Every year, the entire jiu-jitsu community looks forward to
seeing who will become the next world champion, especially at the black belt
level. This year, the results are a blend of obvious answers but also a few
surprises along the way.
Rooster Division:
No surprises here. We have almost the exact same results as
last year, except Rafael Freitas from Gracie Barra is the new bronze medalist
along with Ivaniel Oliveira who wins bronze again. But it’s Bruno Malfacine who
is most impressive here, once again winning the title for a seventh time
defeating Joao Miyao yet again in the finals (albeit in a controversial
referee’s decision). But at this pace, it’s only a matter of time until Joao
will win his title. Bruno will be a tough opponent to defeat, but without Caio
Terra in the division for the time being, Miyao will dominate.
Lightfeather Division:
Without Guilherme Mendes in the picture, Paulo Miyao was
able to reach his goal of becoming world champion. Although it’s always
unfulfilling for fans to see the absence of the defending champion, it does not
take away from Paulo’s achievement – although probably in his mind, he is
wishing that he could show the world how he would do this year against Gui. This
is a thought that every champion keeps in mind when they win the title; did
they really take it away from the previously reigning champ? At the moment it
looks like it won’t be happening any time soon, as Guilherme chose to retire
and spend his time focusing on his gym and his soon-to-be-born baby.
Feather Division:
No surprises here whatsoever. The exact same results as last
year except we now witness the ascent of Gianni Grippo who placed third,
replacing Alberto Paiva from 2014. Mario Reis joins Grippo for bronze and we
see Rafa Mendes and Cobrinha battle it out in the finals again, with Rafa
coming out on top by 6 points - Cobrinha couldn’t even score a point. However,
considering the age gap between the two rivals, Cobrinha doesn’t cease to amaze
me. Especially since he is turning 36 years old this year, which makes him 10
years older than Rafa.
Light Division:
Once again, experience dominates “youth”. Neither Michael
Langhi nor Lucas Lepri are actually old, but considering they are both 30, it
is impressive that they can stay on top and hold the youngsters at bay. Both
Alliance members dominated the division and it was Michael Langhi’s turn to
take the gold since Lucas Lepri won the division last year, so in a sense they
are both 2015 world champions. I wish we could see the two face-off, but we
won’t be seeing that outside their academy. JT Torres also makes a
re-appearance at the podium as a bronze medalist, a drop from last year because
of Michael Langhi’s performance.
Middle Division:
Last year, Leandro Lo had won this division. But this year
he decided to move up in weight, leaving the crown to this division wide open
for the taking. Not surprisingly, Claudio Calasans took it, defeating GF Team’s
Vitor Oliveira. Both these competitors are new to the podium this year, bumping
down two veterans of the division, Otavio Souza and Victor Estima to bronze.
Medium Heavy Division:
This year we saw a disruption of the division since Leandro
Lo moved up in weight. Either Lo didn’t feel like cutting weight or he wanted a
greater challenge – but it doesn’t matter since he won anyway, defeating
Alliance’s Tarsis Humphreys in the finals to bump Guto Campos down from second
place in 2014 to third place.
This would be Lo’s fourth consecutive world championship and
there is no telling what he could do next. He had a very strong and successful
performance at the Abu Dhabi World Pro against Buchecha – a much larger
opponent. If Lo keeps this up, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him trying to
contend for the heavyweight title just for kicks. He also competed in the
absolute division but fell victim to an armbar from Bernardo Faria from
Alliance who ended up winning the entire absolute division.
Heavyweight Division:
Craziness here – the return of Xande Ribero. Xande had won
his first heavyweight title in 2004, then had lost it to Robert Drysdale. He
then dominated yet again for three consecutive years after that. For the
following 7 year stretch after that, the division was won by others like
Rodolfo Vieira and Bernardo Faria. But this year, there was no Rodolfo and
Faria had gone up a division years before. The path for Xande was clear.
Xande did it again, this time beating veteran Lucas Leite in
the finals. It’s just amazing to see both these veterans still making it to the
finals in impressive fashion. Lucas Leite is especially impressive since he is
usually much smaller than his opponents.
Super Heavyweight Division:
This used to be Rodolfo Vieira’s division, but with an
injury keeping him out of the scene for 2015, Bernardo Faria was able to take
the gold, defeating Gabriel Rocha in the finals. Faria has always been
considered one of the top three heavier BJJ fighters in the world alongside
Vieira and Buchecha, but has always been bested by those two. This year he had
his chance and he took it.
We also have Igor Silva and Yuri Simoes taking third place
on the podium. This is Yuri’s second world bronze medal and he is still young.
We can expect him to move up through the ranks as the years pass.
Ultra Heavyweight Division:
We have an interesting change here since the former
champion, Marcus Almeida Buchecha, had injured himself in the preliminary
rounds of the championship. Buchecha has been one of the most dominant
champions in history with three consecutive absolute titles. Unfortunately,
this year that streak had to end due to the injury. This led way for some new
placement amongst the medals with Gabirel Lyrio Lucas taking the gold.
Absolute Division:
There were no surprises here. With the absence of Buchecha
and the usual runner up Rodolfo Vieira, the path was open for the next in line,
Bernardo Faria, to take the crown. So without surprise, Trans takes the silver.
However, we did see Leandro Lo make a mark in the absolute division, winning
the bronze medal. It will be interesting to see how he does in later years and
whether there will ever be an absolute champion that is below the heavyweight
mark.
