May 26, 2024. The AIGA promotion is slowly but surely gaining momentum in the jiu-jitsu & submission-grappling world, the Team vs Team show in an elimination tournament-based format, where squads compete directly against each other across 8 weight classes. Unlike the standard in jiu-jitsu tournaments, where academies define their squads with whichever athletes train in their premises daily, the AIGA format invites sponsors/brands to shape their teams with athletes who are – at most times – from various academies, a term often referred to as “super-teams” offering a more eclectic landscape.
With the growth of AIGA and a demand for its unique 3-round hybrid ruleset of submission-only and standard BJJ points, the organization started developing qualifiers for the main event in Khazazshtan later this year. The Brazilian Qualifier, which happened this weekend, was one of the most anticipated of the trial events as the region is well known for being a breeding ground for talented grapplers.
There were 8 squads involved in the AIGA Brazilian Qualifier, namely Team Melqui Galvao, Team Piramide, Team Luta Livre Brazil, Team Demian Maia, Team Untouchable, Andinos Grappling, Team Vouk, and Kasai. Many of the workgroups seen here belong to one single team, the Untouchable squad was built on Alliance HQ athletes, Melqui Galvao had his B-Squad representing his schools of Manaus & Sao Paulo, the Piramide competitors came from the Piramide Academy, one of the few schools in Rio de Janeiro fully dedicated to No-Gi, and Demian Maia was also built on students of the legendary, former ADCC champion, Demian Maia.
Other teams, like Vouk (a Brazilian fight wear brand), Kasai (New York-based grappling promotion), and Andinos were built on competitors from different teams, assembled for this specific event. The Andinos were a team built by athletes from various countries of the Andes mountain range in South America and Luta Livre Brasil, another of the squads, was designed with some of the top-ranked competitors in Luta Livre Esportiva, which is often referred to as Brazil’s Catch Wrestling sport.
The tournament had lots of big names and produced plenty of spectacular moments across the two days of the event, generating 49 matches with 35 submissions, over 71.4%, a statistic that dwarfed almost every high-level professional grappling show observed this year. Very impressive.
The Kasai Team brought forth an avalanche of top-tier competitors, including 3 ADCC US Trials winners, 5 IBJJF World No-Gi Champs, and 2 ADCC Brazilian Trials champs (one of which was also a world champ in no-gi). All in all, they appeared indestructible on paper beforehand and they were. Team Kasai bulldozed over its opponents winning every single match they had, and only one of those wins didn’t come via submission. 20 finishes out of 21 matches. Below are the match results of the event.
KASAI X ANDINOS GRAPPLING TEAM
-91 kg: Roberto Jimenez def Alan Magendzo, Points
-65kg: Dorian Olivarez def Lucas Cantó, Katagatame
-70 kg: Fabricio Andrey def Lucas Galbusera, Armbar
