MARCH 07, 2021, DALLAS, TEXAS, USA witnessed the return of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) with the Dallas International Open tournament, an event that gathered the interest of many elite grapplers.
Although the no-gi portion of the event is due to take place today, much of the tournament’s allure lied on the gi ruleset, where all eyes were on the debut of the Art Of Jiu-Jitsu team prodigy, Tainan Dalpra. The event had other interesting side-stories such as a possible clash between another one of AOJ’s top prospects, Johnatha Alves, and the dynamic Johnny Tama as well as Elisabeth Clay’s return to the gi after her successful launch at F2W last week.
AOJ DOMINATES
Although very young in jiu-jitsu years, the Art Of Jiu-Jitsu team is regarded as one of the main talent-producing factories in the grappling world. After tremendous success in the colored belt divisions, AOJ is now reaping the rewards of its clinical approach to the sport at the black belt level, after its success at the juvenile circuit. Proof of this was spearheaded in the performances of lightweight Johnathan Alves and middleweight Tainan Dalpra.
Returning from his epic performance last year at the Pan American Championships, Alves maintained the level of efficiency that has come to be expected of him. Clean and analytical jiu-jitsu is Johnathan’s trademark, both being on full display in his wins at 76 kilograms against the talented Kevin Mahecha and Johnny Tama. His world-class grappling was even more evident at the open weight class, where he defeated Checkmat’s ultra-heavyweight Jackson Douglas and Michael Liera.
One weight class above Alves was Tainan Dalpra, making his black belt debut at middleweight. Dalpra had an incredible run as a brown belt and looks set to have the same level of success at the professional level judging by his performance yesterday. A flawless win over the always tough Rodrigo Martins and a beautiful performance over the veteran, and former Pan American champ. Michael Liera Junior – passing Liera’s guard (an impressive feat in itself) on his way to the final. Tainan would go on to submit former Leandro Lo star pupil, Caio Caetano for gold.
Dalpra closed out the open-weight division with teammate Johnathan Alves, though with only one match to reach the final, beating Atos’ Rafael Vasconcelos via 2×0.
JEN CASE DOMINATES ABSOLUTE DIVISION
Although the female weight-classes did not have many matches on offer, the open-weight did provide big clashes worthy of note. Stacked with well-known talents such as Elisabeth Clay, Mayara Custódio, Melisa Cueto, or Emilly Alves, it was Masters 2, 2020 double gold World Masters Champion, Jennifer Case who took home the gold medal.
Jen’s superb pressure passing was on full display throughout the tournament. Crushing shoulder pressure and an unusual Americana submission were Case’s trademarks in the event. Jennifer submitted Alejandra Gonzalez, Melisa Cueto, and Emilly Alves with this same move, after beating jiu-jitsu’s rising star Elisabeth Clay on a referee decision in the first round of the open weight. Below is a snapshot of Jen’s modified Americana.
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Check individual match results by clicking on the names of the athletes and checking their grappling records.
LIGHT-FEATHERWEIGHT
#1. Carlos Silva (GFT)
#2. Vincent Saenz (Lovato JJ)
#3. Henrique Rossi (SIA/PSLPB)
#3. N/A
FEATHERWEIGHT
#1. Richar Nogueira (Rodrigo Pinheiro)
#2. Gianni Grippo (Alliance)
#3. Brian Mahecha (Winners TC)
#3. Orlando Castillo (Fight Sports)
LIGHTWEIGHT
#1. Johnathan Alves (AOJ)
#2. Johnny Tama (Alliance)
#3. Tyler Scalisi (Checkmat)
#3. Kevin Mahecha (Winners TC)
MIDDLEWEIGHT
#1. Tainan Dalpra (AOJ)
#2. Caio Caetano (One JJ)
#3. Michael Liera (Logo/Atos)
#3. Rehan Muttalib (Alliance)
MEDIUM-HEAVYWEIGHT
No matches
HEAVYWEIGHT
#1. Rafael Lovato Jr. (Lovato JJ)
#2. Yuri Santos (LEAD)
#3. Charles McGuire (ATT)
#3. Rafael Vasconcelos (Atos)
SUPER-HEAVYWEIGHT
#1. Arnaldo Maidana (Checkmat)
#2. Eduardo Avelar (Double Five)
#3. Patrick Goncalves (Kimura)
#3. N/A
ULTRA-HEAVYWEIGHT
#1. Guilherme Augusto (Alliance)
#2. Devhonte Johnson (Unity)
#3. Jackson Douglas (Checkmat)
#3. N/A
OPEN-WEIGHT
#1. Tainan Dalpra **close-out** (AOJ)
#1. Johnathan Alves (AOJ)
#3. Rafael Vasconcelos (Atos)
#3. Michael Liera (Atos)
MIDDLEWEIGHT
#1. Raquel Canuto (Checkmat)
#2. Danielle Alvarez (LEAD)
#3. N/A
#3. N/A
MEDIUM-HEAVYWEIGHT
#1. Elisabeth Clay (Ares)
#2. Melissa Cueto (Gracie Humaitá)
#3. N/A
#3. N/A
SUPER-HEAVYWEIGHT
#1. Mayara Custódio (Checkmat)
#2. Jennifer Case (Renato Tavares)
#3. Alejandra Gonzalez (Vilanova BJJ)
#3. N/A
OPEN-WEIGHT
#1. Jennifer Case (Renato Tavares)
#2. Emilly Alves Vasconcelos (Atos)
#3. Melissa Cueto (Gracie Humaitá)
#3. Mayara Custódio (Checkmat)
