Abu Dhabi: The second day of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour saw some exceptional energetic faceoffs among some of the world’s best Black belts in the finals.

In the much anticipated match between Ricardo Evangelista and Nei Nascimento Jr. in the Masters 1 110kg finals, Evangelista won via decision after a tough fight and Joao Miyao took the gold in the Adult 62kg against Hiago George.

The Mubadala Arena in Zayed Sports City was rocking with over 1,500 energetic fans in attendance, who at times, created an electric atmosphere in the venue to cheer on the superstar black belts.

Commenting on his win, Evangelista said: “I am obviously delighted with the gold medal today, it is very rewarding to win here, one of the best Jiu-Jitsu tournaments in the world. I would like to thank my team, coach and especially the Abu Dhabi fans, they were really amazing and the atmosphere was great. I am not sure yet if I will be at the Grand Slam in London, I hope to be there.”

Miyao, who is one the best jiu-jitsu black belts in the world, had an incredible performance, which brought the crowd to its feet, after he defeated his teammate George of Team Cicero Costha in the Adult 62kg black belt finals.

Commenting on his win, Miyao said, “I would like to thank and congratulate the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation for organising an amazing event today, I am very happy to have performed and won here. I look forward to coming back to Abu Dhabi in April for the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.”

Overall it was a great tournament for the UAE players on both days, of all ages and belt categories, as they won a combined total of 152 medals: 50 gold, 50 silver and 52 bronze.

Emirati Omar Al Fadhli, who won the gold in the blue belt Male Adult 62kg category said: “First of all I would like to thank God, the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, my teammates and coaches at Ajyal Academy for their support.”

Earlier, the event began in the presence of Hussain Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education of UAE, Major General Mohammad Khalfan Al Romaithi, Chairman of the General Authority of Sports, Sheikh Zayed Bin Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abdulmunem Al Hashemi, Chairman of UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, President of Jiu-Jitsu Asian Union and Senior Vice President of Jiu-Jitsu International Federation, Panagiotis Theodoropoulos.