-83 kg: Andrew Tackett def Lalo Garcia Morato, Triangle
-76 kg: Renato Canuto def Pier Paolo Chiappe, RNC
-60kg: Junny Ocasio def Tomas Sánchez, Aoki lock
+91kg: Pedro Marinho def Nicolás Thorne, Guillotine
KASAI def Andinos 7-0
TEAM VOŪK ELITE X PIRAMIDE
-60kg: Guilherme Oliveira def Jonas Lisboa, Heel hook
-91kg: Gabriel Brod def Eduardo Andrade, Heel hook
-65kg: Henrique Durans def Aaron Nathan Silva, Armbar
-76kg: Matheus Ferreira def Samuel Rocha, Guillotine
83kg: Nikolas de Souza def Iago Martins, Points
Rd1 2-0, Rd2 0-3, Rd3 3-0
-70kg: Yonathan Cárdenas def David dos Santos, Points
Rd1 0-0, Rd2 0-0, Rd3 0-0 (2 pen)
o91kg: Elioenai Braz def Antonio Assef, Points
Rd1 2-0, Rd2 9-0, Rd3 0-0
Vouk def Piramide 5-2
KASAI X TEAM VOŪK ELITE
-65kg: Dorian Olivarez def Jhonatha Frazao, RNC
o91kg: Roberto Jimenez def Elioenai Braz, RNC
-70kg: Fabricio Andrey def David dos Santos, Armbar
-60kg: Junny Ocasio def Guilherme Oliveira, Heel hook
-91kg: Pedro Marinho def Gabriel Brod, Ankle lock
-76kg: Renato Canuto def Nikolas de Souza, Tarikoplata
-83kg: Andrew Tackett def Matheus Ferreira, RNC
Kasai def Vouk Elite 7-0
LUTA LIVRE BRASIL X ANDINOS GRAPPLING TEAM
+91kg: Alan Magendzo def Fabio Dutra, Armbar
-83kg: Lalo Garcia Morato def Gabriel Alves, Omoplata
-70kg: Claudiney Xavier def Lucas Galbusera, Decision
-91kg: Nicolás Thorne def Felipe Boanada, Decision
-60kg: Gerlan Magalhães def Tomas Sánchez, Points
Rd 1 2-0, Rd 2 2-2, Rd 3 0-0 (1 pen)
-65kg: Lucas Cantó def Marcos Paulo Monteiro, Points
Rd 1 0-0, Rd 2 0-0 (3 pen), Rd 3 2-0
-76kg: Jefferson Pontes def Pier Paolo Chiappe, Decision
Rd 1 0-0, Rd 3-2, Rd 3 0-0 (1 pen)
Andinos def Luta Livre Brasil 4-3
KASAI X DEMIAN MAIA TEAM
-60kg: Junny Ocasio def Howard Fernandez, Heel hook
-65kg: Dorian Olivarez def Anderson Falcao, Katagatame
-83kg: Sebastian Rodriguez def Lucas Barros, Kneebar
-76kg: Andrew Tackett def Leonardo Domingos, RNC
+91kg: Roberto Jimenez def Elias Silvério, RNC
-70kg: Fabricio Andrey def Gabriel Souza, Armlock
-91kg: Pedro Marinho def Lucas Soares, Guillotine
– Kasai def Demian Maia 7-0
UNTOUCHABLE X TEAM VOŪK ELITE
-70kg: Nikolas de Souza def Romulo Rocha, Anaconda choke
-65kg: Iago Siqueira def Jhonatha Frazao, Heel hook
+91kg: Eli Braz def Gustavo Henrique Santos, Katagatame
-91kg: Gabriel Brod def Fernando Reis, Points
Rd1 2-0, Rd2 0-0, Rd3 0-0
-83kg: Fabio Caloi def Miguel Rossato, Heel hook
-70kg: Ruan Alvarenga def David dos Santos, Points
Rd1 2-0, Rd2 0-0, Rd3 0-0
-60kg: Guilherme Oliveira def Hoanes Nacib, Heel hook
Team Vouk Elite def Untouchable 4-3
PIRAMIDE X TEAM MELQUI GALVAO
-60kg: Raphelson Tarcísio def Jonas Lisboa, Decision
Rd 1 2-0, Rd2, 0-0, Rd3 0-0 (1 pen)
-83kg: Iago Martins def Vitor Pantoja, Heel hook
-91kg: Eduardo Andrade def Cláudio Ribeiro, Heel hook
-65kg: Henrique Durans def Rickson Caua, RNC
-70kg: Kauã Gabriel def Yonathan Cárdenas, Points
Rd 1 2-0, Rd2, 0-0 (2 pen), Rd3 0-2
+91kg: Antonio Assef def Adam Nabawy, Kneebar
-76kg: Samuel Rocha def Nicolas Renier, Points
Rd 1 5-0, 0-0 (0-1 pen), Rd3 3-0
Pirâmide def Team Melqui Galvao 5-2
