BJJ Bet is one the few Brazilian promotions around and has put on their best show to date, despite losing their original headliner when Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida was forced to pull out of his match with Fabricio Werdum due to a knee injury. Despite losing a huge match, the card was still stacked with some of the best grapplers on the planet and the replacement headline match was a great match between the old guard of BJJ and the next generation, Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu against Kaynan Duarte.
Several of the preliminary matches delivered a ton of action in the build up to the main card, including two back-and-forth fights that ended in close decisions. Diego Pato v Alex Sodre and Gabrieli Pessanha v Yara Soares both ended on points after all four competitors had their fair share of success, with both matches only having 2 points separating the winners and losers. The final preliminary match between Marcos Petcho and Servio Tulio was an absolute firework display with both men aggressively hunting for the finish from the start, although Petcho would go on to win by Collar Choke.
The Main Card
Two fights on the main card would end in draws as BJJ Bet did not subscribe to having a judge’s decision if the points tallies were even at the end of regulation time. Instead, there was a golden score period and if that also elapsed with no points, the match would end in a draw. Xande Ribeiro fought in a rare appearance against Vagner Rocha which was incredibly close from start to finish. In trademark Xande style, he spent the majority of the match playing a guard which proved impossible for Rocha to pass and secure a position to score points. In overtime, Ribeiro attempted to score points from standing to get the win but a failed takedown attempt allowed Rocha to start working a backtake that saw him attacking a choke with one hook in as the time ran out.
Nicholas Meregali and Leandro Lo fought in a similar style in their draw, with Meregali pulling guard early and working his specialty of Spider and Lasso guards. Lo managed to hold off all of his sweeps and submission attempts while also coming close to passing on one or two occasions. There was a brief moment where Meregali almost took the back of Lo, although the match went out of bounds and the pair were reset to standing. When the match entered the overtime period, it went much the same as the rest of the match with Meregali pulling guard immediately although this time he worked from closed guard instead. After a few minutes, Meregali attempted a Triangle Choke which he would then turn into an Omoplata as Lo defended, setting the position the pair would stay in as the time ran out.
Isaque Bahiense pulled off a slick Guillotine finish against the older Gregor Gracie in a match that showed how far the Fabio Gurgel black belt has advanced in the last few years. After adding Gracie’s scalp to his list of high-profile victories that includes JT Torres, Manuel Ribamar, and Claudio Calasans, it seems as though Bahiense is poised to earn much more silverware over the next few years. Then, in the match between Erberth Santos and Felipe Pena, Santos repeated some of the antics that have led to him falling out of favor with fans over the years. After being mounted by Pena, Santos verbally submitted and chose to end the match despite Pena having no submission at the time.
The Main Event
Duarte pulled guard early in the match before being given a warning for stalling that seemed to work wonders as he immediately went on the attack when the action was reset from standing. He attempted a Single-leg takedown and followed it up with a trip that Cyborg defended expertly. Duarte pulled guard in order to force the action to the ground and Cyborg responded by immediately pressuring into him. Duarte countered this perfectly by getting underneath his opponent and making his entry into 50/50. Cyborg seemed to anticipate this and quickly took advantage of the position by locking up a tight Heelhook that got him the tap within a matter of seconds.
BJJ Bet Full Results
Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu defeats Kaynan Duarte via Submission – Heelhook
Felipe Pena defeats Erberth Santos via Submission – Verbal Tap
Isaque Bahiense defeats Gregor Gracie via Submission – Guillotine
Nicholas Meregali fights Leandro Lo to a Draw
Xande Ribeiro fights Vagner Rocha to a Draw
Marcos Barbosa defeats Wander Braga via Points – 3 – 0
Marcos Petcho defeats Servio Tulio via Submission – Collar Choke
Leonardo Lara defeats Italo Moura via Points – 2 – 0
Gabrieli Pessanha defeats Yara Soares via Points – 10 – 8
Diego Pato defeats Alex Sodre via Points – 12 – 10
Gutemberg Pereira defeats Rider Zuchi via Submission – Head and Arm Choke
Mica Galvao defeats Felipe Porto via Submission – Bow and Arrow Choke
The replay of the full BJJ Bet event can be seen on their own website, click here to purchase the PPV.
