ADCC 2009 -66kg Brackets and Results

Rani Yahya vs Kouhei Yasumi

Circling and hand fighting. Yasumi gets a Russian 2-on-1 grip but Yahya pulls guard. He stands back up to the clinch and tries to shoot. Yahya hits a fireman’s carry, but Yasumi sticks to his back for an awkward crucific. Yahya walks over the Yasumi’s legs and circles to free himself and take side control. Yasumi tries to turn into him, and Yahya shoot his arm through and jumps to the mount then side control with an arm triangle.

Yahya wins by arm triangle.

Jeff Glover vs Timo-Juhani Hirvikangas

Glover leaps up in the air for the flyingest of flying guillotines and scares Hirvikangas into siting to guard. Glover passes around to side control/north-south, almost kneeling on Hirvikangas. Glover gets a kimura grip and spins behind to take the back. He switches to the harness. He has one hook, then gets the second, then goes to body triangle as he works on the neck. Glover gets a RNC with a lot face/chin in it, then swims his other arm in to RNC the other side.

Glover wins by RNC.

Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles vs Hiroshi Nakamura

Cobrinha sits to butterfly guard then immediately takes reverse de la Riva (RDLR) and underhooks the shin to spin under and through the legs, sweeping Nakamura. Nakamura gets half butterfly guard. Nakamura tries to kick away and stand, but Cobrinha has amazing timing as he jumps around to the harness and does a rolling back take.

While Cobrinha tries to get his hooks, Nakamura escapes and Cobrinha slides down to closed guard. Nakamura stands and Cobrinha opens to sitting butterfly guard.

As soon as they make contact again, Cobrinha goes to a RDLR spin under and takes the back. He has the harness and one deep hook (with the other foot cross behind the butt.)

Cobrinha gets a kimura grip and switches to an armbar. Nakamura gets on top, and Cobrinha fights for the armbar from guard. He finishes it by spinning belly down.

Cobrinha wins by armbar.

Joel Tudor vs Nicolas Renier

Tudor sits to butterfly guard, then as they make contact, he switches to half guard, then DLR, then closed.

Renier gets a tall posture in guard and keeps reaching back with one arm to pry at the ankles. He almost gets triangled, but he saves himself with good posture, and continues to try this guard break. Joel does different things to break posture like underhooking a leg and putting a foot on the hip, or sitting up and hugging the shoulders. Joel sits up and wraps the head for a guillotine but Reneir pops out. They play this guard game for a while.

Tudor sits up for another guillotine and breaks Renier’s posture down. When Renier grabs the wrist to defend, Tudor climbs to the triangle. This time he keeps both hands on the head to break posture while adjusting and tightening the legs.

Tudor wins by triangle.

Rani Yahya vs Jeff Glover – Quarter Finals



They clinch and Yahya jumps to closed guard. Glover reaches back and grabs the heel to try to open guard. After a few tries, this works and he goes for the double under pass. Yahya avoids the pass by turtling, and Glover goes for an arm-in guillotine. Yahya defends, and Glover ends up on bottom.

Glover has half/half butterfly guard with a grip on the far ankle. Yahya is working to pass by reaching down between the legs with cradle grip. Glover goes to deep half guard (DHG) and out the backdoor, almost taking the back with a grip on the hips, but Yahya turns and sits to guard.

Yahya’s turn to have DHG. Jeff tries standing to a cross knee pass then switching to a backsit pass (reverse half guard), but they square up to normal DHG again. Glover sits over Yahya’s head and front spins to reverse half guard. He tries stabilizing the position and freeing his leg, but switches to a heelhook/kneebar. Yahya defends by sitting up, so Glover lets go and gets on top again. Yahya is still in DHG. Glover almost jumps forward into mount but his ankle is stuck.

Yahya works up to a single leg takedown. Glover takes a kimura grip, but Yahya avoids trouble and passes to side control. Glover turns away, and Yahya gets a cradle between the legs.

Glover almost returns to guard and grabs Yahya’s neck in a guillotine in the scramble (like how he beat Robson Moura in 2011), but Yahya stays out of trouble and gets the cradle again.

Yahya gets the harness and sits in against the back with no hooks. Glover turns away, and Yahya goes to knee on belly (more the ribs though.) Glover rises into a slow sort of seoi-nage/toss that gets him on top but Yahya back away and stands. Glover jumps to closed guard then the timer rings.

Yahya wins on points.

Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles vs Joel Tudor – Quarter Finals

Cobrinha sits down and immediately goes for a RDLR spin under to standing up to a single leg from behind.

