“We used to wrestle you know, because I have great respect for him, just great respect again,” said head coach Mike Denney. “I just wanted to carry on the tradition.”

On the mat in the middle of the field house are memories left behind. Team members say they’re symbols of a family bonded through blood and sweat.

It is that time of the year when things start changing in the sport of wrestling. Some things change for the better and sometimes for the worse. We just hope that the loss of programs has ended at least for now. As we have said in previous articles, if you like MMA you will like College Wrestling. Next year get out there and attend some events and show your support of MMA’s next big star.