Continuing a run of strong performances the Fight Sport team leader captured another big title by winning the Heavyweight crown at Kasai Pro 7 last Saturday evening in Dallas, Texas. Looking in top form, Cyborg was able to navigate an eight-man bracket full of some of the best heavyweights in the world. Below is a recap of his matches and other results from the evening.

Heavyweight Tournament:

Round One- Cyborg squared off with seasoned veteran Bruno Bastos. The first half of the match was played on the feet with each grappler working hard to establish an advantage in the hand fight. Cyborg was able to use an opening to shoot a blast double and score the two points. Bruno stuck Cyborg in his half guard, the rest of the match saw him attempting to sweep while Cyborg looked for the pass.

Round Two- Since the announcement of the groupings, everyone had this one circled. Here Cyborg would get a crack at revenge with Nicky Rodriguez. The talented young competitor from the powerhouse “Danaher Death Squad” had defeated Cyborg only a few months ago at ADCC in a tight match with a bit of controversy surrounding it.  The match started with Cyborg quickly jumping to a half guard. The next two minutes saw Nicky circling looking for an opening to jump passed the guard of Cyborg while he searched for a position to sweep from. At the 3:30 mark, Nicky jumped into a knee slice pass almost pinning Cyborg to the mat, Cyborg was able to turtle and scramble his way out from danger while avoiding giving up any points. In the scramble, he was accidentally cut, the action was forced to stop. The match restarted on the feet with some heavy hand fighting until Cyborg once again sat to guard. Neither athlete was able to score points from here and the matched ended in a draw.

Round Three-  Cyborg one via defeat over Vinny Magalhaes due to injury.

Finals-  Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa would be the man to stand across from Cyborg in the final. Hulk had won Group B with wins over Paulo Azambuja (4-0),  Kyle Boehm (4-0) and Joao Rocha (2-0). These two had faced off a few months ago in the finals of the IBJJF Heavyweight Grand Prix with Cyborg picking up the victory. The match started quickly with Cyborg shooting in on a double, Hulk defended and Cyborg switched to his back where he hit a big suplex which brought the audience to their feet. Over the next several minutes Hulk actively tried to use his half guard to make something happen. In the final seconds, he was forced to give his back, the match ended with Cyborg on the back looking to score the RNC finish.

Cyborg adds another title to his collection and shows the Jiu-Jitsu community he is far from done mixing it up with the best in the world even at 39 years old. 

Superfight Results:

Dante Leon scored a big 5 to 4 victory over Renato Canuto

John Combs hit his signature guillotine choke to submit Pedro Rocha

Raquel Canuto uses a RNC to stop Gabi McComb

Undercard Results:

Rafael Formiga wins 5-0 over Rafael Lang 

Kody Steele scores an 8-4 victory over  Camron Couch