Tudor gets butterfly/half guard and makes room to stand up.

Cobrinha sits to RDLR and spins through the legs. Tudor tries to ran away and pokes Cobrinha in the eye. The ref pauses the match while Cobrinha recovers.

After restarting, Cobrinha hits a RDLR spin under sweep and gets on top. Tudor has open guard, and Cobrinha is trying to work standing cross knee passes. Tudor spins to a heelhook/kneebar but Cobrinha defends.

Cobrinha pushes Tudors legs down for a smash pass. His leg is entangled (from the earlier heelhook/kneebar) but he eventually circles his foot out, then hits a cross knee pass. He quickly jumps over Tudor to the opposite side, then takes mount and then the back as Tudor tries to turn over.

After hand fighting for a little, Cobrinha gets a RNC on the other side that he first attempted.

Cobrinha wins by RNC.

Rani Yahya vs Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles – Semifinals

Clinch and hand fighting. Cobrinha sits to RDLR. Yahya works for an over-under pass, forcing Cobrinha to turtle, then sit straight back into closed guard.

Yahya reaches back with one arm to pry at the ankles. Cobrinha quickly opens and armdrags to almost take the back, then mounts as Yahya tries to face him. Yahya traps a leg for reverse half guard. Cobrinha stands and tries to cross knee pass, putting him in normal DHG.

From the top of DHG, Cobrinha gets a kimura grip and sits above Yahya’s head, trying to scoot around and take the back. Yahya rocks him back to DHG a few times but Cobrinha keeps moving behind the head. Yahya tries to get on top and stop Cobrinha from taking his back, but Cobrinha spins with the kimura to finish with both legs over the back.

Cobrinha wins by kimura.

Leo Vieira vs David Marinakis

Nicktie clinch and grip fighting. Vieira gets a Russian 2-on-1 to double leg takedown and immediately passes to side control, but Marinakis turtles. Vieira takes the front headlock. Marinakis tries to pull guard but Vieira surfs over his legs and keeps the front headlock. Marinakis pulls guard successfully and goes for a leglock but Vieira stands up and pulls out.

Back to feet. Marinakis pulls guard, then stands again when Vieira doesn’t engage. More hand fighting for a long time.

Vieira hits an armdrag to single leg that lands him in open half guard. When Marinakis sits up and turns in, Vieira grabs a guillotine grip and jumps forward with it. He either thinks he won or felt something I can’t see, because he suddenly releases it, jumps up and goes running across the mat, then spins back to keep fighting. Marinakis is standing now.

Marinakis pulls guard again, and Vieira gets a low posture to work on leg drag/leg pin passes. Marinakis tries to get up, and Vieira gets the front headlock again. Vieira cranks a ten finger guillotine and finishes it even with Markinakis rolling them both to their backs (so Vieira is just hugging the neck to his chest while facing the ceiling.)

Vieira wins by ten finger guillotine.

Ryan Hall vs Jeff Curran

Hall quickly sits and starts butt scooting versus a standing Curran. Hall is intent on inverting and spins upside down several times when Curran gets near. He ends up pulling closed guard.

Curran has a low posture (head down, hands on biceps) and keeps trying to put Hall’s arm behind his back to trap it. Hall body triangles and frees his arm. Curran keeps working from this low posture, trying to step over the leg any time Hall opens to adjust. Hall is working on different grips to control posture, including taking London at one point.

Curran stands with his butt up, and Hall underhooks a leg. Curran drops back to his knees. Hall opens guard and goes inverted and spins into 50/50. Curran tries his own heelhook and they start rocking back and forth in 50/50.

Hall gets on top and untangles his leg for a leg drag/smash pass. Curran gets open guard then drives up for a double leg takedown. Hall falls back right into an omoplata that earns him a sweep to side control, where he quickly takes the back.

They grip fight with Hall on the back until Hall switches to mount. Curran shrimps out and Hall stands. Curran stands. Hall sits to guard and inverts, then stands again. Curran shoots for a double leg takedown, but again it is met with an immediate omoplata. Time is called.

Hall wins on points.

Rafael Mendes vs Jayson Patino

Mendes sits to butterfly guard and shoots up into a triangle when Patino kneels. Patino stands and lifts Mendes up into the air over his head. Mendes lets go and gets thrown down to the ground.

Mendes plays intervted RDLR but ends up with closed guard. He works on neck and wrist control while climbing his legs.

Mendes’ guard opens and Patina stands. Mendes goes from butterfly to RDLR then shoots up to a triangle again. Patino tries to pick him up again, but Mendes hangs on him and keeps adjusting and attacking the armbar. Patino walks out of bounds and seems to be hoping the ref will reset them. They are bumping into the foam wedges that display the sponsors’ posters and the ref pushes those out of the way. Mendes keeps on the triangle/armbar for the tap.

