ADCC crowns champions

The Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Submission Wrestling Championships handed out its hardware today with Rafael Mendes, Pablo Popovich, Braulio Estima, Xande Ribeiro and Fabricio Werdum each earning men’s divisional titles while Luanna Alzuguir and Hannette Staack Quadros took home women’s titles.

Men’s -65.9 kg

There is a new name on the world jiu-jitsu stage and it’s Rafael Mendes. Mendes is just 20 years old and has had his black belt for less than a year, but he showed no signs of youth or inexperience en route to capturing the ADCC title.

Mendes earned a 7-4 win in a 30-minute double-overtime over Ruben “Cobrinha” Charles in the final, avenging a loss to Cobrinha at the Mundials earlier this year in the process.

In the third place bout, Ryan Hall defeated Jeff Glover 3-2 after taking his back in the final seconds of the bout. Hall and Glover advanced against each other only after semi-finalists Rani Yahya and Leo Vieira bowed out due to injury following their contests with Charles and Mendes, respectively. Vieira’s loss to Mendes marked only the second time he’d ever been submitted in competition.

Men’s -76.9 kg

Pablo Popovitch upset his arch-rival and three-time defending champ Marcelo Garcia 3-2 after losing to Garcia in the finals in 2005 and 2007. In the division’s third place bout, Gregor Gracie outpointed Keita “K-Taro” Nakamura 10-0.

Men’s -87.9 kg

Braulio Estima earned his first ADCC title with an inverted triangle submission over Andre Galvao. In the third place match-up, David Avellan slapped an Achilles lock on the injured foot of Raphael Lovato Jr. to force a quick tap. Lovato’s injury came in the semi-final loss to Estima.

Men’s -98.9 kg

Alexandre “Xande” Ribeiro repeated as divisional champ with a 2-0 win over Gerardi Rinaldi. In the third place bout, Ultimate Fighter vet Vinny Magalhaes subbed Glover Teixeira via armbar from a triangle set-up.

Men’s +99 kg

Defending champ Fabricio Werdum took a 9-0 points win over Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu to earn the title. In the bronze-medal match, 2005 champ Jeff Monson defeated Saulo Ribeiro on points. Afterward, Ribeiro, a six-time BJJ world champion and two-time ADCC champion announced his retirement from competition.

Women’s -59.9 kg

Luanna Alzuguir beat Sayaka Shioda 3-0 to win the division while Hillary Williams dispatched Laurence Cousins 9-0 to take third.

Women’s +60 kg

Hannette Staack Quadros picked up another ADCC belt with a kneebar submission over Penny Thomas. Quadros won the +67-kg title as well as the women’s absolute in 2007. Meanwhile, Strikeforce champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos won on negative points against Rosangela Conceicao in a bout that remained almost entirely on its feet.