Quick notes and results from day one

Rômulo Barral quickly submits Denis Roberts with a footlock. Werdum submits Roger Lorent with a kimura from north&south. Saulo quickly jumps to halfguard against the much bigger Koji Kanechika working for the sweep. Gets it and passes the guard fast. After a long fight on the feet Thomasewski Janisz submits Antoine Jaoude with a rear naked choke after a long fight mostly on their feet. Saulo Ribeiro beats Koji by judges decision. Monsen jumps to halfguard and sweeps Karol Bedorf. Janne Pekka Pietelainen quickly submits Tom Erickson with an inverted heelhook. Monson beats Bedorf by points.

Roberto Abreu (Cyborg) working from his guard, trying to catch Tom DeBlass with triangles and sweeps but DeBlass looks very stable and calm. Asa Fuller submits Mike Martell with an armbar from mount. Cyborg almost gets guillotined by Tom de Blass. Cyborg escapes and wins by points. Radek Turek sinks a triangle and taps Rafael Davis with an armbar from the triangle. Xande sweeps Ilir Latifi. Vinicius Magalheas submits Rodrigo Henriques quickly with a heelhook. Xande beats Latifi by points.

Dean Lister jumps to guard and sinks a triangle on Andreas Olsen which forces him to tap. Perosh works to pass Pe de Panos halfguard. Perosh shoots and Pe de Pano spins for the back. Pe de Pano then quickly submits Perosh from the back. Glover Teixera passes the guard of what looks like a much bigger Vesa Vouri and wins by points.

Ricco Rodrigues is having a lot of problems against Tomasz Szczerek. Ricco is going for takedowns but doesnt get them. Ricco loses. Rinaldi beats Yoshiyuki by points. Galvão totally dominates Kassim Annan in the first minutes of the fight. But Kassim hangs in there bravely, reverses and almost passes the guard of Galvão. Galvão gets another takedown and wins by points. Galvão had to fight hard for that win.

Cris Weidman beats Dan Tabera by points. Bráulio takes down Yuji Arai, takes his back and submits him with a rear naked choke. Trond Saksenvik jumps to guard against David Avellan, who tries to pass. Avellan gets the the tap with a footlock. Tarsis jumps to guard against a huge Igor Praporshchikov. Lovato jumps to guard against Tom Lawlor. Tarsis is having a lot of trouble with Igor who looks very stable on top.

Lovato attacks with a heelhook but gets the sweep. Lovato wins by points. Tarsis wins on a judges decision being more active from below. Marcelo Garcia jumps to guard against Rodney Ellis and sweeps immediately. Passes the guard, mounts and taps him with a guillotine from the mount in under two minutes.

Bastos tries to sweep Jorge Santiago from halfguard. Brasco beats Gunnar Nelson on overtime in a very even fight.

Kron Gracie having trouble in the guard of Enrico Cocco, escaping Coccos constant leglock attacks. Santiago works on a kimura from top position as time runs out but Bastos wins by points. Azavedo passes the guard of Mike Fowler and gets sweeped just afterwards. Azevedo goes for a footlock and gets it. Kron gets the back of Cocco and submits him with a rear naked choke.

Milton Viera jumps to guard against Nakamura. Popovich gets a takedown right away, gets the back and submits with a rear naked choke. Milton Viera works for the sweep, but the japanese is stable on top. Ben Askren works to pass the flexible guard of Toni Linden. Askren finally manages to pass to north&south, then mounts and gets sidechoke. Nakamura gets Vieras back and advances.

Leo Santos jumps to guard on Yoshiyuki Yoshida and sweeps. Working for the pass. Getting the pass and then the back. Rani Yahya submits Kouhel Yasumi pretty fast. Leo Santos wins. Murilo Santana, winner of the brazilian qualifier jumps to guard, Gregor Gracie on top, trying to pass.

Jeff Glover gets a choke on Timo Juhani in less then a minute. Rubens Charles (Cobrinha) jumps to guard on Hiroshi Nakamura, working for the sweep. The World class surfer Joel Tudor jumps to guard with Renier Nicolas on top.

Cobrinha gets the back of Nakamura and after a scramble gets a beautiful armbar. Gregor almost passes the guard of Murilo Santana. Gregor almost gets a takedown. Tudor submits Nicolas with a triangle, repeating what he did to favorite Rani Yahya some weeks ago with the gi, showing that he is top level competitor in more then one sport.

Gregor Gracie passes the guard of Santana. Leo Viera gets a takedown on David Marinakis. Gregor gets the back of Santana and wins by points as time runs out. Leo Viera submits Marinakis with a guillotine.

Rafael Mendes sinks a triangle, tapping Jayson Patino pretty fast. Baret Yoshida and Justin Rader enters into a leglock war. Yoshida on the bottom with Rader in his guard. Ryan Hall beats Jeff Curran by points after a long fight that went into overtime. Rader now passes the guard of Yoshida. Scramble. Both get back to their feet. Baret initiates a takedown but ends up on his back. Rader gets another takedown and gets the win by points.

Hillary Williams Submits Megumi Fujii
Killary sbmts Megumi

Womens division starting. Hanette Stack submits japanese Hitomi Haraiwa with an armbar. Cyborg, the female vesion, submits Ida Hanson with an armbar in overtime. Veteran Megumi Fuji goes for a nice flying armbar, but doesnt get it. Her oppponent, Hillary Williams, looks really strong. Hillary gets the back of Fuji and submits with a rearnaked choke. Luanna Alzuguir sweeps, passes and submits Ina Stefensen with a guillotine.

Penny Thomas defeats Shanti Abelha
Penny beats Shanti

Sayaka Shioda beats Bianca Andrade due to minuspoints. Penny Thomas beats Shanti Abelha. Rosangela beats the huge Lana Stephanac after a tough and long fight mostly on their feet. Laurence Cousin beats Ana Michelle Dantas.

Rosangela Conceição beats Lana Stefanac
Zanza beats Lana Stefanac

Mens quarterfinals start. Werdum pulls guard against Thomazs. Janne-Pekka Pietelainen pulls halfguard against Monson.

Werdum sweeps and working to pass. Gets the back of Thomazs. Romulo Barral jumps to guard against Saulo. Saulo working to pass. Werdum wins by points. Saulo almost passing the guard of Barral. Janne-Pekka almost gets sweep on Monson, that has to run of the mat to defend the sweep. Saulo wins by points and advances to the semifinals. Monson couldnt pass the guard of Janne-Pekka, but wins due to one minus point. Vinícius Magalhães wins with a beautiful flying armbar on Pé-de-Pano, maybe the fastest submission so far in the tournament.

Lister sweeps Glover Teixera from halfguard. Cyborg totally dominates his opponent Asa Fuller on the ground. Cyborg wins by points. Dean Lister almost has the back of Teixera but looks more and more tired. Lister is now loosing. Xande beats Radek Turek. Glover Teixera beats Lister, who looks really disappointed.

Galvão gets a beautiful omoplata sweep on Chris Weidman, switches to an armbar, but Weidman defends well and gets out. Tarsis jumps to David Avellans guard. Galvão fights to get a sweep from the halfguard. After a scramble Avellan gets the back of Tarsis and submits him with a rear naked choke with only one arm.

Rinaldi beats Tomazs Szczerek with an anaconda choke. Weidman almost submits Galvão with an anaconda choke from the top. Puts a lot of pressure on Galvão, who is starting to look really tired. Braulio Estima pulls guard with James Brasco on top. The fight between Galvão and Weidman goes into overtime. Lovato pulls guard on Bastos. Galvão almost gets a takedown but lands on the bottom. Galvão sweeps and gets the back, attacking the arm. Weidman gets out again. Galvao gets another sweep. Galvão wins by points after a really tough fight.

Kron Gracie vs Marcelo Garcia. The whole arena is cheering and chanting. Garcia jumps guard. Bastos almost gets takedown. Estima wins. Lovato on Bastos back. Azevedo jumps to guard and sweeps Nakamura. Kron working  to pass Garcia’s guard as Garcia looks for sweeps. Lovato gets takedown on Bastos. Garcia almost gets a sweep but Kron sweeps back. Kron goes for guillotine and Garcia passes to sidemount with the head still locked inside the guillotine. Lovato beats Bastos on points. Garcia frees his head and almost passes the guard of Kron but doesn’t manage to establish position. Popovich jumps guard on Askren and quickly submits him with a figure four footlock. Garcia gets a takedown but stuck in guillotine again. Garcia gets out. Scramble. Kron is all of a sudden on Garcias back, but no hooks in. Times up, no points awarded so fight goes into overtime. Garcia gets early takedown and working to pass.

