SEPTEMBER 14 – NEW YORK, USA. The Nat Holman Gym (CCNY) was the home for yet another International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) No-Gi Pan American Championship, one of the more important tournaments on the international circuit, with particular interest this year given its proximity to 2019’s most important NoGi tournament, the ADCC World Championship, which will take place in a couple of weeks.
ADCC CHALLENGERS’ PERFORMANCES
As aforementioned the NoGi Pan American Championship was served as an appetizer for the big show of the year, but it was also a fair measurement for how the training camp is going for a few of the ADCC challengers – those who signed up for the Pans, obviously. For the most part, these ADCC hopefuls did not bode well today.
One of those athletes was featherweight Gianni Grippo, who will likely have a seeded position in the 66-kilogram division. Grippo went 1-1 at the Pans, losing to a durable – yet debutant black belt, Emilio Hernandez of Zenith JJ. Emilio would lose in the final to another ADCC front runner, Paulo Miyao, who had one of the few solid performances of the day from the group of athletes on reference, here.
Another disappointing performance was that of Keenan Cornelius, who is currently training in the Blue Basement. The worm-guard wizard did not look as sharp as we’ve seen him in previous outings, in the super-heavyweight class. In a small division, Cornelius had a hard semi-final against Unity’s Devhonte Johnson, advancing by a narrow 2 points and going on to lose against Vinicius Ferreira (Trator), the former Atos athlete did make a comeback in the ultra-heavy (check link below), albeit, against smaller opposition. In the ultra-heavyweight division, Tex Johnson – another ADCC challenger had two matches, a quick win over an unranked athlete (Paulo Brasil), losing to Max Gimenis by 11 points.
TOP PERFORMANCES OF THE NOGI PANS
One of the great performances of the day was Marcelo Cohen who represented the Fábio Novaes JJ Academy. A veteran of the sport, Cohen is eligible for the Masters 2 division but decided to test himself in the absolute roosterweight division, taking gold and submitting his opponent in the final.
Other very positive performances were those of black belt newcomers Jonnatas Gracie (Atos), Jeferson Guaresi (Unity) and Jake Watson (Maracaba) who had a few wars of attrition on the mats, but came out gracefully and with strong performances – particularly Watson who put on a real eye pleasing jiu-jitsu show for the fans today, even though he came up short against the more tactical Gracie in the final of the medium-heavyweight division.
++ CHECK ABSOLUTE DIVISION RESULTS HERE ++
Male Rooster
#1 Marcelo Cohen
#2 David Zennario
Male Light-Feather
#1 Lucas Pinheiro
#2 Suraj Budhram
#3 Malachi Edmond
#3 Taniel Jesus
Male Feather
#1 Paulo Miyao
#2 Emilio Hernandez
#3 Gianni Grippo
#3 Thiago Abud
Male Light
#1 Athos Miranda
#2 Fabio Caloi
#3 Fred Alves
#3 Felipe Linhares
Male Middle
#1 Jeferson Guaresi
#2 Johnny Tama
#3 Felipe Cesar
#3 Breno Maciel
Male Medium-Heavy
#1 Jonnatas Gracie
#2 Jake Watson
#3 Dylan Royce
#3 Brian Beaury
Male Heavy
#1 Murilo Santana
#2 Todd Mueckenheim
#3 Ashur Darmo
#3 Ronnie Pace
Male Super-Heavy
#1 Vinicius Ferreira
#2 Keenan Cornelius
#3 Devhonte Johnson
#3 Frederik Vosgrone
Male Ultra-Heavy
#1 Max Gimenis
#2 Tex Johnson
#3 Paulo Brasil
#3 Ryan Roach
Male Absolute
#1 Keenan Cornelius
#2 Felipe Cesar
#3 Tex Johnson
#3 Devhonte Johnson
Female Light-Feather
#1 Sofia Amarante
#2 Fiona Watson
#3 Maria Fuschetto
Female Light
#1 Amanda Alequin
#2 Talita Alencar
#3 April Parks
#3 Jessica Cristina Santos
Female Middle
#1 Jaqueline Amorim
#2 Jessica Swanson
#3 Laurah Hallock
#3 Bruna Maciel
Female Medium-Heavy
#1 Vedha Toscano
#2 Veronica Fernandez
Female Heavy
Female Absolute
#1 Laurah Hallock
#2 Amanda Alequin
#3 Vedha Toscano
#3 Talita Alencar
