ADCC 2009 in Review
My first match was against Don Ortega who was an all american wrestler in college and is also a blackbelt. He had won many titles such as the IBJJF world Brownbelt title and I knew he would be tough. I decided to just go out there and take it too him right off the bat with no hesitation. I hit him with a hard double finishing it and ending up getting his back where i was able to finish him quickly.
My second match was against Ben Askren. Ben is as good as a wrestler as you will find in the world today. He was an Olympian for the US just last year. He has been training his ground alot and i knew he would be playing strategy with me to keep it on the feet as much as possible. I went out there tied up and pulled guard quickly and then was able to secure the kneebar right away for the finish. At that point I had had two submissions and less than three total minutes on the mat for the first day and was satisified with my performance but knew the tough part was gonna be the next day.
In the semis I went against Gregor Gracie who was having an outstanding tournament and came well prepared to compete at a high level. The match started with some tieing up and Gregor working some faints and moving his head looking aggressive for the takedown but ended up pulling guard. His guard was solid but I was waiting for the right opportunity to pass. With about 3 minutes left in the match , he gave his back on a pass attempt and I took it looking for the choke immediately. I had the rear naked sunk in deep and he was about to tap and time expired. The match ended 3-0.
At this point i felt I was having a perfect tournament and was ready for “war” with Garcia in the finals !!! It was my third time meeting him and I was not gonna be denied. I trained for this as hard as possible and had good strategy. In 2005 I was injured 6 weeks before the tournament and got food poisoning the week of the ADCC which forced me to play alot of strategy. After the first day i was done. Then in 2007, My strategy was to pull guard right off the bat and play bottom for the first half of the match and i just got caught. My conditioning was no where near where it is now. This year I had no doubt I was ready with no excuses. Everything was hitting on all cylinders for me. I was at my best ever.
The match started and I was able to blast thru him for an early takedown. I stayed on him and was looking at how he was reacting to my offense and he was able to sweep me putting me on my back where we stayed for abit. I was then able to hip sweep him back but my feet where caught abit and he was working for a footlock. There was no threat but i never fully got set or comfortable on top in his x-guard and he was able to sweep me back again. It was a battle to this point and only 5 minutes into the match !!! From there I was able to start working my half guard sweep where I was again able to finish the sweep and gain top position where he was sitting down and alot of hand fighting was taking place. During the 2nd half of the match when points were being scored I was constantly trying to engage from the top but he did a great job of keeping me off. He eventually swept me with an omoplata for 2 points. I was able to come to my feet and instead of contesting the takedown, he just sat and took the penalty point. The score at that moment was 2-0 with him holding a negative one. I was confident I could pass his guard and I felt him wearing down just holding on a bit. With about a minute left I was able to get to half guard and lock him down. This was where I wanted to be and I was not gonna lose this position. I was able to pull my leg thru and explode for the pass !!! He fought hard to replace or hip out but i was able to hold for the points. That put me up 3-2. Which technically was 3-1. In the last few seconds he desperately came at me trying to score and I defended losing a point and the match ended 2-1 !!!! I had reached my goal of winning the ADCC !!!!
Rear Naked Choke Against Gregor Gracie
The Guard Pass that gave me the win-Final Score 3-2
The Drama Begins-
What people dont realize and I never complained about was the amount of eye poking that was going on during the match. If you watch it around the 4 to 5 minute mark was how much he was defending with his hands in my face. I received a finger in the eye many times including 2 very hard pokes. I had to stop once and put water on my eye to clear my vision as I couldn’t see. Heck, I had two black eyes the next day !!! I also was kicked in the chest a few times. All of that is ok when two great competitors go at it with high stakes and especially an ADCC title on the line. With that being said, I want to confront these accusations that have been put on me about “short grabbing” during the match. I do not remember pulling the shorts and have watched the video many times to see where I did and haven’t been able to see it. When Garcia complained to the referee, the referee told him that I he did not see any short grabbing and that I was not doing that. If he felt any type of pull it was accidental and was for a split second, that had no effect on the match. There were 5 judges at the table and a referee. If there was any type of short grabbing, they would have saw it. That hurts me because it is unfair to my effort and performance. Also his hand in my face/eyes made it very difficult to guard pass and engage in any sort of attack from the top position. I’ve never faced anyone that did that. Unreal for someone to believe that a match could be affected by grabbing shorts, specially since we train with the gi everyday. Where grips are part of the game.
One of many hand in the face accidentally poking me in the eye
