The Berimbolo Kid's Match of the Week - Week 3 - Otavio Sousa vs. Josh Barnett - California Classic 2009

(Last week’s edition can be found HERE)

This week’s match is Otavio Sousa vs. Josh Barnett from the 2009 California Classic. Yes, you did here that correctly, I said Josh Barnett! And just to make it a little bit more surreal, this match takes place in the Gi. The finish may also be a surprise for you; I know it definitely was for me.   

For those of you who don't know, Josh Barnett is a big name in the heavyweight division of the UFC, and MMA as a whole. I first heard of Josh when he beat Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title only to be striped of the title later due to testing positive for a banned substance. Anyway, we are not here to talk about that. 

Josh has a very good wrestling background and prior to 2009 never competed in a BJJ competition, as far as I know. Although it must be said, he did win the ultra-heavyweight black belt division at the 2009 NoGi world championships, which is pretty impressive. Josh trains under the legendary Erik Paulson (If you don't know who he is, please click HERE) and is an 'honorary' black belt under him. He is also a black belt under Rigan Machado, so does that mean he has two black belts? I don't really get how that works. But anyway, Josh is an excellent grappler in his own right, and recently has accepted a submission only match against Dean Lister at Metamoris 4. 

Josh Barnett

If you follow Jiu-Jitsu, I'm pretty sure you would have heard of Otavio Sousa. He is a black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr, and a student of José Olímpio, better known as “Zé Radiola”. He is a two time world champion (2012, 2013) at the black belt level, and is also known for his long term rivalry with Kron Gracie, the son of Rickson Gracie. 

Otavio is a very exciting fighter to watch. He likes to keep the pace of the match very high and always hunts for the submission. Throughout his matches, you will see Otavio use his very active and aggressive guard to set up multiple sweep and submission attempts, this is something you will see constantly throughout this video and makes it no easy task for Josh to use his size and strength to his advantage.  

Otavio Sousa
Source: GracieMag

The video of this match can be found below. I hope you guys enjoy! 

See you next week!

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