Kasai 7 took place on February 1st, 2020 and the final match of the night was an epic battle between two elite competitors, Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa and Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu. Both men competed in four-man groups to determine who would compete in the final, with Barbosa putting in the most impressive work in that qualifying round. Barbosa defeated Kyle Boehm, Paulo Azambuja, and Joao Rocha all on points in order to make it to the final; whereas Abreu defeated Bruno Bastos on points, Vinny Magalhaes by walkover, and drew Nicky Rodriguez. With Barbosa and Abreu winning their respective groups, the final was set to be an exciting match between a pair of ADCC veterans.
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Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa v Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu at Kasai 7
Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa and Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu clinched up immediately when the match began, with Abreu shooting in for a quick double-leg takedown. He started to lift Barbosa but wasn’t able to finish the takedown, with Barbosa re-balancing and Abreu switching to back control as he did. Barbosa tried to scramble free but ended up with Abreu on his back in turtle and as he tried to stand back up, Abreu hit a huge suplex. He drove Barbosa over to his back to score 2 points, but Barbosa managed to secure a kimura-grip and work his way to half-guard with it.
He tried to crank on the kimura but Abreu defended comfortably, when suddenly the match was paused because a cut on Abreu’s head had opened up. The match was restarted after a break to tape up Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu and he resumed the same position on top with Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa working from half-guard. Abreu was trying to pressure-pass but Barbosa recovered closed guard, with Abreu moving to half-guard again as soon as Barbosa opened his guard. Abreu used an underhook to pass to side control but it was short-lived, as Barbosa got a hook in and transitioned to butterfly guard.
Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu got back to pressure-passing and pushed his way into half-guard again, with Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa struggling to get the space to work. He managed to get back to butterfly guard briefly but Abreu continued using the same pressure and deep underhook to force his way through. Barbosa managed to get space for a second but Abreu dived into a double-under pass, forcing Barbosa to return to butterfly guard to prevent it. Abreu passed to half-guard and Barbosa tried to snatch another kimura, but Abreu continued his pass and got to side control.
Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa was able to turn to turtle to deny points being scored and started to invert, but Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu was able to stay heavy and trap him in an inverted position. A quick backstep meant that Abreu landed in north-south but Barbosa was able to turtle to deny points once again. This time Abreu kept a bodylock and used it to take his opponent’s back, immediately getting to work on a rear-naked choke. He wasn’t able to secure it as there was just seconds left on the clock, but he scored 4 points for the backtake and won the match 6-0 in the end.
The full match footage of Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa and Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu battling at Kasai 7 was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of FloGrappling:
