Rudson Mateus Champion at Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tokyo
94kg champion at the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in Tokyo, Rudson Mateus overcame sickness and an errant knee to the face to win the gold medal and a nice $2500 cash prize.
Mateus, who trains with Caio Terra in San Jose, has his sights set on competing at all of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam events, with Los Angeles coming next at the end of September.
He's hoping to face off with an opponent that was scheduled to compete in Tokyo but didn't end up making the trip: Kaynan Duarte of Atos.
"Kaynan didn't come, if he had come it maybe would have been much harder. Maybe I'll fight with him next time at the Grand Slam in LA. I want to do the season, I'm going to try this."
"I'm happy with my gold medal but I'm not happy with my performance on the mats. I'll go back to the USA to train hard for my next fight."
Watch Rudson Mateus matches from the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tokyo
Opening round: Rudson Mateus vs Nicholas Penzer
Semifinal: Rudson Mateus vs Anton Minenko