Forget Erberth's antics. The real attraction of the weekend were superfights featuring some of the sport's greatest rivals: Buchecha and Joao Gabriel Rocha, and Leandro Lo and Nicholas Meregali.

Meregali and Lo deliver fireworks

Nicholas Meregali retuned after a nearly five-month layoff to decisively beat Leandro Lo after taking his back and winning 4-0. 

The encounter in Sao Paulo– Leandro's home town– was tense, with Lo mindful of their last encounter at the 2017 IBJJF World Championships, when Meregali defeated him in the final of the heavyweight division. When they faced off at the day-before weigh-ins, Lo shoved Meregali during their face off. 

The match played out with Meregali exclusively on top, aggressively pressuring Lo's guard. Lo tried to sweep mostly from the single-leg X-guard but in the last minute of the match Meregali blasted past the guard and managed to secure both hooks for a solid win. 

Rocha earns long-awaited win over Buchecha 

It was a monumental occasion for Joao Gabriel Rocha, who finally earned his first win over his longtime nemesis Marcus Buchecha Almeida. Rocha had faced Buchecha no less than seven times before this, and while Buchecha used to have a clear advantage over Rocha, the gap had been closer than ever in their last two matches. Rocha lost via a razor thin decision at the 2018 World Championships, and by the look of him he wanted to leave nothing to chance in this match. 

Rocha aggressively pressured Buchecha's guard and nearly passed the half guard a number of times, with only Buchecha's legendary monster bridge saving him from being pinned and conceding pass points. 

Even in a points defeat to Gordon Ryan on KASAI Super Series, Rocha looked in fine form and he carried this momentum into the match with Almeida. While the victory is obviously special for Rocha, his post-match words remind us of the importance of staying humble.

"Thank you Buchecha, if I managed to improve and pursue my evolution within our sport, a large part is because of you. My biggest opponent on the mat, a legend of the sport, which has all my admiration and respect."  

Click here for full results from BJJ Stars.

Quick results

There were events in Canada, Spain, the U.S. and the UK over the weekend. Here are the most notable results. 

The Nick Rodriguez train rolls on 

A quick win for Rodriguez at Show the Art Finishers 8 as he faced Eddie Sponeybarger in a no-gi match. Rodriguez showed off a little of his wrestling pedigree, hitting a beautiful sweep single from his knees to take the back and score a choke. Watch the full match here. 

Krikorian wins 145lb tournament 

10th Planet brown belt Keith Krikorian is fast becoming one of most exciting featherweights to watch. He stormed through the 145lb EBI-rules tournament with three subs in regulation, also stopping DDS junior member Frank Rosenthal in OT. Impressive stuff. 

First round: Keith Krikorian def Julio Richiez by heel hook in regulation

Quarterfinal: Krikorian def Gabe Tejada by darce choke in regulation

Semifinal: Krikorian def Frank Rosenthal by rear naked choke in overtime

Final: Krikorian def Emilio Hernandez by heel hook in regulation

Canada National Pro

The season is picking up and this is an important opportunity for competitors  wishing to compete at the Abu Dhabi World Pro to get ranking points. The UAEJJF allow a maximum of two competitors per country in the same division, with the number one seed going to whoever has the most ranking points. 

Adam Benayoun of 50-Fifty won the 69kg black belt division, although the former Marcelo Garcia student is still registered as Alliance with the UAEJJF. He's ranked no.4 in the US, but still lags 120 points behind former training partner Gianni Grippo, the 2017 World Pro champ and 2018 silver medalist at 69kg. 

Marcos Tinoco is exploiting the system in his favor, as the Masters eligible athlete has been competing exclusively in the over 30s divisions in Grand Slam and other UAEJJF events. 

He's no.4 in the UAEJJF male Master 1 black belt global rankings, and if he keeps winning like this he's got a good chance of winning the end of seasons grand prize. 

Remember that he's signed up for the ADGS London on March 9 and we'll likely see him at World Pro, too, an event he's competed at since he was a colored belt and incidentally, where he met his wife! 

Full results from the Canada National Pro.

Europe Continental Pro 

Hosted in Malaga, Spain the Europe Continental Pro is part of the UAEJJF World Ranking and Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Qualifying Series. Many notable names were in action as they prepare for the upcoming Abu Dhabi Grand Slam London next month. 

Here's are some quick fire results: 

Female Gi / Brown / Black / Adult / 55Kg

1. Mayssa Bastos

Female Gi / Brown / Black / Adult / 70Kg

1. Samantha Cook  

2. Thamara Silva  

Male Gi / Black / Adult / 69Kg

1. Hiago George

Male Gi / Black / Adult / 77Kg

1. Pedro Ramalho

Male Gi / Black / Adult / 85Kg

1. Diego Ramalho

Male Gi / Black / Adult / 94Kg

1. Adam Wardzinski

Male Gi / Black / Adult / 110Kg

1. Ricardo Evangelista

Full results from the Europe Continental Pro.

Portland International Open Jiu-Jitsu 2019

Black belts wanting to compete in events such as Pans and Worlds now need points to qualify, and we've seen an uptick in the number of notable entrants for the various IBJJF Opens around the US. Here're some results from Portland. 

Adult / Male / Black / Light

1 - Francisco Antonio Iturralde Lara - Clark Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy

2 - Alexandre Faria Molinaro - Carlson Gracie Team

3 - Jeremy S. Jackson - Caio Terra Association

3 - Thiago Rodrigues Lemos - CheckMat

Francisco "Sinistro" Iturralde scored two submissions (a dark and a choke from the back) to win lightweight. The last months have been a transitory time for the Ecuadorian, who is now based in NYC, and this is a strong return to form. 

Adult / Male / Black / Middle

1 - Andris Auseklis Brunovskis - Atos Jiu-Jitsu

2 - Breno Henrique Abreu Bittencourt - Ares BJJ Rocklin

3 - Chad Phillip Shaule - Gracie Barra

3 - Edmund Yongwoo Kim - GF Team

It was a back-to-basics approach for Andris Brunovskis. A long-time training partner of Keenan, Andrew is also known for his innovative use of the go as a weapon, particularly the belt. It was good old fashioned meat and potatoes stuff here though, and he scored two submissions in two matches. 

Adult / Male / Black / Open Class

1 - Aaron Michael Johnson - Unity Jiu-jitsu

2 - Nisar Amin Loynab - Atos Jiu-Jitsu

3 - Gustavo Oliveira de Andrade - GD Jiu-Jitsu Association

3 - Jeremy S. Jackson - Caio Terra Association

Aaron "Tex" Johnson is known for his brutally effective leg locks, and he was true to form in Portland. Johnson scored all of his wins in the absolute using just the straight ankle lock. Brutal.

Full results can be found here. 

London Winter International Open Jiu-Jitsu 2019

Horlando Monteiro scored a good win over the very tough Charles Negromonte in London, beating the 2018 Abu Dhabi middleweight King of Mats champion 6-0, utilizing a takedown and two sweeps. 

Negromonte is about as easy to sweep as a firetruck, and is notoriously difficult to score on. Repping the Roger Gracie Academy, he is based out of London and would have had the home advantage, which makes Monteiro's win extra impressive. 

Adult / Male / Black / Open Class

1 - Horlando de Jesus Monteiro - KMR BJJ KIMURA

2 - Charles Negromonte Santos - Roger Gracie Academy

3 - Dmitrii Vostrikov - GF Team

3 - Guilherme Guimaraes Borges Olimpio da Rocha - ZR Team Association

Full results can be found here. 

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