Mendes wins by triangle/armbar.

Baret Yoshida vs Justin Rader

Yoshida sits to butterfly/half guard and spins to a leglock position but doesn’t try any submissions. Rader keeps incredible pressure on him now and throughout the fight.

Yoshida tries standing into a single leg, but can’t get up, so he sits to guard and leglock again. Rader’s balance and pressure keeps him on top. Yoshida tries to stand, then tries to sweep. They end up with dueling banjos in 50/50, heelhooking each other. Rader stands to get out. Yoshida spins to leglock again, then back to half guard.

Rader takes an underhook, so Yoshida ties an omoplata with the overhook, but is pressured out of it. Rader aggressively attacks with an arm-in guillotine from the top. He uses the grip to pass guard, but Yoshida recovers. Rader keeps a grip on his head, but Yoshda is able to spin half guard to the heelhook again. Rader stands and pushes Yoshida’s legs down then jumps out.

Yoshida has butterfly guard hooks behind Rader’s legs and is grabbing the back of the knees. Rader tries a jumping pass but Yoshida circles his legs back in to prevent it.

I’m going to stop my play by play here because it’s repeating variations of this routine: Yoshida tries to play butterfly/half butterfly/half guard and go for sweeps, while Rader keeps driving his knee in and lunging in for guillotines and smashing Yoshida. At one point though, Rader does successfully pass guard with a guillotine grip, which looks really painful for Yoshida until he gets out when Rader tries to mount.

They stand up a few times, and Rader hits a blast double at one point.

Yoshida looks like he’s staggering from exhaustion by the end, and after the timers buzzes, he has to sit for a moment before he can stand up for the hand raising.

Rader wins on points.

Leo Vieira vs Ryan Hall – Quarter Finals

Hand fighting. Hall shoots in, but instead quickly sits to guard, then stands. Hall sits and inverts. Vieira engages by grabbing Hall’s ankles. Hall hits his signature spin to triangle and nearly gets it. Vieira postures and yanks out.

Hall inverts again, then goes back to butterfly guard. Vieira uses a posture that you’ll see throughout all his matches, where he cross grips an ankle, lowers his head, and goes to one knee with a wide base.

Hall armdrags and almost takes the back but falls off the front when he can’t get hooks. He recovers butterfly guard, then they both stand.

Hand fighting. Hall shoots like he wants a takedown but pulls guard again, then inverts and spins all the way around to butterfly guard. This inversion repeats, and Hall keeps pulling guard and inverting to defend many near passes by Vieira.

On time as Hall spins, Vieira is ready and gets double under pass grips. He stacks Hall for a while and slowly passes with pressure. Hall rolls backwards to his knees and pulls guard.

Even more inverting and spinning and near passes. They are both working hard.

They end up standing and Vieira shoves Hall straight out of bounds.

Hall shoots for a takedown that actually goes so deep that he flies between Vieira’s legs and comes out the other side. They both seem surprised.

Time is called with no points scored so they go to overtime.

More of the same guard work by Hall. Vieira gets another double under pass. This time when Hall tries to roll to turtle, Vieira controls the speed and gets a harness grip. Hall manages to pull guard.

Hall stands into a single leg but Vieira backs out of it.

Hall shoots on Vieira from standing several times, but gets stuffed. Vieira spins behind to a rear body lock, but Hall forward rolls to inverted guard and almost spins to a triangle.

Hall shoots a final time and Vieira gets a ten finger guillotine grip, and this joins his hands and throws an elbow over the shoulder for the finish.

Vieira wins by guillotine.

Rafael Mendes vs Justin Rader – Quarter Finals

Mendes pulls butterfly guard, then does a DLR spin behind to get on top. He grabs an anaconda choke from the top of half guard and taps out Rader.

Mendes win by anaconda choke.

Leo Vieira vs Rafael Mendes – Semifinals

Mendes pulls butterfly guard to closed guard after standing to hand fight for a while. Vieira stands to open, and Mendes hangs on him like a koala. Mendes jumps to his feet and they are standing again.

Mendes sits, then stands, then sits again. Vieira drops low (one knee down, other leg posted out wide) and pins an ankle down with a cross grip. He uses this throughout the fight, but it isn’t clear what his plan is because it leaves the other leg free to step over and block him. He just keeps pressing his head/chest against that leg. Maybe he’s working for a leg drag pass but it never materializes.

