Worlds 2017 Recap — ALLDAYBJJ

Going into Worlds 2017, there were a lot of things that we got hyped about – the return of Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida, the Absolute King; the black belt debuts of the former 2016 brown belt world champions; and some notable rivalry match ups in the black belt weight divisions. Needless to say, Worlds 2017 did not disappoint… for the most part.

Let’s start with Romulo Barral’s un-retirement from competition and the gnarliest injury of the 2017 Worlds. In last year’s finals match between Barral and Leandro Lo, Barral signified his retirement by tying his belt around Lo after his second place finish in the medium heavyweight division final. While we thought this would have been the last time we saw Barral compete in the adult division, we were wrong. And just like last year, Barral did not go out without a bang. In the medium heavyweight semi final match against Patrick Gaudio, Barral suffered a dislocated foot after refusing to tap to a toehold. Time ran out and the score was tied. Barral ended up losing the match 2-1 by referee’s decision. Since then, there has been a lot of controversy about Barral’s refusal to tap but at the end of the day, Barral still goes down in history as one of the most legendary competitors of our time.

The black belt class of 2016 killed it this year with the ladies leading the way. First, the new absolute queen, Tayane Porfirio, not only took home double gold, but also won all of the major IBJJF tournaments in 2017 in her weight class and in the absolute division. Talita Alencar, the 2016 brown belt light featherweight champion, unseated the former light feather queen, Gezary Matuda, in an exciting finals match with both ladies fighting hard. The fight ended 2-0 after Alencar scored in the last two minutes of the match. Rodolfo Vieira’s little sister, Ana Carolina, or “Baby” as everyone affectionately knows her, beat the 2016 champion, Monique Elias, to take home the middleweight title. Nathiely Jesus, arguably the “Rookie of the Year,” has been on a tear and has claimed many titles – most recently the 2017 medium heavyweight champion and absolute silver medalist. Last but not least, Claudia Doval of De La Riva BJJ, put on an impressive show, beating black belt veteran Talita Nogueira.

Then came Alliance’s Nicholas Meregali, who submitted everyone in his way up to the finals in the heavyweight division – only to face Leandro Lo for the gold. Meregali took home the win, 2-0, after Lo could not provide an answer to Meregali’s guard. Could Meregali become the next big thing??

The Absolute King, Buchecha, came ready to fight as he always does and left with double gold, adding his total to 10 world titles. In his division, he beat NS Brotherhood black belt, Igor Schneider, 11-7 and then went on to submit Joao Rocha and Gustavo Elias to take home the gold. In the absolute final, it’s as if the IBJJF knew that they would save the best fight for last – Buchecha vs Leandro Lo. We know that they are good friends and have trained together in Brazil and the US. Many of us wished we could be a fly on the wall to see them train together, but thankfully, the 2017 Worlds gave us a glimpse of what those training sessions looked like as both men went to WAR. As time ran out, the score was tied 2-2, with 1 penalty for Lo. It was a modern day clash of the titans, with both exhausted from the 10-minute battle.

Finally, you can’t have a ton of hype without having some drama. Many will say that the IBJJF refereeing has been getting more and more inconsistent as time goes on. One of the more publicly controversial decisions this year was between Cobrinha and Jamil Hill in the semi finals of the featherweight division. Caio Terra was also seen visibly upset by the referee’s decision after his finals match with Alliance’s Bruno Malfacine and exchanged a few words with them after the fight.

Despite some of the controversial moments this year, the 2017 Worlds lived up to the hype. There’s less than 365 days until the next one and I know that we can count on both the familiar faces and “dark horses” of the divisions to make it just as exciting as this year.