BTT Fighter of the month


Gabriel


The fighter of the month for the December 2017, goes to Gabriel Procópio da Fonseca, 28 years old, from Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil. Gabriel, is another talent created by the renowned Master Ricardo Marques (BTT JF), and he is getting a lot of sucess worldwide.
 
Timbó has a degree in Sanitary and Environmental Engineering from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora and is currently teaching jiu-jitsu and MMA classes at Dethrone Base Camp in Fresno, California, where he lives. Gabriel trains every day in the morning, does the physical conditioning training, wrestling, submission and grappling. And he still teaches jiu jitsu classes, Gi and No Gi, every single day for beginners and advanced, where he enjoys training with his students.
 
Gabriel began training jiu-jitsu at the age of 12, at the Olympia academy (now current BTT JF) in Juiz de Fora, MG, with Master Ricardo Marques. Initially, he wanted to train boxing or muay thai, but his mother, Andrea, found it very aggressive and dangerous for a 12-year-old boy, which was when she proposed jiu-jitsu. Andrea was responsible for introducing this future talented athlete to jiu jitsu. She worked in the gym where Master Ricardo Marques was the coach, and took Gabriel to meet and have an experimental class. In the same week, Gabriel already bought a gi and began to train. In the beginning, he trained twice a week, he enjoyed the lessons, his Master and training colleagues, but he did not take it so seriously that time. After Ricardo held the first jiu-jitsu tournament in Juiz de Fora, he had discovered the passion for jiu jitsu. "The adrenaline and energy before and during the championship made me fall in love with the sport and want to dive headlong into this sport," he says.
 
 
In the month of November in this year, Timbó was one of the athletes to stand out at the IBJJF Long Beach Open 2017, making two tough fights. He points out how rewarding it was to fight alongside great friends, and to have in his corner the renowned professors and athletes, Diego Gamonal, from BTT San Antonio, Leonardo Machado from BTT North Dallas, who were his training partners at Juiz de Fora, and Marcelo Perdomo from BTT Long Beach, California. He says it was a unique experience. In the semifinal, Gabriel got Yan "Woodpecker" Lucas, a tough athlete from Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu, third place in Worlds 2017. Timbó made it 6-2 to qualify for the final, where he met the toughest fighter Victor Silvério, who just won the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in Los Angeles, and one of the big names in the current average weight. The fight was a real battle, a real chess game, where Gabriel started scoring with a takedown, and Victor tied with a sweep, but by having greater control and control of the fight, he got the victory by referee decision (2-1). Timbo is specialized in takedowns and attacks on the knees and feet, and his opponent did not escape from one of them.
 
 
Gabriel Timbó had a memorable year! Only in 2017 he had accumulated 4 golds (IBJJF Long Beach Open - Gi, IBJJF San José Summer Open - Gi, IBJJF Dallas Open - No Gi, NAGA San Jose), 1 silver (IBJJF America Nationals - Gi) and 3 bronzes (IBJJF San José Winter Open - Gi, Third place IBJJF Dallas Open - Gi, Third place IBJJF San Diego Open - Gi).
 
He talks about his most striking fights: "In the IBJJF Pan American Championship, I had a very tough fight with Isaac Bahiense from Alliance. The fight was a war, it came with a 2-0 victory, some referee decisions changed the result but I was very pleased with my performance against a big name that day. My last two fights at the Long Beach Open also served to show my maturity in competitions, I was very pleased with the result, but there are still many things to improve for next year. "
 
He says that by 2018 he will be stronger for the majors IBJJF championships such as the Pan American and World Championships, and he is still thinking about returning to MMA where he has 3 fights with 2 wins. His last fight was in 2012, but Gabriel is already training muay thai, to be ready for a new phase for the year 2018.


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Diego Gamonal Nogueira


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Edenilce Duraes Gamonal Nogueira


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Alexandre Vieira


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Roberto Repetto Coelho


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Murilo Bustamante


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