Cleber Sousa spoke about his upcoming submission grappling match towards Osamah Almarwai at ONE 166: Qatar.
Cleber Sousa is able to promote out for the submission in his sophomore look in ONE Championship.
This Friday, March 1, the veteran black belt will tackle 2022 IBJJF no-gi world champion Osamah Almarwai in a flyweight submission grappling contest at ONE 166: Qatar.
Sousa made his ONE debut in September 2022, shedding a call to Mikey Musumeci of their conflict for the vacant ONE flyweight submission grappling world title. Since then, he has competed often on the IBJJF circuit, taking house third place on the gi and no-gi Worlds and selecting up notable wins over no-gi Pans champion Willis Nunes, European champion Malachai Edmond, and world champion Meyram Maquine.
Sousa’s opponent, Almarwai, additionally got here up quick in his promotional debut towards Musumeci, tapping to a rear-naked choke late of their Could 2023 match.
Trying again on his loss to Musumeci, the Brazilian is aware of the place he went incorrect.
“It was my debut for ONE, and I used to be instantly preventing for the belt,” Sousa stated in an interview with ONE Championship,” Sousa stated in an interview with ONE Championship. “I realized from this battle that I have to search for submissions extra.”
In that match, Sousa spent a lot of his time trying to make use of outdoors passing – together with cartwheel and somersault passes – to get previous the American’s vaunted open guard. Finally, he was unable to realize a dominant place, and Musumeci was awarded the choice on the energy of his submission assaults.
Sousa says he’s realized his classes from that have.
“I saved making an attempt to move his guard to progressively progress my sport, however below ONE guidelines I don’t have time for that. I have to search for submissions quickly, I have to assault always. Don’t assault to achieve place, however to submit.”
Certainly, ONE’s submission grappling ruleset emphasizes official submission threats above all else.
With that in thoughts, Sousa guarantees to go submission looking towards Almarwai.
Whereas he respects his opponent’s talent set and accomplishments, Sousa says that “Osa” performs a tactical, points-based type that gained’t serve him nicely in ONE:
“I used to be on the 2022 Worlds, the place I got here in third place, and I watched Osamah’s fights. I noticed that he’s a really strategic athlete. It really works very nicely based mostly on the IBJJF guidelines, however these guidelines don’t match very nicely with the ONE guidelines. In ONE there is no such thing as a scoring, so I consider that if he comes with the identical technique, it gained’t work in ONE. ONE’s jiu-jitsu is aggressive jiu-jitsu, and the jiu-jitsu he presents is strategic jiu-jitsu.”
What’s extra, Sousa believes he noticed a weak spot in Almarwai’s 2023 loss to Musumeci.
“In his final efficiency towards Mikey Musumeci, Mikey stood out. He set the tempo, being very aggressive, and Osamah acquired drained,” stated Sousa. “Then Mikey managed to get Osamah’s again and submit him.”
Working carefully with completed opponents Carina Santi and Claudio Calasans, Sousa says he’s put in additional work within the coaching room lately, ensuring he’s in high bodily situation and able to push the tempo for 10 full minutes.
He hopes that Almarwai comes simply as ready.
“I hope he’s in good bodily situation, as a result of I’m going to reach with plenty of vitality and filled with need to win this battle.”
Finally, Sousa is assured he can take out the Yemeni grappler in entrance of what’s going to be a raucous Center Japanese crowd in Qatar.
And he’s not simply assured within the victory, he’s positive he’ll rating the submission.
“I’m positive this battle will probably be an excellent present,” Sousa added. “Followers will probably be very excited watching this battle. And, after all, the tip outcome will probably be my victory by submission.”
Methods to watch: Osamah Almarwai vs. Cleber Sousa takes place on Friday, March 1, at ONE 166: Qatar, which airs reside on Prime Video (free with Amazon Plus subscription) starting at 7:30 AM EST.
