NOVEMBER 16, 2020 – Last night we witnessed the fourth edition of the BJJ Stars event, a jiu-jitsu gathering of elite athletes with the highest level of presentation. As per usual, no expenses were spared in the promotion side of the event. A spectacular setting and world-class team, with the popular TV presenter Paula Sack hosting the show and the familiar Mario Filho doing the after-match interviews.
The high standard of the show did not stop at the production. The level of talent on the mats was equally impressive with the middleweight tournament holding 5 IBJJF World Champions and other top tier competitors whose talent was very well supported by the super-fight matches.
Two of the most impressive performances of the year took place right here, in the super-fight portion of the show. They were those of Dimitrius Souza and Erich Munis. Dimitrius completely dominated one of the legends of our sport in Rafael Lovato Jr. The talented and experienced Souza swept, passed and submitted one of the toughest competitors in the world.
The event also saw the debut of Erich Munis. The 2019 purple belt IBJJF Worlds double gold did not have the opportunity to gain experience in the brown belt division this year and came somewhat untested to the black belt division. Many doubted the young competitor’s chances against Victor Hugo, one of the highest-ranked competitors in the black belt division – who also happened to be much larger than Munis. Erich put every doubt to rest with his brilliant performance in a match he dominated. Outstanding debut!
– Anna Rodrigues def. Amanda Monteiro via 0x0 pts, 3×0 adv
– Erich Munis def. Victor Hugo via 6×4 pts
– Bia Mesquita def. Thamara Ferreira via 4×0 pts
– Dimitrius Souza def. Rafael Lovato via Crucifix choke
– Patrick Gaudio def. Devhonte Johnson via advantage
The man of the hour was, of course, Leandro Lo. The legendary grappler returned to his best form last night in a performance that had short breaks of genius, to which Leandro added a wealth of experience. Equally impressive, if not more than Lo himself, was runner-up Isaque Bahiense.
Although the Dream Art leader lost the final to Lo (by a razor-thin margin in the very last 10 seconds of the match), Isaque showed a much more aggressive stance to that of Leandro and put on a really fun show to the fans. After convincingly beating one of the favorites in round 1 (Gustavo Batista), Bahiense ran through the current Pan American champion, Otavio Sousa. Isaque looked in a league of his own out there.
QUARTER-FINALS
– Claudio Calasans def. Luan Carvalho via decision, 0x0 pts
– Otavio Sousa def. Matheus Diniz via 0x0 pts, 3×0 adv
– Leandro Lo def. Jaime Canuto via 0x0 pts, 1×0 adv
– Isaque Bahiense def. Gustavo Batista via 2×2 pts, 2×0 adv
SEMI FINAL
– Leandro Lo def. Claudio Calasans via 7×0 pts
– Isaque Bahiense def. Otavio Sousa via choke from the back
FINAL
– Leandro Lo def. Isaque Bahiense via 1×0 adv, 0x0 pts
