ADGS London: Professionals take the action to the next level on the tournament's final day

April 13, 2025

After three days of intense action, the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam World Tour London has been completed. Held at the Copper Box Arena over the weekend, the tournament took over the United Kingdom and gave athletes of all ages and graduations the chance to fight for the coveted title of ADGS Champion. Starting with Amateurs on Friday and followed by Youths and Masters on Saturday, the event saved the best for last and brought out the Professional category this Sunday, April 13th.

Fighting alongside talented purple and brown belts, the Professional black belts were the highlight of the day as they fought tooth and nail in memorable battles to reach the top spot on the podium. Check out below how each of the black belt finals played out, and click here for the full results.

MEN

56kg - Omar Alsuwaidi vs Bruno Borges

The Emirati Omar Alsuwaidi rose as the 56kg champion after an intense duel against Bruno Borges in the final. With Omar sweeping to take the lead and Bruno tying the score at 2-2 with a reversal of his own, the Brazilian went on the offensive trying to pass the guard, but Omar used his technical prowess and agility to avoid the pass and return to the closed guard. Bruno used this opportunity to attack the foot, but Omar did the same and got another point for almost submitting. Bruno defended himself by pulling guard while dominating the lapel, but Omar avoided the sweep, put his opponent in the turtle position, and leaped to attack with an inverted triangle, shifting to an armbar in the final seconds of the match and taking the win by 5-2.

62kg - Khaled Alshehhi vs Yuri Hendrex

Showcasing his technique and strategy, the UAE's Khaled Alshehhi added another ADGS title to his resumé. Facing the Brazilian Yuri Hendrex in the 62kg final, Khaled used his powerful grips to avoid Yuri's sweep attempts while looking for the chance to pass the guard, dangerously hitting the side control and shifting to the north-south position before the Brazilian managed to defend himself with the guard. With one point gained for almost passing, Khaled continued to work from the top with a lot of pressure to maintain control of the duel, defending a desperate triangle attempt by Yuri in the final moments of the bout to take the top spot on the podium.

69kg - Sebastian Serpa vs Thiago Macedo

The 69kg division was decided in an intense battle of sweeps between the American Sebastian Serpa and the Brazilian Thiago Macedo. After the scoreboard was opened in a 1-1 due to nobody going up from the double pull, Sebastian promptly pulled guard and swept to take the lead, with Thiago quickly doing the same and tying again. After another similar exchange between the competitors, Sebastian managed to land another sweep and put the scoreboard at 7-5, using his pressure to control the match and even trying to take the back in the last minute of the bout. At the final stretch, Thiago went all-out with a triangle attempt but offered no danger to Sebastian, who took the win and the title with the 7-5 score.

77kg - Lucas Protasio vs Jefferson Goteu

After an incredibly balanced duel in the gold round, Lucas Protasio became the 77kg champion. Facing his rival Jefferson Goteu in the final, Lucas spent the entirety of the regulated time working from the top while looking for the chance to pass while Jefferson used his elusive guard to stop his opponent's advances and look for the sweep. With the scoreboard unchanged when the clock ran out, the duel went into Golden Score, with both sides clashing even more intensely as they looked for the chance to score the winning point. That opportunity came first to Lucas, who lunged at his opponent with a single-leg and shifted to a double-leg to nearly take Jefferson down, earning one point for the attempt and ending the match at 1-0.

85kg - Uanderson Ferreira vs Rui Neto

Representing Baniyas Jiu-Jitsu Club, Uanderson Ferreira defeated Rui Alves Neto and added another title to his collection in the ADGS London's 85kg division. With both sides looking for the takedown, Rui was the first to switch up his strategy as he pulled guard and attempted to lift his opponent to sweep, with Uanderson using his pressure to avoid the reversal while looking for the chance to pass. The stalemate persisted in the Golden Score, with Uanderson attempting multiple takedowns before the clock ran out. Showing more aggression throughout the match, Uanderson managed to convince the judges and conquered the title via decision.

