SEPTEMBER 05, 2021, SILVER SPURS ARENA, KISSIMEE, FL, USA, was the final day of this year’s International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships, arguably, the second most important event in the sport’s circuit, just behind the World Championships. Given the status of the competition, many of jiu-jitsu’s top professional athletes signed up to the tournament, with the final day being set for the main division, the adult black belts.
Although very important for the top grapplers in the game, we, the fans, did miss a few of the sport’s main characters, a fact possibly owed to the current pandemic and traveling restrictions. Among those mostly missed on the mats were most of the São Paulo, Brazil super team – Dream Art. Who came in with only two black belt athletes (Anna Rodrigues and Yara Soares). Other big Brazilian players of Guigo Jiu-Jitsu, GF Team, and Checkmat opted not to travel to North America for the championship, nevertheless, talent was teeming in Florida this weekend, and the quality of the matches certainly came through.
GUSTAVO BATISTA STEAMROLLS HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION
One of the men of the hour was “Braguinha”, the Atos Jiu-Jitsu team member who conquered his 3rd gold medal at the Pans, this time with a return to heavyweight, after taking gold in the medium-heavy in 2018, and in 2020 at heavy. In the 94 kilogram division, Batista tried his hardest to pancake every single opponent on his way and did a great job at it with a beautiful pressure passing style that earned him all submissions on his way to the final of both his weight class and the absolute. The only athlete to survive Gustavo’s submission streak at heavyweight was Adam Wardzinski in the last match. The exciting Polish grappler had also amounted a submission winning run to the final, but succumbed under the passing pressure of Gustavo, nevertheless, bravely opposing the passing nature of the Brazilian, losing by advantages.
FELLIPE ANDREW TAKES DOUBLE GOLD
Not enough praise can be thrown at Fellipe Andrew for his performances this weekend. The Alliance representative put on a show, match after match, always with the submission on his sights. The rare moments where we didn’t see an exciting match out of Fellipe were those where his opponents worked their hardest to hold the ferocious super-heavyweight athlete down and stop his attacking impetus.
7 matches and 7 glorious performances. In the absolute division, Andrew took out Adolfo Suarez (submission), Rafael Vasconcelos (points), Austin Baker (points), and Gustavo Batista (points) – a remake of the tournament’s 2020 open weight final. Andrew went on to dominate his weight class with wins over Jae Mcintosh (submission), Davi Cabral (points), and Guilherme Augusto (points). The only person to score on the wildman from Pernambuco was Atos’ Batista, who scored 8 points of Andre in the final of the absolute, but conceded 19 in return.
YARA SOARES TENACIOUS PERFORMANCE
A great night for the former Guigo Jiu-Jitsu athlete, who recently moved to the Dream Art training room, Yara Soares. The super-heavyweight grappler nurtured an injury throughout the tournament but managed to pull through with an epic performance at the open weight class, where she took wins over Sarah Rice (choke), Nathalie Ribeiro (choke), Bianca Basilio (decision), and Ana Carolina Vieira (2×0) in the final. A tremendous showing for the São Paulo based competitor who’s been on an impressive run this year.
CALIFORNIA IS STILL JIU-JITSU’S USA MECCA
Debate surrounding the rise of the state of Texas and a few other areas as the new jiu-jitsu Mecca(s) have been plentiful, and rightfully so, given the many high-quality athletes being developed in the Lone Star State over the past few months, who’ve been particularly active in the pro-circuit. Given the nature of the Pan American Championships, an open tournament for most athletes (given that they’ve had enough points/achievements on their records), many saw this event as the ultimate proving ground for the “Best BJJ State” battle.
For this very reason, we were curious to find out what would come of this Pans Championship when addressing these new “state races”. Would Texas show a rise in performance? The results are out. Taking into account that many Brazilian athletes opted not to travel to the USA amidst the current pandemic-driven travel restrictions, the results showed a clear dominance by California at the upper echelon of the sport. The Golden State took home 9 of the 19 gold medals available at the adult black belt level. The second most important state (in this limited Pans sample) was São Paulo who, despite only bringing forth a very small number of athletes, managed to take home 3 gold medals. Below are the results of the tournament at the adult black belt level.
2021 IBJJF Pan American Gold Medalists
MALE:
– 58KG Livio Ribeiro (Ares)
– 64KG Diego Oliveira (Cicero Costha)
– 70KG Jamil Hill-Taylor (TLI)
– 76KG Johnatha Alves (AOJ)
– 82KG Tainan Dalpra (AOJ)
– 88KG André Porfirio (Fight Sports)
– 94KG Gustavo Batista (Atos)
– 100KG Fellipe Andrew (Alliance SD)
– +100KG Victor Hugo (Six Blades)
– OPEN Fellipe Andrew (Alliance SD)
FEMALE:
– 49KG Lavinia Barbosa (Checkmat)
– 53KG Anna Rodrigues (Dream Art)
– 58KG Bianca Basílio (Almeida JJ)
– 64KG Nathalie Ribeiro (Checkmat)
– 69KG Luiza Monteiro (Atos)
– 74KG Ana Carolina Vieira (Aviv JJ)
– 79KG Maria Malyjasiak (Abmar Barbosa)
– 84KG Gabrieli Pessanha (Infight)
– OPEN Yara Soares (Dream Art)
ROOSTERWEIGHT-MALE
1/4 FINALS
– Kevin Martincowski advanced via WO (no show for Willis Nunes)
– Livio Ribeiro def. Lee Rosenfield via triangle choke
– Roiter Lima def. Estevan Martinez via advantages (2×2 pts)
– Hiago Gama advanced to semi-finals (WO)
SEMI-FINALS
– Livio Ribeiro def. Kevin Martincowski via toe hold
– Hiago Gama def. Roiter Lima via decision (4×4 pts)
FINAL
– Livio Ribeiro def. Hiago Gama via 6×2 pts (1×0 adv)
LIGHT-FEATHERWEIGHT-MALE
1/4 FINALS
– Pedro Dias def. Keven Carrasco via advantages (0x0 pts)
– Jordan Vaisman def. Marcus Beddor via decision (4×4 pts)
– Carlos Oliveira def. Malachi Edmond via 6×4 pts
– Diego “Pato” def. Suraj Budhram via choke from the back
SEMI FINALS
– Pedro Dias def. Jordan Vaisman via 2×0 pts
– Diego “Pato” def. Carlos Oliveira via 2×0 pts
FINAL (no match)
– Diego “Pato” Oliveira champion as his opponent, Pedro Dias came out injured of the semi-finals and could not compete for the #1 spot.
FEATHERWEIGHT-MALE
1/4 FINALS
–Isaac Doederlein def. Alex Sodré via 2×0 pts
– Gabriel Sousa def. Felipe Linhares via advantages (0x0 pts)
– Fabrício Andrey def. Danilo Moreira via choke from the back
– Jamil Hill-Taylor def. Richar Nogueira via DQ
SEMI FINALS
– Gabriel Sousa def. Isaac Doederlein via advantage (4×4 pts)
– Jamil Hill-Taylor def. Fabrício Andrey via advantage (0x0 pts)
FINALS
– Jamil Hill-Taylor def. Gabriel Sousa via 4×2 pts (2×1 adv)
LIGHTWEIGHT-MALE
1/4 FINALS
– Jackson Nagai def. Daniel Quintana via bow and arrow choke
– Lucas Valente def. Fabrício Barbarotti via straight ankle lock
– Rodrigo Freitas def. Kevin Mahecha via advantages (4×4 pts)
– Johnatha Alves def. Igor Feliz via choke from the back
SEMI FINALS
– Lucas Valente def. Jackson Nagai via 8×2 pts
– Johnatha Alves def. Rodrigo Freitas via armbar
FINAL
– Johnatha Alves def. Lucas Valente via 2×0
MIDDLEWEIGHT-MALE
1/4 FINALS
– Ronaldo Junior def. Eduardo Avelar via choke from the back
– Tainan Dalpra def. Alexandre Jesus via kimura
– Jonnatas Gracie def. Lucas Valle via advantage (0x0 pts)
– Yago Souza def. Leonardo Lara via advantage (2×2 pts)
SEMI FINALS
– Tainan Dalpra def. Ronaldo Junior via injury (knee)
– Yago Souza def. Jonnatas Gracie via 4×2 pts
FINAL
– Tainan Dalpra def. Yago Souza via 2×0 pts
MEDIUM-HEAVYWEIGHT-MALE
1/4 FINALS
– Jaime Canuto def. Rodrigo Martins via choke from the back
– Pedro Marinho def. Gabriel Almeida via decision (6×6 pts)
– Manuel Ribamar def. Jeferson Guaresi via decision (0x0 pts)
– André Porfirio def. Murilo Santana via 3×1 advantages (2×2 pts)
SEMI FINALS
– Pedro Marinho def. Jaime Canuto via guillotine
– André Porfirio def. Manuel Ribamar via advantage (2×2 pts)
FINAL
– André Porfirio def. Pedro Marinho via straight ankle lock
HEAVYWEIGHT-MALE
1/4 FINALS
– Chris Passarrello def. Matt Leighton via 3×2 pts
– Gustavo Batista def. Xavier Silva via lateral kneebar
– Adam Wardzinski def. Rafael Vasconcelos via choke from the back
– Nathan Mendelshon advanced via WO (no show by Vinicius “Trator”)
SEMI FINALS
– Gustavo Batista def. Chris Passarrello via cross choke from mount
– Adam Wardzinski def. Nathan Mendelshon via arm-in Ezekiel choke
FINAL
– Gustavo Batista def. Adam Wardzinski via 3×0 advantages (0x0 pts)
SUPER-HEAVYWEIGHT-MALE
1/4 FINALS
– Guilherme Augusto def. Jackson Douglas via bread cutter choke
– Devhonte Johnson def. Lucas Norat via 7×0 pts
– Davi Cabral def. Jose Torres via dogbar (kneebar from over-under pass)
– Fellipe Andrew def. Jae Mcintosh via armbar/verbal tap
SEMI FINALS
– Guilherme Augusto def. Devhonte Johnson via decision (0x0 pts)
– Fellipe Andrew def. Davi Cabral via 5×0 pts
FINAL
– Fellipe Andrew def. Guilherme Augusto via 2×0 pts
ULTRA-HEAVYWEIGHT-MALE 1/4 FINALS
1/4 FINALS
– Max Gimenez def. AJ Agazarm via 7×0 pts
– Victor Hugo def. Leo D’Avila via cross choke from knee-cut
– Rodrigo Ribeiro def. Austin Baker via 4×0 pts
– Helton José advanced via WO (no show by Kharim Khalifa)
SEMI FINALS
– Victor Hugo def. Max Gimenez via 6×0 pts
– Rodrigo Ribeiro def. Helton José via 2×0 pts
FINAL
– Victor Hugo def. Rodrigo Ribeiro via choke from the back
OPEN WEIGHT-MALE
1/4 FINALS
– Austin Baker def. Mathias Luna via 5×0 pts
– Fellipe Andrew def. Rafael Vasconcelos via 11×0 pts
– Gustavo Batista def. Andre Porfirio via choke
– Guilherme Augusto def. Max Gimenis via choke
SEMI FINALS
– Gustavo Batista def. Guilherme Augusto via katagatame
– Fellipe Andrew def. Austin Baker via 6×0 pts
FINAL
– Fellipe Andrew def. Gustavo Batista via 18×8 pts (3×0 adv)
ROOSTERWEIGHT-FEMALE
FINAL (only match)
– Lavinia Barbosa def. Jessa Khan via 3×1 advantages (2×2 pts)
LIGHT-FEATHERWEIGHT-FEMALE
SEMI-FINALS (no quarter finals)
– Mayssa Bastos def. Naiomi Matthews via 10×2 pts
– Anna Rodrigues def. Ann Kneib via cross choke
FINALS
– Anna Rodrigues def. Mayssa Bastos via 2×1 advantages (6×6 pts)
FEATHERWEIGHT-FEMALE
1/4 FINALS (2 matches)
– Gabi McComb def. Pauline Costa via choke from the back
– Sophia Flores def. Taylor Sausser via 5×2 pts
SEMI FINALS
– Gabi McComb def. Alexa Yanes via 4×0 pts
– Bianca Basílio def. Sophia Flores via kimura
FINAL
– Bianca Basílio def. Gabi McComb via straight ankle lock
LIGHTWEIGHT-FEMALE
SEMI FINALS (no quarter finals)
– Nathalie Ribeiro def. Fernanda Figueira via vhoke from back
– Margot Ciccarelli def. Nikki Sullivan via decision (2×2 pts)
FINAL
– Nathalie Ribeiro def. Margot Ciccarelli via 2×1 advantages (2×2 pts)
MIDDLEWEIGHT-FEMALE
QUARTER FINALS
– Vannessa Griffin def. Bruna Maciel via choke
– Claire North def. Brenda Palheta via Americana
– Luiza Monteiro def. Yuki Kaneko via 11×0 pts
– Andressa Cintra def. Janaina Menezes via 11×2 pts
SEMI FINALS
– Andressa Cintra def. Vannessa Griffin decision (0x0 pts)
– Luiza Monteiro def. Claire North via 8×0 pts
FINAL
– Luiza Monteiro def. Andressa Cintra via 7×0 pts (2×0 advantages)
MEDIUM-HEAVYWEIGHT-FEMALE
SEMI FINALS (single match, no quarter finals)
– Ana Carolina Vieira def. Chloe McNally via 2×0 pts
FINAL
– Ana Carolina Vieira def. Elisabeth Clay via 6×0 pts (5×0 adv)
HEAVYWEIGHT-FEMALE FINALS
QUARTER FINALS
– Elizabeth Mitrovic def. Kylie Villicano via cross Choke
– Melissa Cueto def. Sarah Rice def. choke from back
SEMI FINALS
– Maria Malyjasiak def. Elizabeth Mitrovic via armbar
– Melissa Cueto def. Maggie Grindatti via 6×0 pts
– Maria Malyjasiak def. Melissa Cueto via short choke
SUPER-HEAVYWEIGHT-FEMALE FINALS
SEMI FINALS (single match, no quarter finals)
– Gabrieli Pessanha def. Michele Welti via straight ankle lock
FINAL
– Gabrieli Pessanha def. Yara Soares via 4×2 pts (3×1 adv)
OPEN WEIGHT-FEMALE
QUARTER FINALS
– Bianca Basilio def. Elisabeth Clay via 5×0 pts
– Yara Soares def. Nathalie Ribeiro via choke from back
– Ana Vieira def. Gabrielli Pessanha via 4×2 pts
– Maria Malyjasiak def. Janaina Menezes via 4×0 pts
SEMI FINALS
– Yara Soares def. Bianca Basilio via decision
– Ana Vieira def. Maria Malyjasiak via DQ
FINAL
– Yara Soares def. Ana Carolina Vieira via 2×0 pts (2×0 adv)
André Porfirio defeated Murilo Santana via 3×1 advantages (2×2 points), not via choke from the back 🙂