Nakamura beats Azevedo. Marcelo “Marcelinho” Garcia passes and submits Kron with a guillotine from the mount. The whole arena is standing up, clapping their hands due to the great fight between Kron and Garcia.

Cobrinha gets Tudors back. Glover sweeps Rani. Rani sweeps back and passes guard. Cobrinha submits with a rear naked choke. Gregor Gracie beats Leo Santos after a tough fight.

Leo Viera in Ryan Halls guard. Ryan with his flexible guard almost gets a triangle. Rafael Mendes gets a fast anaconda choke on Rader. Rani beats Jeff Glover by points .

Leo Viera is having alot of trouble passing the guard of Ryan Hall. Fight goes into overtime. Ryan Hall jumps to guard again. Leo passes guard but cannot establish position.  Ryan rolls to all four, Vieira on his back. Scramble. Back to thier feet. Leo Vieira gets a tight guillotine and Ryan Hall is forced to tap!

Jacaré do the alligator against Drysdale

Jacaré do the alligator against Robert Drysdale

Jacare vs Drysdale superfight! Jacaré gets takedown directly. Fight goes back to feet. Jacaré gets takedown again. Jacaré in Drysdales halfguard but cant pass. Back to feet again. Jacaré gets another takedown. Jacaré almost gets the pass this time. Drysdale retains guard. And back to feet again. Jacare gets a beautiful foot sweep, but nothing really happens as the fight hits the ground. Back to their feet. Drysdale being on the defense and a bit passive. Jacaré gets another inside sweep takedown, but they land outside the mats. Restart. Jacaré gets another takedown outside of the mats. Drysdale now goes for takedown, gets Jacaré back but falls to floor. Jacaré almost passing. Back on their feet. Little action. Drysdale goes for takedown again, gets reversed. Jacaré in Drysdales guard. Drysdale goes for sweep but doesnt get it.  Back to their feet. Drysdale shoots, Jacaré sprawls. Same thing again. Now Drysdale more active. Jacaré wins by points due to a takedown.

*notes by Marcus Widengren

*photos by Sebastian Valle

Ricco Rodriguez

ricco rodriguezNickname: Suave (smooth)
Born in 1977
Home: California, USA
Style: BJJ/Wrestling
Team: Machado JJ / American Fight Club
Division: over 99 Kg

ADCC record: 16 – 9 – 0

MMA record: 37 – 11 – 0 (60% of victories by submission)

Rodriguez is born in San José, California. He wrestled in high school while living in New York. He later moved to California and began training in the art of brazilian jiu-jitsu with Rigan Machado and Jean Jacques Machado. He competed and won many jiu-jitsu and submission fighting tournaments before moving on to MMA. In 1997, Ricco Rodriguez became the first american to win a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship. He won the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in the absolute (open weight) division in 1998. He fought many BJJ and submission fighting stars like Vitor Belfort, Murilo Bustamante and Marcelo Garcia.

Rodriguez x Bustamante

Rodriguez x Bustamante

In 1999 Rodriguez began his MMA career with a nice victory against Rocky Batastini. He later fought in the PRIDE Fighting Championship before moving on to the UFC – Ultimate Fighting Championship. In his huge MMA record, you can find victories against Gary Goodridge, Andrei Arlovski and Randy Couture. So respect him!

Gregor Gracie

gregor gracie_2Born in 1986
Home: Brasil
Style: BJJ/submission fighting
Team: Renzo Gracie
Division: under 76.9 Kg

MMA record: 2 – 1 – 0

The Gracie family is still the reference when you talk about brazilian jiu-jitsu. First because they’ve developed the style to the higher level which conquered the world in the beginnings of the 90’s. Now Roger Gracie is dominating all BJJ tournaments in a way never seen before. Gracies, as everybody knows, are a huge family and their business is fighting. So they will always have big names at BJJ and MMA scene.

Gregor is one of the Gracie names we will hear a lot. He already have a successful career at BJJ and that starts to pop up at  MMA: With only 23 years old he has three MMA fights (2 – 1 – 0). Gregor is two times World champion, Brazilian champion, Pan-Am champion and two times National Teams champion. He basically won every major competition he has been!