Mendes hits an armdrag to single leg to rear body lock. Vieira pulls half guard. Mendes nearly front flips into an arm-in guillotine then switches to an anaconda. Vieira squirms to survive, manages to free his head and gets half guard on the other side. They go out of bounds in an awkard side-by-side position and there is a funny restart. The ref moves them to the center and doesn’t pay much attention to making them restart with the same grips. The ref starts them again, but they take a moment to correctly regrip before they start fighting.

They end up with mutual guard, both sitting with their legs tangled. Vieira goes for a 50/50 heelhook, but Mendes gets out.

They Indian leg wrestle for a while until Mendes stands. Vieira stands too. Mendes hits a single to double to rear body lock. Mendes jumps up to take the back, but Vieira perfectly times it and ducks backward to send Mendes flying all the way over and almost face planting.

Mendes recovers to guard. Vieira works his same passing grips. Mendes inverts, but no results. Vieira is still on his passing grip but going no where. Mendes goes to RDLR and hits a spin under and stands into a sort of double leg from behind to put Vieira down, then jumps on to the hips for a rear body lock.

Timer buzzes and they are reset for overtime.

Vieira shooots for a single leg. Mendes drops down and turtles, then rolls to inverted RDLR, spins through the legs to the back. Climbs on to the back with a hook trapping Vieira’s arm. With only one hand to defend, Vieira eventually submits to a RNC.

Mendes wins by RNC.

Jeff Glover vs Ryan Hall for Bronze

Glover pulls his low butterfly/half guard. Hall works the cross knee to smash pass, then tries to take Glover’s back. Glover blocks the hooks and escapes to get on top. Hall has guard. Glover stands and Hall follows.

Glover pulls half guard around the ankle. Hall steps over Glover’s head from standing, but Glover puts him in DHG. Hall stands to pass and steps all the way around the head again. Glover sits up into single leg guard. Hall tries forward rolling into a guillotine. They scramble to their feet.

Glover sits to butterfly guard and takes grips on and under the legs. He goes to x-guard for a sweep, then to a leglock, then to half guard and spinning under for the back, but Hall maintains composure and defends it all. Jeff goes back to butterfly guard with a leg underhooked. He inverts, spins to butterfly, then to DHG. Hall works to pass. Glover goes to inverted to butterfly to DHG again. For a while, Glover plays DHG while Hall works on cross knee passes.

Hall passes and tries to take the back when Glover turns away, but Glover is able to spin to guard and get reverse DHG. Jeff stands and they hand fight.

They are restarted for overtime.

Glover shoots for a single to a double, spins all the way through the legs, back to the single, to rear body lock. Hall rolls forward to get inverted guard. Shoots for a triangle but gets nothing.

Hall has open half/butterfly guard. Glover tries a cross knee pass but Hall inverts, then spins back to butterfly. Hall drives up into a double leg, spins behind to the rear body lock, then climbs up to get the harness grip and one hook. Glover reaches down to block out the second hook as he turtles. Glover almost gets a backdoor escape through the legs, but Hall gets the second hook.

Hall wins on points.

Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles vs Rafael Mendes – Final

The first 20 minutes of this match is the most intense nonstop back and forth action. My notes for this match are almost as many pages as all the other matches combined. Unfortunately, the second 20 minutes of this fight (it goes to double overtime) are… boring. Cobrinha and Mendes fight their hearts out and the are both running on empty by the end.

Cobrinha hits several armdrags to single leg, and each time Mendes gets deep anaconda chokes that make Cobrinha frantic to escape.

They both put on a RDLR and 50/50 guard clinic, often tit for tat, as they sweep each other only to end up in the mirror position. My notes look like a mess of “RDLR to inverted RDLR spin under to 50/50, back to RDLR, sweep. Other guy does RDLR, invert, stand into sweep. Back to RDLR…” Watch this match if you want to see how RDLR is done.

They both go for many 50/50 inverted heelhooks and it’s cringe inducing to watch them fight it and roll around to defend. Mendes rolls out of bounds 2-3 times in a row to escape a single heelhook that keeps getting reset in the middle of the mat (like how Avellan got his knee wrecked by Paul Harris).

During all this inverting and heelhooking, they also catch each other in “bear trap” calf crushes, but can’t get the finish. Mendes improvises a kimura from some strange leg entanglement position but can’t finish it.

Once the fight goes to overtime, both of them seem beat and it becomes a lot of hunched over hand-in-hand clinching. Cobrinha seems a little more aggressive, still going for shots. With about a minute left in double overtime, Mendes takes the back in a scramble to win on points.