NOVEMBER 19, 2019, saw another edition of the IBJJF/CBJJ South American Championship, which took place in São Paulo – Brazil. The event brought out some of Brazil’s foremost black belts, creating a few fantastic match-ups.
The black belts who stood out the most in the tournament were Bianca Basílio (double gold), Endres Barbosa and Rafael Paganini, who displayed aggressive, fearless, forward-moving jiu-jitsu with skill and success. Equally impressive was Yan Lucas of Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu, the former featherweight has been climbing the scale, looking to be more challenging in the open weight division and it seems as though his efforts paid off. Showing up as a medium-heavyweight, the well known “Pica-Pau” finally took one of the big absolute titles to have on the international circuit. Below is a run-down of each division at black belt.
MALE DIVISIONS
Adult / Male / Black / Rooster
Another fantastic run by Lívio Ribeiro of the Ares Academy who is quickly becoming the man to beat at roosterweight in Brazil. A more measured and tactical performance this time around, but still a very competent one. The surprise of the tournament was Yuri Hendrex, Cicero Costha’s most recent black belt. Hendrex tore through his opponents losing in the final to Lívio by DQ after turning the “wrong way” on a belly down ankle lock. Solid performance nonetheless.
1 – Cícero Lívio Ribeiro Saldanha Paiva – Ares BJJ
2 – Yuri Hendrex Assunção Soares – Cicero Costha Internacional
3 – João Guilherme Antonio – OLL Fight
3 – Kaique Affonso – Gracie Barra
Adult / Male / Black / Light-Feather
Although the 64-kilogram division was the smallest of the tournament, it did have a few well-known players. That made no difference to Hiago George who sliced through this weight class like a hot knife through butter. Hardly broke a sweat, fantastic display of accuracy by the young Cicero Costha star.
1 – Hiago George Santos Silva – Cicero Costha Internacional
2 – Cleber de Sousa Fernandes – JFC Almeida JJ
3 – Carlos Alberto Oliveira da Silva – GF Team
3 – Felipe Nacib Minasian Santos – Alliance
Adult / Male / Black / Feather
One of America’s most recent residents, Richar Nogueira, revisited his former home to take another gold medal, looking impressive in his win. Equally impressive was the performance of Japan’s Yuta Shimada who put on a clinic before being stopped by Nogueira in the semis. Applying his “Marcelo Garciaesque” style of mixing a fantastic butterfly guard game with terrific half-guard passing and a dangerous crucifix control, Shimada had a few people on the stands scratching their heads and asking about the young Japanese competitor.
1 – Richar Emiliano Nogueira – SIA – Sharpen Iron Academy
2 – Pedro Paulo Dias Clementino – Carlson Gracie Team
3 – Edward Hohl – Alliance International
3 – Yuta Shimada – Alliance International
Adult / Male / Black / Light
The best performance of his black belt career, Endres Barbosa was on fire this weekend. In a stacked lightweight division Endres finished all his opponents quickly, including the highly-rated Alef Brito (Ares) and Natan Chueng (PSLPB). A very aggressive and creative guard game on display this weekend, a pleasure to watch, we hope to see much more of this young man in the near future.
1 – Endres Barbosa da Silva Mendes – CheckMat
2 – Alef José Soares Brito de Morais – Ares BJJ
3 – Bruno Bressan Garcia – CheckMat
3 – Ricardo Rocha Lima – BARBOSA JIU-JITSU
Adult / Male / Black / Middle
Claudio Calasan’s top representative, Alexandre de Jesus, AKA Robinho, put on a passing clinic at middleweight, taking out highly-rated competitors such as Lucas Alves (Alliance SP), Ygor Dantas (Checkmat) and Wellington “Alemão” (Leandro Lo) on his way to the podium.
1 – Alexandre Joaquim de Jesus – Calasans BJJ
2 – Wellington Luís Sebastião – NS Brotherhood International
3 – Ronieri Pinto da Silva – Ns Brotherhood
3 – Ygor Machado Dantas – CheckMat
Adult / Male / Black / Medium-Heavy
If we can say Cicero Costha has the best lighter weights in Brazil, then we can likely say that Alliance has their grip on the heavier talent. When it comes to the medium-heavy division, few can keep up with Rafael Paganini and Matheus Spirandeli. A pleasure to watch, the Alliance duo constantly looked for the finish in all their matches and they got those for the most part. Rafael, in particular, finished 4 of his matches by guillotine. Very impressive.