This year Gregor is going to compete at under 77 Kg division at ADCC Barcelona 2009. This is the same division as Kron Gracie. It would be interesting to see two Gracie competing against each other… But for that to happen we can’t forget that they will, depending on the brackets, have to pass through names like Marcelo Garcia, Ben Askren and Pablo Popovich, which is a very difficult task for any fighter in the world.

gregor gracie3

Marcio Cruz

pedepanoMarcio-CruzNickname: Pé de Pano
Born in 1978
Home: Brasil
Style: BJJ/Submission Figthing
Team: Gracie Fusion
Division: under 98.9 Kg

ADCC Record:
2001 – Runner up
2003 – 1st place at over 99 kg division and 4th place at Absolute
2005 – Runner up
2007 3rd place at over 99 kg division

MMA Record: 6 – 2 – 0Susumu Nagao's Photograph

Márcio “Pé de Pano” Cruz (born April 24, 1978 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a Third Degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Carlos Gracie Jr.. He is also a professional mixed martial arts fighter and a world class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor. His nickname “Pé de Pano” was given to him by his friends at the Gracie Barra academy in Rio. The name “Pé de Pano” is the Portuguese version of the name of the Woody Woodpecker’s horse, Sugarfoot. As a MMA professional fighter, Marcio has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, defeating former champion Frank Mir by TKO at UFC 57. He also holds a win over Keigo Kunihara at UFC 55. He lost a split decision to Jeff Monson at UFC 59, even tough he has defeated Monson 2 times before at grappling tournaments, one time at ADCC in 2003 and at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic in Columbus, Ohio in 2005. Marcio second MMA loss was to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 66, in December 2006, by first round knockout. On June 2007 at IFL he defeated Rafael Feijao when Feijao used an illegal kick 18 seconds before the end of the 3rd and final round; Many spectators say that Marcio was winning all 3 rounds by unanimous decision. In June 2008 Marcio defeated Mu Bae Choi at Sengoku Third Battle via Submission (Triangle Armbar). In April 2009 He defeated UFC veteran Dan Christison by unanimous decision. Marcio says that his MMA career has just started, and now he is looking to go to the light heavy weight division and fight against the best 205lbs MMA fighters. Marcio’s accomplishments as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor are amazing. He is a 6 times Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion, 5 times Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu National Champion, 8 times Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Pan-American Champion and the 2003 ADCC World Champion. He has also defeated many top athletes in grappling competitions, some of them being Ricco Rodriguez, Mike Van Arsdale, Roger Gracie, Gabriel Gonzaga, Paulo Filho, Fabricio Werdum, Xande Ribeiro, Marcelo Garcia, Saulo Ribeiro, Fernando “Terere” Augusto, Fernado “Margarida” Pontes and many others. Since Marcio started his Mixed Martial Arts career, he has been training MMA with Roberto “Gordo” Correa and he fights under Gracie Fusion team. Marcio last fight was in August 22, 2009 when he beat Tom Sauer via TKO in the second round. With this victory he won the World Fighting Organization heavyweight belt, being now the current WFO heavyweight champion.

Yoshiyuki “Zenko” Yoshida

yoshiyuki_yoshida_prevNickname:  Zenco
Born in 1974
Home: Tokyo – Japan
Style: Judo
Team: Tokyo Yellow Mans
Division: under 76.9 Kg

MMA Record: 11 – 3 – 0

Yoshida is an experienced 4th dan judo and MMA fighter, at ADCC Barcelona 2009 a he will face very difficult task since he is at the same division as Marcelo Garcia, GSP, Kron Gracie, Pablo Popovich and many others.

Zenko’s judo background and his MMA training  give him some good tools to be one of the top fighters at 76.9kg. He is extremely fast on his submissions and very difficult to put and control on the ground.

BIO:yoshida

In 2007, Yoshida has entered into a Cage Force welterweight tournament sponsored by the Worldwide Cage Network. In the opening round of the tournament he defeated two-time interim Pancrase champion Katsuya Inoue by knockout. Zenko went on to defeat Matt Cain in the quarterfinals and former Shooto champion Akira Kikuchi in the semi-finals of the tournament. In the finals, he defeated Dan Hardy by disqualification after being struck by a kick to the groin, becoming the first Cage Force welterweight tournament winner.