94kg - Jackson Sousa vs Luiz Henrique Betta

Fighting out of Brazil, Jackson Sousa takes the 94kg division gold after outscoring the favorite Luiz Henrique Betta in the 94kg division. With the scoreboard tied at 3-3 after two double punishments for lack of combativeness, the athletes continued to showcase their strength as they looked for a takedown to seize the lead, with Jackson launching a beautiful seoi nage attempt at the edge of the fight area and gaining a one-point lead before the match was restarted from the middle. With a little over a minute to go until the end of the match, Betta pulled guard and tried to sweep but Jackson used his pressure to avoid the reversal and maintain control until the clock ran out to take the win.

120kg - Fellipe Andrew vs Wesley Silva

The Brazilian Fellipe Andrew conquered the 120kg division after putting on a dominating display against his compatriot Wesley Silva. After taking the lead by going up from the double pull, Fellipe ended up getting swept by Wesley and showcased his feared guard game, quickly controlling his opponent before using a foot lock attempt by Wesley to sweep and retake the lead with a 3-2 score. Fellipe didn't stop there though, as he quickly advanced to the half-guard before passing straight to the mount, with three points from the pass and four from the mount adding up to 10-2 on the scoreboard. Trapped in a less-than-ideal situation, Wesley did what he could and even managed to lock his half-guard again, but Fellipe passed straight to the mount once again and increased his advantage to 17-2, taking the win and the title in London.

WOMEN

49kg - Diana Teixeira vs Flavia Soares

Diana Teixeira is now the 49kg division champion of the ADGS London. Facing Flavia Soares in a best-of-three bracket, Diana went through two challenging duels to reach the top spot on the podium, taking her first win via decision before heading back to the mat and scoring last in a 1-1 tie to bring the gold to the Atos team.

55kg - Laurie Rocha vs Elizabeth Genge

After a cerebral duel in the 55kg final, Laurie Rocha rose as the division champion. Facing Elizabeth Genge, Laurie pulled guard from the get-go and used her lapel grip to attempt a sweep while Elizabeth defended from the top. With that same back and forth taking over the entirety of the regulated time, the deciding moment came about in the final moments of the match as Laurie launched a dangerous loop choke attempt, not quite landing the submission but still getting close enough to earn the winning point and take the title.

62kg - Julia Alves vs Stephanie Faure

The 62kg division final saw the Brazilian Julia Alves take the title after beating Stephanie Faure in the final. Julia started the duel by pulling and doing a spin to sweep, but Stephanie used the move to attack with a dangerous leglock, taking a brief lead in the scoreboard before Julia landed the reversal and gained two points. After taking another point by almost passing and putting Stephanie in the turtle position, Julia upped the score to 4-1 after almost taking the back, but Stephanie avoided the danger and returned to the guard before sweeping to decrease the difference to 4-3. Now on top, Stephanie avoided a sweep attempt and tied the score with a foot attack, but Julia used the submission attempt to go up and almost passed the guard to close the scoreboard at 5-4.

70kg - Giovanna Carneiro vs Thamara Silva

The Brazilian Giovanna Carneiro seized the 70kg division title after making short work of her compatriot Thamara Silva in the final. Starting the duel by pulling guard, Giovanna promptly started tangling herself and locked the winning foot lock a few minutes into the match to take the top spot on the podium.

95kg - Yara Nascimento vs Magdalena Loska

Yara Nascimento added another title to her collection at this year's ADGS London. Facing the Polish Magdalena Loska in the 95kg final, Yara started the duel pulling guard and sweeping before briefly hitting the side control to put the scoreboard at 3-0. With Magdalena now defending herself in the turtle position, Yara went straight for a dangerous bow-and-arrow choke and almost got the finish, but her opponent defended and replaced her guard before dishing out an attack on the foot, which Yara defended. Still fighting on top near the end of the match, Yara used her pressure to maintain control until the clock ran out and became the champion with a 4-0 score.