NOVEMBER 08, 2022, This weekend Houston, Texas, witnessed another edition of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s Houston Fall Open. Unusually, for an IBJJF event, the no-gi portion of the championship gathered a few higher profile names than the gi including Pans No-Gi medalists Francisco Lo, Lukete Silva, Francisco Cuneo, Italo Moura, Felipe Cesar, and more as well as former World No-Gi champion Raquel Paaluhi Canuto, Gi Champion Melissa Cueto, ADCC veteran and World No-Gi champion Victor Hugo and many more.
NEW YORK’S UNITY IN GREAT FORM AT HOUSTON OPEN
One of the toughest trios in the middleweight division, Unity’s Francisco Cuneo, Felipe Cesar Silva, and Italo Moura came in ready to perform as they have been doing over the past few months. Former Team Argentina judo player, Francisco Cuneo, in particular, has been showing incredible form as of late proving it once again this past weekend with two silver medals.
Despite losing in the final of the middleweight class to Andy Murasaki (another surprising face in the no-gi tournament, being foremost a gi player), Cuneo returned to the open weight class where he took out Vinicius Wong, the revered (and much heavier) Felipe Costa, and putting the ultra-heavyweight phenom that is Victor Hugo to a real test, where he lost to a penalty.
MIDDLEWEIGHT, RAQUEL VICTORIOUS IN ABSOLUTE
Despite being one of the smallest athletes in the open-weight division, Raquel Paaluhi Canuto got the job done using her excellent takedowns and solid passing pressure to conquer double gold medals after closing her weight class with Checkmat teammate Thamires Monteiro.
Canuto met one of the rising stars of the sport, Leticia Cardozo of Alliance in the semi-finals. A hard-fought match where her experience and composure got her through to the final. The finals match was no picnic either as she faced one of the most formidable medium-heavyweights in the world, Melissa Cueto. Raquel came out victorious by using her excellent wrestling and passing pressure to get to Cueto’s neck for the finish.
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
FEATHERWEIGHT
Semi-Finals:
– Richar Nogueira def. Isaias Higinio via Triangle
– Lucas Silva advanced as the opponent forfeited
Final:
– Lucas “Lukete” Silva def. Richar Nogueira via Inside heel hook
LIGHTWEIGHT
(2 man division)
Final:
– Jordan Holy def. Jean Santos via Katagatame
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Round Robin:
– Andy Murasaki def. Vinicius Wong via submission
– Francisco Cuneo def. Vinicius Wong via 7×0
– Andy Murasaki def. Francisco Cuneo via 4×0
MEDIUM-HEAVYWEIGHT
Semi-Finals:
– Felipe Cesar def. Bruno Matias via points
– Italo Moura def. Hunter Newton via RNC
Final:
Team Unity close-out
ULTRA-HEAVYWEIGHT
Round-Robin:
– Victor Hugo def. Alan Zacharias
– Renato Tagliari def. Alan Zacharias
– Victor Hugo def. Renato Tagliari
OPEN WEIGHT
Semi-Finals:
– Victor Hugo def. Felipe Cesar via points
– Francisco Cuneo def. Felipe Costa via points
Final:
– Victor Hugo def. Francisco Cuneo via penalty
FEMALE OPEN WEIGHT
Semi-Finals:
– Melissa Cueto def. Juliana Gassaway via submission
– Raquel Canuto def. Leticia Cardozo via advantage
Final:
– Raquel Canuto def. Melissa Cueto via Guillotine
