Isaque Bahiense, Hugo Marques, Jose Carlos Lima and Gerard Labinski were among the young black belts who shone at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in Rio.
Bahiense met another fresh black belt in the final in Gustavo Batista, who only received his black belt last month. They fought their way through a stacked 85kg bracket.
Hugo Marques emerged top of a hyper competitive 77kg division, beating out Ricardo Lima of NS Brotherhood via a takedown scored earlier in the match.
Jose Carlos Lima is a rooster weight tipped for great things. He got his black belt in 2016 and this is his first major title as a black belt. He fought David Herrera, who began competing at black belt only this year.
Gerard Labinski is a relatively unknown athlete from Poland, who again was only promoted to black belt this year. He won the 110kg division, beating GF Team’s Igor Silva in the final via a single advantage. Labinski was repping Leandro Lo’s NS Brotherhood team.
Source Link: https://www.flograppling.com/articles/6039365-grand-slam-recap-young-gun-black-belts-steal-the-show-in-rio
Last modified: November 13, 2017
