APRIL 16, 2024, ROME, only two days ago the historic Italian capital witnessed its first edition of the AJP Grand Slam Tour, one of the main tournaments of this worldwide federation and one of the most important Gi-Jiu-Jitsu tournaments in Europe. The event brought forth many of the Old Continent’s top performers in the professional circuit such as Florian Bayili, Dzhimsher Razmadze, Jean Maltese, Nia Blackman, to name a few, but despite the best efforts of this valiant squad, the Grand Slam was fairly dominated by the Brazilian team, who traditionally outperform their counterparts in the Gi setting.
Below are the results of the main matches and a report on each weight class of the professional category of the AJP Rome Grand Slam.
56KG DIVISION, MALE
The current leader of the AJP ranking in this weight class, Welison Fernandes showcased his skills by going all the way to the final where he faced Frederico Guimarães. Fernandes took the match by one point as he had done in the semi-final, his only two matches in thee tournament as this was in the smallest division at the male black belt level.
SEMI-FINAL:
– Welison Fernandes def. Augustin Gimenez via 10×9
– Frederico Guimaraes def. Marko Oikarainen via 7×1
FINAL:
– Welison Fernandes def. Frederico Guimaraes via 6×5
3RD PLACE:
– Marko Oikarainen def. Augustin Gimenez via 5×4
62KG DIVISION, MALE
Although Jefferson Fagundes took the gold medal on paper, this was a close-out by the Cicero Costha team in this featherweight division. All of Costha’s students dominated their opponents on their runs to the semi-finals and ended up doing performative matches in the semi-finals and final.
SEMI-FINALS,FINALS, & 3RD PLACE:
– Close out for Cicero Costha. Friendly matches between teammates Jefferson Fagundes, Kalel Santos, Leonardo Mario, Yuri Hendrex.
69KG DIVISION, MALE
Diego “Pato” Oliveira had a great run in his ADGS Rome gold medal, but make no mistake, the level was very high in this weight class. Pato arrived as the heavy favorite, taking the tournament with 3 wins as the final match didn’t take place. Oliveira submitted his first opponent with a beautiful standing Brabo Choke and took the other two bouts via points which included a well contested clash with Belgium’s Florian Bayili.
The breakthrough of the tournament was Georgian athlete Dzhimsher Razmadze, who had his fair share of rough encounters in the bracket, submitting former IBJJF Pan champion Thiago Macedo with a footlock and then outscoring GFT’s top player, Artur Oliveira. Sadly, Razmadze came out of the semi-finals injured and could not continue to his final clash with Pato of team AOJ.
SEMI-FINALS:
– Diego Pato def. Florian Bayili via 2×2
– Dzhimsher Razmadze def. Artur Oliveira via 3×3
FINAL:
– Diego Pato via WO (injury by Razmadze in semis, could not advance)
3RD PLACE:
– Danilo Hamazaki def. Thiago Macedo via 2×1
77KG DIVISION, MALE
Another fantastic and sober performance by Luiz Paulo, but don’t sleep on Luis Ribas. The Almeida JJ black belt had a terrific performance where he submitted Lucas Protasio and Ahmed Laaribi, two very tough athletes on his way to the final where Paulo’s exquisite game shined through.
SEMI-FINALS:
– Luiz Paulo def. Igor Feliz via 1×0
– Luis Ribas def. Pavel Kalesnik via 8×1
FINAL:
– Luiz Paulo def. Luis Ribas via 9×2
3RD PLACE:
– Igor Feliz def. Abdallah Allam via 5×2
85KG DIVISION, MALE
A spectacular performance by the Vetoraci Brothers who went toe-to-toe with one of the best in the world, Uanderson Ferreira. Although Brazilian, the Vetoraci’s train in the North of Portugal and have been making waves on the European circuit for some time. In Rome, they proved they can hang with the best not only in their matches with Ferreira, where they went 1×1, but also in their wins over names like Sebastian Rodriguez, Luan Carvalho, and Lucas Giraud.
SEMI-FINALS:
– Matheus Vetoraci def. Luan Carvalho via 3×0
– Uanderson Ferreira def. Davi Vetoraci via 2×0
FINAL:
– Matheus Vetoraci def. Uanderson Ferreira via 6×5
3RD PLACE:
– Sebastian Rodriguez def. Nikolay Salmin via 9×2
94KG DIVISION, MALE
Another Rodrigo Feijao black belt making waves in the sport. This weekend it was Henrique Betta who is in his rookie year at the pro level and won a stacked division with names like Manuel Ribamar, Marcos Carrozzino, Gustavo Borges, Jackson Sousa, and more. Betta had 3 matches, all won via points.
SEMI-FINALS:
– Marcos Carrozzino def. Manuel Ribamar via decision
– Henrique Betta def. Clemer Canario via 4×3
FINAL:
– Henrique Betta def. Marcos Carrozzino via 2×1
3RD PLACE:
– Clemer Canario def. Gustavo Borges via decision
120KG DIVISION, MALE
A very fun division saw new European black belt Jean Maltese make it to the final with some very entertaining matches. Maltese played mostly from his back throughout the tournament, which appeared to be enough to dominate the division, but that tactic did not work out against veteran guard passer Felipe Bezerra, who also had an epic performance in his run to a gold medal, taking out the aforementioned Maltese as well as Helder “Tropeco” on his way to gold.
SEMI-FINALS:
– Felipe Bezerra def. Helder Junior via 6×0
– Jean Maltese def. Webert Silva via bow and arrow
FINAL:
– Felipe Bezerra def. Jean Maltese via 4×0
3RD PLACE:
– Vladimir Blium def. Paulo Brasil via toe hold
49KG DIVISION, FEMALE
The female roosterweight division has consistently been one of the most contested in the sport over the past few years. Diana Teixeira and Brenda Larissa arrived as the odds-on favorites and they delivered on their status, but the one raising eyebrows this weekend was athlete Scout Shawnee Shalon who came out with a bronze medal after solid wins over Flavia Soares, Giulia Angiolini, and Ana Julia Lima. Certainly an athlete to keep your eyes on in future events.
SEMI-FINALS:
– Diana Teixeira def. Ana Julia via choke from the back
– Brenda Larissa def. Scout Shalon via 9×1
FINAL:
– Brenda Larissa def. Diana Teixeira via 1×0
3RD PLACE:
– Scout Shalon def. Ana Julia via triangle
55KG DIVISION, FEMALE
A division with a lot of brown belt talent saw the veteran and multiple-time world champion, Anna Rodrigues, cruise through the division. Rodrigues is not an expansive athlete, with a high output, but in her conservative style, Anna was ahead of the curve. In the final, Rodrigues met her teammate Beatriz Guitierrez. The two competed in a friendly match that went Anna’s way.
SEMI-FINALS:
– Anna Rodrigues def. Randryely Souza via 3×2
– Beatriz Gutierrez def. Gabriela Pereira via botinha
FINAL:
– Friendly match between teammates (Dream Art closeout)
3RD PLACE:
– Randryely Souza def. Gabriela Pereira via RNC
62KG DIVISION, FEMALE
Although Alves and Delahaye closed the division for GFTeam, we were very impressed with two athletes we don’t often see on the professional circuit, namely: Violeta Angelova and Stephanie Faure, who greatly impressed us with their aggressive and submission-oriented style. Julia Alves and Maria Delahaye were equally entertaining in a weight class that had some of the best matches of the whole event.
SEMI-FINALS:
– Julia Alves def. Violeta Angelova via 2×0
– Maria Delahaye def. Stephanie Faure via 3×0
FINAL:
– Friendly match between teammates (GFT closeout)
3RD PLACE:
– Stephanie Faure def. Ludmila Fiori via 6×1
70KG DIVISION, FEMALE
Lots of new European talent in this division, which included ADCC European Trials winner Nia Blackman, brown belt world champion (making her black belt debut), Laura Sieradzan, IBJJF European double gold medalist (brown belt Masters) Denise Krahn, and more. Despite the very worthy challengers from Europe, Ingridd Alves is currently having one the best periods of her career and she was not denied another gold medal.
SEMI-FINALS:
– Ingridd Alves def. D. Krahn via 3×0
– Izadora Cristina def. Nia Blackman via 2×2
FINAL:
– Ingridd Alves def. Izadora Cristina via 4×2
3RD PLACE
– Nia Blackman def. D. Krahn via 4×2
95KG DIVISION, FEMALE
Fantastic to see Yara Soares back in the competition circuit in a division in dire need of a challenger to Gabrieli Pessanha’s hegemony. Soares showed great skill and superior athleticism, taking a gold medal for he r team, Fratres.
SEMI-FINALS:
– Maria Vicentini def. Anabel Lopez 2×1
– Yara Soares def. Amanda Vikingsson via bow & arrow choke
FINAL:
– Yara Soares def. Maria Vicentini via 5×0
3RD PLACE:
– Yasmira Dias def. Anabel Lopez via 3×3