Since the tournament’s closing, Yoshida has been offered a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It was originally speculated that the winners of the Cage Force tournaments were to be selected to compete in the UFC’s active roster. Yoshida made his debut in the UFC at UFC 84, defeating The Ultimate Fighter 6 contestant Jon Koppenhaver by anaconda choke submission. He was scheduled to meet Karo Parisyan in September at UFC 88 but Parisyan pulled out of the bout only two hours before the weight-ins citing an injury. Yoshida then faced Josh Koscheck at UFC: Fight for the Troops on December 2008, a fight which he lost by  knockout in the 1st round. UFC reported “Tokyo’s Yoshida, who remained on the canvas while being tended to by commission doctors, was removed from the Octagon on a stretcher as a precautionary measure. He was later treated and released from a local hospital for a concussion”.

Yoshida won his last fight against Brandon Wolff at UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida on May 2009 by guillotine choke in the first round.

Yoshida is slated to fight at ADCC BARCELONA 2009 and Anthony Johnson at UFC 104

See you in Barcelona!

Robert Drysdale

Robert DrysdaleBorn in 1981
Home: Utah – USA
Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Team: Team Robert Drysdale
Division: under 98.9 Kg

BJJ/ADCC record:
2007 (Black Belt)
* 1st place in the ADCC World Championships – Absolute division
* 3rd place in the ADCC World Championships – under 98.9 Kg division
* 2nd place in the BJJ World Championships (IBJJF/CBJJ)
* 3rd place in the BJJ World Championships – Open Division (IBJJF/CBJJ)

2006 (Black Belt)
* 1st place in the BJJ Black Belt World Championship (CBJJO)
* 2nd place in the BJJ World Championships (IBJJF/CBJJ)
* 3x times Brazilian National equips Champion (IBJJF/CBJJ)

2005 (Black Belt)
* 3x times BJJ World Champion (IBJJF/CBJJ)
* 1st place Black Belt World Championships (CBJJO)
* 1st place in local Toughman Contest

2004 (Brown/Black Belt)
* 2x National Brazilian National Champion (IBJJF/CBJJ)
* 1st place in the Brazilian National Championship open division (IBJJF/CBJJ)
* 3rd place World Championship (IBJJf/CBJJ)
* 1st place in the Scandinavian open
* 1st place in the Scandinavian open absolute division

2003 (Brown Belt)
* 1st place in the BandSports Challenge
* 2x times Brazilian National equips Champion (IBJJF/CBJJ)
* 2x times World Champion (IBJJF/CBJJ)
* World Cup Champion (CBJJO)
* National Brazilian Champion (IBJJF/CBJJ)
* Brazilian Cup Champion (CBJJO)

Robert Drysdale submitted Marcelo Garcia
Robert Drysdale submitted Marcelo Garcia

2002 (Purple Belt)
* 2x Summer Festival Champion (FESPBJJ)
* 2x Submission Fighter Champion (1st place) (FESPBJJ)
* 2x Maromba Cup Champion
* 2x Maromba Cup Absolute Champion
* 2x Submission Fighter Champion (2nd phase) (FESPBJJ)
* 2x State Trials Champion
* 2x State Trials Absolute Champion
* 1st Lerjj 1st phase
* 1st place in the Lerjj 1st phase open division
* 1st place in the Submission Fighter Championship (3rd phase) (FESPBJJ)
* 2x Overall Submission Wrestling Champion (FESP-BJJ)
* 3rd place Professional division Submission Fighter (FESPBJJ)
* 1st Lerjj 2nd phase
* 1st Lerjj 2nd phase 2nd place in the Absolute division
* 2x 1st place State Championship (FESP-BJJ)
* 3rd place State Championship Absolute
* 1st place in the Brazilian Equips Championship
* 1st place in the Rio de Janeiro State Championship
* 1st place in the Rio de Janeiro State Championship open division
* 1st place in the São Paulo Open
* 1st place in the São Paulo Open absolute division
* 1st “Jogos Regionais” Champion
* 1st “Jogos Regionais” Equips Champion
* World Champion (IBJJF/CBJJ)

