IBJJFOct 27, 2016 by Reid Connell
The Only Man To Stop Leandro Lo In 2016? Bernardo Faria.
The Only Man To Stop Leandro Lo In 2016? Bernardo Faria.
At times, Leandro Lo has seemed untouchable this year, but he is far from perfect in his matchups against Bernardo Faria.
UPDATE 11/9
Bernardo Faria: Unstoppable is out now! Watch the first episode today.
Leandro Lo is in the midst of a historic year. The NS Brotherhood founder has won every major tournament out there and added a third Copa Podio title to his collection this past weekend in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has run through a murderer's row of elite black belts such as Alexander Trans, Erberth Santos, Keenan Cornelius, Romulo Barral, Dillon Danis, Lucas Lepri, and many more. At times, Lo has seemed untouchable.
Perhaps Lo's run is unprecedented in jiu-jitsu. He's jumped from lightweight to middleweight to heavyweight and achieved a level of success that only comes with persistence, talent, and an extreme amount of hard work. But Lo hasn't been completely perfect this year. In fact, he's lost two matches. One at the Abu Dhabi World Pro against Victor Honorio that saw him lose a closely contested match via an advantage.
But it was at the 2016 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships that Lo met Bernardo Faria. These two have a history together. They've met a total of four times. The first at the 2013 World Championships had Faria picking up the win via points. However, since then, Lo has simply not had an answer for the pressure of Faria.
The following year the Alliance black belt stopped Lo in the Pan Jiu-Jitsu championships with a sneaky lapel choke. Later in the year, as Faria was making his run at the Worlds open class title, he would stop him again in the semifinals, this time with an armbar.
The most recent matchup only furthered the gap between the two elite black belts. Faria was hungry to make a bit of his own history by becoming the only man to win three absolute titles three years in a row at the Pan Jiu-Jitsu championships. Lo had already beaten Andre Galvao and Romulo Barral and was looking to finally avenge his earlier losses.
After Lo pulled straight to guard Faria immediately went to work on his over under pass, trapping Lo's right leg underneath his shoulder and piling down his signature pressure with his hips elevated. Lo did his best to defend and create space, but it's only a matter of time if you let Faria set his grips--his pressure is too much.
After a lengthy battle for position, Faria forced Lo to the turtle position, and it was all downhill from there. An unfortunate pause in the action only helped to further solidify Faria's back take, and the end came shortly after. Six minutes into the match the Marcelo Garcia Academy professor sunk in a lethal Ezekiel choke from the back and forced the dynamic passer to tap. And just like that, Faria won another open class title.
Stay tuned for an exclusive FloFilms trailer next week for our newest series, Bernardo Faria: Unstoppable
Bernardo Faria: Unstoppable is out now! Watch the first episode today.
Leandro Lo is in the midst of a historic year. The NS Brotherhood founder has won every major tournament out there and added a third Copa Podio title to his collection this past weekend in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has run through a murderer's row of elite black belts such as Alexander Trans, Erberth Santos, Keenan Cornelius, Romulo Barral, Dillon Danis, Lucas Lepri, and many more. At times, Lo has seemed untouchable.
Perhaps Lo's run is unprecedented in jiu-jitsu. He's jumped from lightweight to middleweight to heavyweight and achieved a level of success that only comes with persistence, talent, and an extreme amount of hard work. But Lo hasn't been completely perfect this year. In fact, he's lost two matches. One at the Abu Dhabi World Pro against Victor Honorio that saw him lose a closely contested match via an advantage.
But it was at the 2016 IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships that Lo met Bernardo Faria. These two have a history together. They've met a total of four times. The first at the 2013 World Championships had Faria picking up the win via points. However, since then, Lo has simply not had an answer for the pressure of Faria.
The following year the Alliance black belt stopped Lo in the Pan Jiu-Jitsu championships with a sneaky lapel choke. Later in the year, as Faria was making his run at the Worlds open class title, he would stop him again in the semifinals, this time with an armbar.
The most recent matchup only furthered the gap between the two elite black belts. Faria was hungry to make a bit of his own history by becoming the only man to win three absolute titles three years in a row at the Pan Jiu-Jitsu championships. Lo had already beaten Andre Galvao and Romulo Barral and was looking to finally avenge his earlier losses.
After Lo pulled straight to guard Faria immediately went to work on his over under pass, trapping Lo's right leg underneath his shoulder and piling down his signature pressure with his hips elevated. Lo did his best to defend and create space, but it's only a matter of time if you let Faria set his grips--his pressure is too much.
After a lengthy battle for position, Faria forced Lo to the turtle position, and it was all downhill from there. An unfortunate pause in the action only helped to further solidify Faria's back take, and the end came shortly after. Six minutes into the match the Marcelo Garcia Academy professor sunk in a lethal Ezekiel choke from the back and forced the dynamic passer to tap. And just like that, Faria won another open class title.
Stay tuned for an exclusive FloFilms trailer next week for our newest series, Bernardo Faria: Unstoppable