In the buildup to the Eddie Bravo Invitational 6’s open weight tournament, Bloody Elbow’s grappling editor Roy Billington will be providing athlete profiles for each of the competitors. Here, we look at Gracie Barra standout Lucas Rocha
The illustrious Eddie Bravo Invitational returns on April 24th, but this time it is different. Instead of EBI 6 airing solely on pay-per-view, the promotion has also signed a streaming deal with UFC Fight Pass in and is set to feature one of the greatest open weight submission-only tournaments ever. In the weeks leading up to the event, Bloody Elbow will be giving you the low down on the strengths and background of each competitor. In this edition we will be looking at Recife’s Lucas Rocha.
Lucas Rocha
Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie Sr. > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Junior > Jose Olimpio > Lucas Rocha
Team: Gracie Barra
Weight: 207lbs
Lucas Rocha is everything you would expect from a Gracie Barra grappler. Rocha’s fundamentals are flawless, his game is basic, but brilliant. Where Rocha has always excelled is with his top game , his ability to pass guard and take his opponents back has always shone through, so to has his strong positional sense. While Rocha has yet to score a big name win in the no-gi domain, he has shown much improvement there over the last 18 months. Rocha’s recent improvements can be seen in his Pan-Am victory against the ever-tough, Tim Spriggs.
For all Rocha’s many talents he is at a big disadvantage in this tournament. The sheer level of talent at EBI 6 is amazing, and highlighting that is the fact that Rocha’s first match is against one of the tournaments favorites. If Rocha is to be successful he will need to put on the best performances of his career and while he is skilled, I feel he is a few years away from his grappling prime.
First Round Opponent: Matheus Diniz
In our last edition I spoke highly of Diniz. I hold the opinion that Diniz is perhaps the most under-appreciated grappler in the world at the moment, so this match is going to be difficult for Rocha. If Rocha is going to beat Diniz I doubt it will happen during regulation time, for Rocha to win he’s probably going to need to take this match into overtime.
The Eddie Bravo Invitational 6 goes down at the Orpheum Theatre, in Los Angeles, CA on April 24 and will be available on pay-per-view on Dish and InDemand, as well as being live on UFC Fight Pass.