FEBRUARY 17, 2019, Rio de Janeiro was the date set to jumpstart the 6th edition of the Copa Podio Grand Prix, one of the oldest professional jiu-jitsu events still in business.
The event suffered from a great deal of misfortune due to an avalanche of injuries and last minute cancelations by a few athletes on the roster, this included injuries midway through the Grand Prix of two strong contenders to the cup – Yan Lucas (Pica Pau) and Luan Carvalho.
With Lucas and Carvalho out of the way, the road to victory was wide open for Tommy Langaker, the biggest/most accomplished name on the roster. Another riddle left by the Pica-Pau/Carvalho blunder was: “who would take their (likely) place in the semi-finals of the event? Luckily, in good Copa Podio tradition, a bright and talented brown belt stood up and took the opportunity with both hands. We are talking about Tarik Hopstock who looked absolutely brilliant tonight.
Champion of the Copa Podio brown belt tournament in 2018, which was set to define one of the vacancies at the Grand Prix, Tarik came out with an aggressive and very submission oriented game, particularly from the open guard, which he used to become the #1 ranked athlete of his group and set his name on the semi-final.
The outstanding pace set by Hopstock and Langaker proved that the Scandinavian grappling is one of the most effective and submission oriented styles in the game today. The final between these two competitors saw Tommy pulling rank, the Kimura BJJ athlete took the reigns of the match from early on and taking home the victory by submission. None the less, this was the very first all European Copa Podio, and straight away between two Norwegian athletes. The Vikings are here to stay!
Yellow Group
R1 Tarik Hopstock def. Jhonny Loureiro by footlock
R1 Yan Lucas vs Darragh Oconnaill (N/A)
R2 Jhonny Loureiro drew with Yan Lucas
R2 Ygor Rodrigues def. Tarik Hopstock 2×2 pts, 2×1 adv
R2 Ygor Rodrigues def. Darragh Oconnaill 0x0 pts, 2×1 adv
R3 Tarik Hopstock def. Darragh Oconnaill by Tarik’oplata
R3 Ygor Rodrigues def. Jhonny Loureiro 4×4 pts, 2×1 adv
R4 Jhonny Loureiro def. Darragh Oconnaill by 2×0
Green Group
R1 Alef Brito def. Luan Carvalho by injury
R1 Tommy Langaker def. Diego Pato by RNC
R2 Alef Brito def. Diego Pato by pts
R2 Tommy Langaker def. Pedro Rocha 4×2 pts
R3 Alef Brito def. Pedro Rocha 4×2 pts
R4 Diego Pato def. Pedro Rocha 6×6 pts, 1×0 adv
R4 Alef Brito def. Tommy Langaker by armbar
Semi-final
Tommy Langaker def. Ygor Rodrigues by choke from back
Tarik Hopstock def. Alef Brito by footlock
Final
Tommy Langaker def. Tarik Hopstock by submission
