It's run by a Prince of the United Arab Emirates who's a huge fan of jiu-jitsu and grappling. For those who don't know who H.E. Sheik Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is, that's really the simplest way to explain it.
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What are the prices like?
I honestly have no idea. When I went in 2005 and 2007, I went as a guest of competitors, and so I was on the mat. Since I can't go to Barcelona, I haven't looked.
Are there even tickets for regular fans just to watch?
Yes, there are. There are a ton of grappling fans that flock to the event to watch. It's an invitational, so it's not like at the Pan Ams or Mundials where the stands are packed with competitors. It's a lot of fans.
That said (and a friend pointed this out to me after publication of the piece), he's never really been able to compete with the top grapplers.
yeah but he has not been competing or training as long as most of the other top grapplers in the world, hes still very good and probably still improving rapidly.
yeah but he has not been competing or training as long as most of the other top grapplers in the world, hes still very good and probably still improving rapidly.
Yeah, but he's in Marcelinho's house.
Also, Pablo is a monster in that weight class.
Frankly, they're all very tough divisions, but fighting at -76.9kg is like playing golf in a tournament with Tiger Woods. You just wanna finish a strong second.
Of course, people will try and beat Marcelo, but I don't see him losing in that weightclass.
I thought Fedor and Mousasi would compete at this event. Any news on that?
Neither have been announced on teh roster. So I imagine they pulled out quietly.
Admittedly, I totally understand, in the case of Mousasi. The guy has two really high profile fights pretty close to this event (the Babalu fight he's through now and the Sokoudjou fight coming up), so he probably wants to focus on his MMA training.
Neither have been announced on teh roster. So I imagine they pulled out quietly.
Admittedly, I totally understand, in the case of Mousasi. The guy has two really high profile fights pretty close to this event (the Babalu fight he's through now and the Sokoudjou fight coming up), so he probably wants to focus on his MMA training.
Man, that's a bummer. I was really loooking forward to seeing how they would do.
Hopefully they'll give it a shot next year.
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FEDOR EMELIANENKO
Igor Vovchanchyn
Alexander Karelin
Mirko Crocop
Gegard Mousasi
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Andrei Arlosvki
ADCC 2009: Barcelona Preview
Thanks for that, man.
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