1 – Matheus Spirandeli Souza – Alliance
2 – Rafael Lopes Paganini – Alliance
3 – Carlos Eduardo Alves de Andrade – Cicero Costha Internacional
3 – Yan Lucas Cordeiro Paiva – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu
Adult / Male / Black / Heavy
With team-mate, Guilherme Augusto now relocated to the United States, Dimitrius Souza continues to rule the heavyweight division in his home country. The surprise of the event was Gabriel Volante from R1NG Jiu-Jitsu, who took out two well-established athletes, including a submission win over Fernando Reis.
1 – Dimitrius Soares Souza – Alliance
2 – Gabriel Arantes Volante – R1NG BJJ
3 – Caio Fernando Lopes Paganini – Alliance International
3 – Fernando Andrade dos Reis – Alliance
Adult / Male / Black / Super-Heavy
Solid win for the NS Brotherhood, and the only in at the South American Championship’s black belt division to go to a none Brazilian. Lapel guard master Gerard Labinski made it look easy out there, closing the division with teammate Pedro Elias, who looked equally impressive.
1 – Gerard Piotr Labinski – NS Brotherhood International
2 – Pedro Henrique de Lima Elias – Ns Brotherhood
3 – Harryson Santana Pereira – Ataque Duplo
3 – Wilson de Sousa Almeida – GF Team
Adult / Male / Black / Ultra-Heavy
When we believed Igor Schneider was the favorite for gold, it was teammate Renan Marcel who took the win for NS Brotherhood. Strong performance by Leandro Lo’s student.
1 – Renan Marcel Rodrigues Vieira – Ns Brotherhood
2 – Raul Fernandes Almeida – Nova União
3 – Otavio de Souza Nalati – Team Lloyd Irvin Brazil
3 – Pedro Henrique de Souza Moura – Qatar BJJ Brasil
Adult / Male / Black / Open Class
“Pica-Pau” had a strong performance in his medium-heavyweight debut, but looked even more accurate in the open weight, taking out some of Brazil’s best, including Barbosa JJ’s famous “Pingo” (Ricardo Rocha), Cicero Costha’s assistant coach Hygor Brito, multiple time Brazilian champ Dimitrius Souza and Rafael Paganini. Outstanding. Traditionally a flashy competitor, Yan Lucas took a more measured approach in this event, playing a very strategic but winning game plan.
1 – Yan Lucas Cordeiro Paiva – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu
2 – Rafael Lopes Paganini – Alliance
3 – Dimitrius Soares Souza – Alliance
3 – Igor Gregório Schneider – Ns Brotherhood
FEMALE DIVISIONS
Small numbers of female competitors showed up for the female class, with the lightweight division being the largest with 4 athletes. From all the athletes on deck, it was Bianca Basílio who shinned brightest with two gold medals.
Adult / Female / Black / Feather
1 – Gabriela Meireles Fechter – CheckMat
2 – Ershirley Granja – CheckMat
Adult / Female / Black / Light
1 – Bianca Barbosa Basilio – JFC Almeida JJ
2 – Luciane dos Santos Silva – CheckMat
3 – Hope Ellen Douglass – Cicero Costha Internacional
3 – Michele dos Santos Oliveira – Nova União
Adult / Female / Black / Middle
1 – Éricka Wannessa Almeida – Gracie Barra
2 – Renata Marinho Moreira – Alliance
Adult / Female / Black / Medium-Heavy
1 – Sábatha Laís Francisco dos Santos – Ryan Gracie Team
2 – Thamara Ferreira Silva – Cicero Costha Internacional
Adult / Female / Black / Heavy
1 – Carina Curvelo Santi – G13 BJJ
2 – Fabiana Ferrari Mendes – Ns Brotherhood
Adult / Female / Black / Super-Heavy
1 – Joaquina dos Santos Bonfim Neta – Gracie Barra
Adult / Female / Black / Open Class
1 – Bianca Barbosa Basilio – JFC Almeida JJ
2 – Thamara Ferreira Silva – Cicero Costha Internacional
3 – Éricka Wannessa Almeida – Gracie Barra
3 – Hope Ellen Douglass – Cicero Costha Internacional
