The hotly-anticipated conclusion to the Spyder Invitational wrapped up this afternoon in Seoul, Korea where Kaynan Durate and Johnatha Alves of Atos take home top honors in both the -76kg and 76kg+ divisions.

Though not to detract from Kayan's flawless double gold performance, the biggest story truly has to be  Alves beating Paulo Miyao & Masahiro Iwasaki to earn the -76kg Title.  

Continue reading for a full recap of the brackets and superfights, hit the jump!

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Kaynan Duarte Remains Untouchable

Kaynan Duarte was the only athlete to take home first place in every Spyder event this season, so it seemed fitting that he was able to fight his way to the top of the absolute podium as well by defeating teammate Jonatha Alves by two points in a fun and fast-paced final. 

Duarte's outing this afternoon began with a measured approach against Alliance's Vinicius Ferreira – the two had met many times throughout their history, meaning the two were well-versed in each other games and had formulated appropriate gameplans. Duarte was able to score an early to points from a sweep and stayed on top for the rest of the match, unable (and perhaps uninterested) to advance to he position any further. 

Duarte's second match saw him paired against Victor Hugo – another athlete Duarte has encountered in many a final – and an opponent who can really take Duatre to the task. Hugo challenged Duarte throughout the entire match with his powerful closed guard attacks and submission attempts and the match was razor thin right down to the final minute when Hugo swept Duarte for two points, but was unable to make up the advantage points scored earlier in the match by Duarte, thus defeated.

Johnatha Alves Takes Out Miyao, Iwasaki In Flawless Performance

We've seen the future – and its name is Johnatha Alves.

Alves made serious waves in the jiu-jitsu community when he beat World Champion Shane Jamil-Hill Taylor at Spyder back in July, and the AOJ prodigy is showing no signs of slowing down now. 

Alves guard shone particularly bright tonight, he was able to submit the notoriously durable Iwasaki with a slick armbar transition from the omoplata.  His second match against Miyao couldn't have gone better for the young AOJ prodigy – he pulled guard and was able to control the pace of the match until he saw the opening to blast forward and wrestle up for two points.  Alves maintained top position for the remaining minute of the match and earned himself his most prestigious victory to date.

When we asked Johnatha about what it was like to face a legend like Paulo Miyao, he said that

"I knew it would be a tough fight, but I was ready. I did changed my training slightly for Masahiro and Paulo, but the mentality is the same – be ready at all times for anyone. 

"I was young, a grey belt, blue belt – and I was watching these guys then, and now because of Spyder, I have the chance to fight against them... now my dream has come true. To become the best athlete, you have you fight the best guys – it doesn't matter if you win or lose, but today was a good day."

In a forthcoming interview with Professor Gui Mendes was quick to point out that this victory does nothing to tarnish Paulo's legacy and that "This doesn't change how great Paulo is, it showcases Johnatha's abilities. The world is getting to see what I've known for the past few years."

Stay tuned for an exclusive interview with Mendes appearing on FloGrappling soon.

Jamil-HIll Taylor Glides Past Jungyong Cho, Hulk & Werdum Scrap on the Feet

Jamil-Hill Taylor made the trip back to Seoul, Korea to take on Junyong Cho in a no-gi superfight.  The rules followed standard IBJJF rules with the addition of heelhooks.  Ahead of the match Taylor said he knew his opponent was a leglocker, but it wasn't going to be an issue. He certainly followed through on the claim today, slicing through Cho's leg engagements with relative ease and running up the score at the end of the match to finish with a total of 11-2.

The other no-gi superfight of the night featured Fabricio Werdum and Atos' bruiser Lucas 'Hulk' Barbosa.  The energy was buzzing throughout the arena when these two monsters took to the mat, and the duo spent the entire regulation wrestling on the feet, fighting for top position.  

Typically, a match with that description could be considered boring, but that was far from the situation in this case. The heavy clubbing and collar ties led to some chippy moments between the two, and more than once the duo nearly sent each other flying off the mats and into the stands while pursuing aggressive takedown attempts. 

Eventually, time expired, and the match was declared a draw, but not before Werdum asked the crowd if they wanted to see five more minutes – a scenario that seemed very close to actually playing out until Spyder Officials denied the opportunity.