Ranked! How Do Copa Podio GP Competitors Stack Up?
Ranked! How Do Copa Podio GP Competitors Stack Up?
The Copa Podio Lightweight Grand Prix arrives on Saturday and will feature 10 of the sport’s toughest lightweights battling it out for top honors. The pack
Jan 8, 2016 by FloGrappling Staff
The Copa Podio Lightweight Grand Prix arrives on Saturday and will feature 10 of the sport’s toughest lightweights battling it out for top honors.
The pack is split into two groups of five and a round-robin format means competitors will face all the other members of their group. That means we’ll get to see a flurry of world class matches that we’d almost never get to see anywhere else.
Andre Borges of BJJ Heroes helps guide you through the event by breaking down the competitors from the Green Group of the Copa Podio Lightweight Grand Prix, analyzing and assessing their games ahead of this weekend’s competition. We'll have the breakdown for the Yellow Group soon.
FELIPE SILVA
Felipe Cesar Silva is one of the rising stars in the Brazilian grappling scene, particularly without the gi. In his first year as a black belt (2015), ‘Felipinho’ has kept very active with over 70 matches and a very impressive submission rate of 50%.
Although a guard player in essence, Cesar brings something different to the other grapplers on the Copa Podio GP roster, which is a highly submission-orientated 50-50 guard game. His attacking style has earned him the reputation of being reckless, though his submission victories over big names such as Marcelo ‘Lapela’ Mafra, Lucas Valle, Caio Almeida or UFC’s Hacran Dias this year might argue his cause.
AJ SOUSA
A future star in our sport, AJ Sousa has in his heart and determination one of his strongest assets. One of the grapplers we have been most excited to watch, Sousa brings a very strong lasso guard and omoplata sweeping game to the table.
The reason why AJ ranks low on the ‘passing the guard’ board here presented is solely because we seldom find him playing the top game, choosing to play guard 9/10 times (probably closer to 99/100). But if everyone’s guard was that good, we might never see anyone fighting from the top.
Another ‘plus’ in Sousa’s favor has been his recent move to AOJ. Originally a Pablo Popovitch student, and somewhat of a ronin competitor since his former instructor’s move to Abu Dhabi, Sousa has now joined the famous Mendes Brothers camp, where we are sure he added even more tricks to his already impressive berimbolo game.
LUCAS LEPRI
Lucas Lepri is one of the most accomplished lightweights in the history of the sport, with three IBJJF World titles and four PanAm titles at black belt. Lepri is also the only grappler on the Copa Podio GP card to have beaten Leandro Lo in competition.
Arguably the most complete and experienced Copa Podio challenger, Lucas Lepri’s well-roundedness is his most valuable asset, something that allows him to pull his opponents to whichever game he planned for (game planning being his second strongest attribute). At Copa Podio Lepri will be trying to avenge his loss to Davi Ramos in the 2015 ADCC final, the only submission loss of his entire career as a black belt.
DAVI RAMOS
Arguably the most explosive competitor on Copa Podio’s GP, Davi Ramos turned a few heads his way last year by winning the European Open and the ADCC, going through 2015 without tasting defeat.
Ramos tends to make the most of his physical attributes by seeking the scramble early on his matches which he often uses to transition to a submission. One of his main faults in the past has been pushing for those scrambles too often and losing the endurance game, but Ramos has matured recently, as last year’s success would attest.
LEANDRO LO (Defending Champion)
The current Copa Podio champion is also the most accomplished lightweights of his generation, having steamrolled his entire division by the time he was 24 years of age. Leandro Lo has since moved up in weight where his successful run has continued, competing in both the medium and medium-heavy weight classes.
Leandro Lo is known for his agility, endurance and balance, but also for being conservative with his submissions and for using the timer to his advantage. But don’t be fooled by his low finish rate – Leandro should not be mistaken for a boring competitor, as he tends to turn matches in his favor by imposing a grinding pace on his opponents.
