By TXMMA Staff
Misael Miranda and Vereena Arus get big win in couples superfight; Roberto Jimenez shines in adult purple belt division
HOUSTON, TX – This past Saturday marked the return of Grand Prix Grappling with their long-running Battle of H-Town series taking place at John Reagan High School in the heights section of Houston. The tournament featured a little bit of evening for local grapplers including gi and nogi divisions, plus superfight divisions and an innovative new tag-team couples format.
BTT’s Misael Miranda and girlfriend Vereena Arus scored perhaps the biggest win of the day with their couples win over Marcelo Uiraparu Acevedo and his wife Mariana. The way the format went, the women went first with the score carrying over to the men’s match. The women ended at an even score but it was no matter as Miranda managed to control Acevedo on the floor, forcing the turtle into the eventual choke and tap to score the win for BTT. A highly-accomplished veteran of the sport, Uiraparu hasn’t been tapped in quite some time that we can recall so this was a huge win for Misael.
Elsewhere in the 4-man sub-only brown belt division, it was Ighor Luis (also of BTT) who scored the win, first besting Ken Alfaro of Darkside via ref decision before beating CEV’s Ruben Coronado in the final. Coronado defeated Jacob Alphin to advance on his side of the bracket.
Last but not least was the performance of Roberto Jimenez of Alliance Team Gacho. The world-class phenom won 5 divisions including adult purple belt. He had a great match with Giancarlo Bodoni of Rilion Gracie Miami to open and would go on to win the whole thing. Then later on he faced Brazilian national champion and fellow Battle of H-Town purple belt division winner Tacio Carneiro in a nogi superfight, winning by choke after five minutes of nonstop action.
The complete photo gallery is available for print and download order here.
Check out photo highlights along with about 50 match videos including all those mentioned above, below:
Grand Prix Grappling – Battle of H-Town Select Match Videos
Grand Prix Grappling – Battle of H-Town Photo Highlights