People often say that size doesn’t matter or that Jiu-Jitsu is meant to overcome size differences but when a roosterweight takes on an ultra-heavyweight in black belt competition, it’s pretty clear to everyone who should submit who there. It seems like nobody told Kalel Santos that however, one of the brightest young stars in the sport from Manaus, Brazil who has spent years training under the legendary Cicero Costha in Sao Paulo. He’s one of just many products of Cicero Costha who excels not only in the lighter weightclasses that he calls home, but also when faced with bigger opposition as well.
It’s certainly right that proficiency in Jiu-Jitsu can allow smaller people to overcome bigger, untrained opponents, but when the opponent also has a similar level of proficiency in the sport, that’s where things become a little trickier. It’s this rise in difficulty that means that anybody who does manage to overcome significant size differences in competition often become incredibly popular athletes, and a lighter man running through an absolute division is often the highlight of a tournament. In fact, some of the most memorable moments in Jiu-Jitsu history have come when an undersized competitor has upset the odds and rose to victory against a bigger opponent.
Despite how often this does happen, it’s incredibly rare that a competitor from the roosterweight division is able to submit someone on the complete other end of the scale at ultra-heavyweight. That’s exactly what Kalel Santos managed to do at a recent Grappling Industries tournament where he managed to win gold at both roosterweight and in the absolute division. He uploaded the incredibly short match as a post to his official Instagram account below:
