Eight of us headed down to Austin, Texas over April 18th-20th for training, coaching and fun. My instructor Xande Ribeiro competed at Who’s Number One 27 along with Six Blades athlete Victor Hugo. Xande was the biggest draw of the night and came out to chants of his name. It was an honor to be warming him up and coaching him that night and I have a ton of gratitude for the many years we have spent training together. Richie was coached by Eddie Bravo and started with a heel hook attempt early in the match and Xande worked his pressure passing. At about 5 minutes in Xande was able to open up a double underhook pass after moving more to his offside, from there he transitioned to a side smash to an offside halfguard pass with the head wrap. From there he went for his signature Kimura from the underhook and got the tap.
Victor Hugo lost a decision against a very tough Luke Griffith. It was a tale of two matches where Victor started very strong with a big single leg takedown finished by a big mat return to back control. Victor pushed a little two hard for the finish and was tired when Luke escaped. Luke hit a nice duck under to a good half guard position and secured mount and the back. Both had great takedowns and dominant positions and neither secured the finish.Â
Friday and Saturday included big open mats with Saturday having well over 25 black belts on the mat. We finished off Saturday with some no gi training with Felipe Costa, Lovato, myself. Even Victor was back at it the day after. He has such a great attitude even after a loss that is inspiring to see. Afterwards Prof Alex cooked up amazing picanha and we played games out behind the academy. A special trip with the guys for sure.Â