2001 (Purple Belt)
* 1st place Summer Festival
* 1st place in the Summer Festival open division
* 1st place in the Submission Fighter (1st place) (FESP-BJJ)
* 1st place Maromba Cup
* 2nd place in the Maromba Cup open division
* 1st place in the Submission Fighter (2nd phase) (FESP-BJJ)
* 3rd place in the Pan-American Championships (IBJJF/CBJJ)
* 1st place in the State Trials Championship
* 1st place in the State Trials open division
* 1st place in the Lerjj 2nd phase
* 2nd place in the Submission Fighter (3rd phase) (FESP-BJJ)
* Overall Submission Fighter champion (FESP-BJJ)
* 1st place in the State Championship
* 1st place in the State Championship open division
* 1st place in the Sport JJ Cup
* 1st place in the Sport JJ Cup open division
* 1st in the “Jogos Regionais”
* 1st place in the “Jogos Regionais” Equips
* 2nd place Brazilian Championship (LBJJ)
* 1st Place in the Pessoa Cup
* 1st Place in the Pessoa Cup Open division
* 1st place in the Fesp-BJJ circuit (1st place)
* 3rd place in the Fesp-BJJ circuit open division (1 phase)
* 3rd place in the Nucleo cup open division
* 1st place in the (2nd phase) Fesp-BJJ circuit
* 1st place in the Itatiba Cup
* 1st place (3rd phase) Orlando Saraiva Circuit
* 1st place (3rd phase) Orlando Saraiva Circuit open division
* 2nd place in the Brazilian National Championship (IBJJF/CBJJ)
* Overall Submission Wrestling Champion (Fesp-BJJ)

2000 (Blue Belt)
* 2x California State Champion
* 2nd place Silver State Judo Championship
* 2x Las Vegas Judo Championship
* 3rd place in the Copa Pacifica
* 3rd place in the Copa Pacifica open division
* 3rd place in the São Carlos JJ Cup
* 1st place in the Grapplers Quest Las Vegas
* 1st place in the 2nd American BJJ Championship
* 3rd place in the 2nd American BJJ Championship open division)

1999 (Blue Belt)
* 1st place in the California State Championship
* 1st place in the California State Championship (absolute)
* 2nd place in the Silver State Judo Championship
* 1st place in the 2nd Las Vegas invitational Judo Championship
* 1st place in the Submission Wrestling open
* 1st place in the 7th International Jiu-Jitsu Championship
* 2nd place in the 7th International Jiu-Jitsu Championship (absolute)
* 3rd place in the Copa Pacifica Jiu-Jitsu
* 3rd place in the Copa Pacifica de Jiu-Jitsu open division

MMA record: 1 – 0 – 0 (armbar in the 1st round)

Gracie ripping Drysdale's sleeve
Gracie ripping Drysdale’s sleeve

Brazilian/american jiu-jitsu black belt Robert Drysdale has been training and competing in BJJ since 1998. Robert was born in the USA and then moved to Brazil with his family at the age of six. As a teenager Robert returned to the USA to attend college in Las Vegas. There he began training with the Luis Pederneiras (Nova União) association. It was quickly evident that Drysdale was a natural at brazilian jiu-jitsu. It was during that time in Las Vegas that Robert decided he would dedicate himself fully to the training, competing, and teaching the art of brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Robert returned to Brazil in 2000 where he lived until 2008. During that eight year period Robert Drysdale owned and operated a jiu-jitsu academy in the town of Itu, São Paulo, Brazil. While in São Paulo Robert trained with the Maromba Club and later with team Brasa Jiu-Jitsu Club. His personal commitment to teaching, training, and competing at the sports highest level was absolute. He trained several times per week with his fellow teammates at Brasa Jiu-jitsu club headquartered in downtown São Paulo. This elite team of world-class brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters is composed of some of the best black belts in the world. It was at Brasa in 2004 Robert received his black belt from Leo Viera.

In 2008 Robert relocated to the USA and is currently teaching and training in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. He is currently training with former UFC Champion, Randy Couture and former Pride Champion Wanderlei Silva. Robert Drydale recently made his amateur MMA debut with Tuff-N-Uff, winning by armbar in the first round against Josh Musick.
Now he’s going to face Roger Gracie in a special match called Superfight. The last time they fought was in the finals of 2007 BJJ World Championship. Gracie won in a funny episode where he ripped Drysdale’s kimono.

Drysdale runs a martial arts school in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Watch his best videos here.

Marcelo Garcia

marcelo garciaNickname: Marcelinho
Born in 1983
Home: Minas Gerais – Brasil
Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Fighting
Team: Alliance
Division: under 76.9 Kg

ADCC record:
2007 – under 77 Kg Champion / Absolute: silver
2005 – under 77 Kg Champion / Absolute: bronze
2003 – under 77 Kg Champion

Abu Dhabi Pro Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Cup record:
2009 – under 75 Kg: silver/ Absolute: bronze

Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championship record:
2007 – under 82 Kg Champion

Brazilian National Championship record:
2006 – under 82 Kg Champion / Absolute Champion
2004 – under 82 Kg Champion / Absolute: silver

World Jiu-Jitsu Championship record:
2009 – under 82 Kg Champion
2006 – under 82 Kg Champion / Absolute: bronze
2004 – under 82 Kg Champion / Absolute: bronze
2003 – under 82 Kg: silver

Grappling record: 56 – 8 – 0 (70% of victories by submission)
marcelo_garcia1
Marcelinho Garcia is a world-renown teacher and competitor of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Considered by many to be the best pound for pound submission grappler (for no-gi) in the world, Garcia is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Fabio Gurgel of Team Alliance. In addition to his current titles, he has won the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Championships at all belt levels (blue, purple, brown and black), and the Submissions Fighting World Championships (ADCC) three times in a row (2003, 2005, and 2007), in which he was voted the most technical competitor in 2003 and 2007, and participant in the best match of 2005. In addition to his competition experience, Marcelo is a foremost expert in teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  With his careful attention to detail and his friendly and charismatic personality, he is one of the most sought after instructors in the world, teaching seminars and lessons to professional fighters and grapplers, celebrities, hobbyists, and aficionados of martial arts.
At K-1 HERO’S Korea 2007, Marcelo lost his MMA debut against Dae Won Kim twenty seconds into the second round by doctor’s stoppage due to a cut above his eye. Recently, it was announced that Garcia has joined up with American Top Team in Florida in order to improve his MMA skills. He will continue to fight in BJJ competitions under the Alliance team while representing ATT in future MMA events. In September 2008, Marcelo opened up a Jiu-Jitsu school in Pembroke Pines, a city in south Florida located between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

Hillary Williams

hillary williamsNickname: Killary
Born in 1988
Home: USA
Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Team: Westside Fight Team
Division: under 60 Kg
BJJ/ADCC record: 54 – 4 (against women) and 9 – 8 (against men) hillary
MMA record: 1 – 0
Recent Bio: Pan-Am Jiu-Jitsu Champion in Women’s Purple Belt Absolute and Middleweight; Titan Grappling Challenge Gi Superfight Winner. Russelville Fight Night No-Gi Superfight Winner.
We’ve written about her before here.
“I’ve been known to couch-surf during jiu-jitsu pilgrimages across the country in my quest to constantly learn—an activity that has led to me getting tossed, choked, twisted, and, most importantly, taught by a great group of people from around the world. Making sure to hold on to my nerdy side, I’m at the University of Central Arkansas’ Honors College, working on a biology major and with full intention to go to Medical School, where I’ll spend a good portion of my “best” years buried in anatomy books and missing all the raddest keggers. Well, that’s the story so far.”

Killary’s official site

Previous ADCC (2007) Final Results

The Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Championship is organized each 2 years.

Here are the results from the finals of the previous editions, ADCC 2007, in New Jersey, USA

roger olav

MEN

Superfight

Roger Gracie defeated Olav Einemo (Norway)

Absolute division

Robert Drysdale (USA) defeated Marcelo Garcia

Over 99 Kg

Fabricio Werdum defeated Rolles Gracie

Under 99 Kg

Alexandre “Xande” Ribeiro defeated Braulio Estima

Under 87 Kg

Demian Maia defeated Flavio Cachorrinho

Under 76 Kg

Marcelo Garcia defeated Pablo Popovich

Under 65 Kg

Rani Yahya defeated Leo Vieria

Penny-Thomas-adcc-gold

WOMEN

Under 55 Kg

Sayaka Shioda (Japan) defeated Felicia Oh (USA)

Under 60 Kg

Kyra Gracie defeated Tara LaRosa (USA)

Under 67 Kg

Hanette “Staack” Quadros defeated Kelly Paul (USA)

Over 67 Kg

Penny Thomas (South Africa) defeated Lana Stefanac (USA)