MARCH 3, 2024, last night the city of Balneário Camboriú in Santa Catarina, Brazil, held the 3rd edition of the Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship (ADXC). Although the card was packed with high-level talent, the event exceeded expectations in delivering one of the best nights of jiu-jitsu in recent memory, a result partially owed to the matchmakers and the production of the show.
The athletes were the stars of ADXC3. We would be hard-pressed to find the Match Of The Night performance given how many entertaining bouts there were. Lucas Protasio and Pedro Maia had a beautiful non-stop clash with plenty of standing exchanges in what seemed like a perpetual scramble as did Henrique Cardoso (Ceconi) and Roberto Abreu (Cyborg). Equally formidable was the main event between Jansen Gomes and Bruno Lima, although this was a more one-sided affair for Gomes.
Individual Performance Of The Night could also go to a wide range of athletes on ADXC 3. Rookie black belt Rayron Gracie impressed us very much with his “Back To Basics” style of jiu-jitsu, giving nothing to the dangerous Fellipe Andrew – who came into this match with 156 submissions as a black belt. Although this was only Rayron’s 5th match in jiu-jitsu’s pro division against Andrew’s 291, Gracie showed outstanding composure and a strong mindset, taking Fellipe into deep waters and submitting the Alliance athlete in the 4th round.
Also impressive was Pedro Alex (Bombom) of GF Team who was competing in the prelim matches. Alex is a kimono specialist with about 20 no-gi matches in his whole black belt career who was going up against one of the hottest submission wrestling prospects in the world, Daniel Manasoiu, who dominated the ADCC circuit last year with a submission rate of over 90% and over 70 matches in 2o23. Bombom used his mobility to stay one step ahead of Big Dan’s guard, passing from side to side and even getting a few takedowns from the standing exchanges. A solid performance for the Rio de Janeiro native.
Check the ADCX 3 results and match the report below.
– SAMUEL NAGAI DEF. ISRAEL SOUSA VIA SHOULDER LOCK
(Gi match)
An interesting match-up between two featherweights known for their mobility and offensive acumen. In the first round, the cage posed a few problems to both, preventing them from completing sweeps from the bottom. The second round saw a very conservative Israel, possibly tired, and Nagai gaining momentum, though Israel was still successful at restraining Nagai with his lasso guard. In the third round, Samuel Nagai smelled blood in the water. With Sousa showing signs of fatigue, Nagai pushed through using the fence to pass the guard of the Fortaleza native and gain the mount, then win the back control and attack the shoulder lock for the finish.
– FABRICIO ANDREY DEF. RUAN ALVARENGA VIA GUILLOTINE
(No-Gi match)
More of a wrestling match in Round 1, with Alvarenga winning the first standing exchange with a fast double leg. Andrey reciprocated with a beautiful wrist snap near the end of the round. The second round started with a different dynamic. Andrey opted to pull early on but, failing to get any good connections from the bottom he returned to the standing position. Ruan took Fabricio down twice with the double leg but got caught in a very tight guillotine on his second attempt. A fast and entertaining match as we expected of these two.
– JULIA ALVES DEF. ANA CAROLINA SCHMITT VIA DECISION
(Gi match)
A good match from Julia who was always on the offense throughout the 3 rounds against Ana Carolina’s more defensive posture from the bottom. Alves had a solid submission attempt in round 2 from a back attack and was always pushing the rhythm for a well-deserved decision win.
– JONNATAS GRACIE DEF. LEVI JONES-LEARY VIA DECISION
(No-Gi Match)
A Brazil versus Australia clash where the Aussie, Levi Jones, played the whole match with his back fully on the mat, giving the initiative to Gracie and waiting for Jonnatas to start his offense, possibly hoping he would make a mistake. The Brazilian is a world-class competitor and never made any. Although this wasn’t as fun to follow as the previous matches on the card, Gracie was in the driver’s seat the whole time making it an easy decision for the judges.
– GUTEMBERG PEREIRA DREW WITH PEDRO LUCAS
(Gi Match)
A very timid/defensive performance by Lucas. Gutemberg did some work (not a lot) from his guard in the first round to open up the game but was unsuccessful. In the second round we saw more of the same, Lucas had his first offensive grip in the second minute of the clash and he only had two of those in the entire match, showing an unwillingness to compromise in his defensive posture. Gutemberg opened up a little for the second round, changing between guards, from closed, spider, lapel, DLR, but was unable to shake Lucas off. Third round we saw the same MO from both athletes and given that there was nothing to score for either side, the match ended in a draw. Although Gutemberg showed visible signs of frustration for his performance while leaving the cage, Pedro Lucas appeared to vigorously celebrate the draw (?), a bizarre demonstration after such an unenthusiastic strategy.
– HENRIQUE “CECONI” CARDOSO DEF. ROBERTO “CYBORG” ABREU VIA SPLIT DECISION
(No-Gi Match)
Unlike the previous match, this one had nonstop action. Ceconi and Cyborg had met a few times in the past and they have always delivered strong stand-up wars, terefore, the same was expected and delivered in this clash. Cardoso and Abreu had a serious battle in the first two rounds with Cyborg’s steam starting to fade away in the third. Although visibly fatigued, the Fight Sports leader had a strong moment at the end of the 4th, taking Ceconi’s back in another scramble and stealing that round. The fifth round was a toss-up and the split decision a good compromise in this back-and-forth scrap. A good performance by both athletes, arguably the Match Of The Night or par with Protasio x Maia.
– RAYRON GRACIE DEF. FELLIPE ANDREW VIA CHOKE
(Gi Match)
This was one of the most highly anticipated match-ups on the card for us. Two submission-oriented athletes, who can pull it off from all aspects of the game and always compete with a no-nonsense technical and mental style. Andrew started the first three rounds by pulling guard, playing a more defensive game against Rayron’s “Roger Graciesque” low-posture guard passing style.
In the 4th round, Andrew opted to trade in the standing department with the rookie black belt, Gracie and paid the price for it. A beautiful Osotogari throw by Rayron who put on a choke from that sequence. An unorthodox choking position, much like a modified clock choke.
– BIA MESQUITA DEF. JENNIFER MAIA VIA RNC
(No-Gi Match)
Flawless performance by Mesquita who took Maia down via Ushimata, forced the turtle from a guard passing attempt, and got the finish within the 2-minute mark.
– JANSEN “NENEGO” GOMES DEF. BRUNO LIMA VIA DECISION
Many expected this to be a very evenly matched bout, us included, but Jansen came in ready to prove there are levels to this game. Nenego was able to dominate the stand-up using the fence to take Lima down on repeated occasions. Jansen was also able to navigate through Bruno’s unorthodox butterfly guard with ease, finding his way to the back where he attempted a few grueling chokes.
Bruno showed his skill in Round 4, taking Jansen down with a beautiful belt grip trip to even the round, but the IBJJF middleweight world champion returned to his dominance in round 5 to seal the deal.
– Seikhan Bolatbek def. Fernando Santos via outside heel hook (no-gi match)
– Zayed Alkatheeri def. Oziel Santos via decision (gi match)
– Joao Zeferino def. Bruno Antonietta via triangle armbar (no-gi match)
– Lucas Protasio def. Pedro Maia via decision (gi match)
– Pedro Alex def. Dan Manasoiu via decision (no-gi match)
