Ultimate Absolute 2: NYC 2012

I watched the live stream yesterday. All 4.5 hrs. Reilly Bodycomb, an instructor at NOLA BJJ, competed along with 15 other monsters. Unfortunately Reilly lost to Mike Fowler in the first round. Justin Rader v. Samuel Braga was the best fight. Here's a shot from perhaps the most exciting moment.

Here's the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T1hlW3v05I&context=C385bf56ADOEgsToPDskKh_U1apogRNsLYF7tgL7ei

Watch it all, but really start paying attention at around 2:50 for the human knot.  Rader's calf slicer attempt was wicked and, despite obvious pain, Braga countered with an arm bar. Both escaped.  I really like the mutual respect shown at ~5:20 after the disentanglement.

Braga's guard is unbelievable. And Rader's cardio blew my mind. Relentless top attacks for 10 mins with Hall, then 10 with Braga, and after 20 mins in the finals with Celsinho, he showed no sign of letting up. Unreal.

Here's a bootleg of the final with Celsinho:  http://youtu.be/cOeiHchzh_k

Quite a bit of controversy at the end of the final.  It appears to me that Rader was robbed.  They were clearly out of bounds and, according to Rafael Lovato, the ref said "stop" several times.  Rader clearly dropped his guard thinking they would reset at center mat but Celsinho pressed and took him down.  There was a lot of commotion and somehow the judges awarded points for the take down.  Too bad there wasn't a clean finish.  It was a tough fight.