Rudson Mateus had a very strong showing at the 2019 UAEJJF World Pro this year. The Caio Terra black belt fought his way through Australia’s David Willis and William Dias (only narrowly winning his match against Dias by advantage) to find himself in the finals.
Aside from the tremendous pressure of being in the running for gold at one of the most elite jiu-jitsu competitions in the world, Mateus faced additional pressure in this match. His opponent, Faisal Al Ketbi, is from the UAE, and the hometown spectators were cheering hard for one of their own to win gold.
It came close to happening, too. Mateus vs. Al Ketbi was a battle of Mateus’ closed guard against Al Ketbi’s excellent top game — unstoppable force, meet immovable object. Mateus almost had a clear-cut win, coming away ahead by one advantage when the clock had run out. But then, Al Ketbi spoke up and called for a replay on the video footage, which led to Mateus’ advantage being removed. The match went to a decision, and despite the removal of an advantage point, Mateus still came away with the victory and the 85kg championship title.
Watch Mateus vs. Al Ketbi below:
