JANUARY 20, 2017 the day 5 for the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (IBJJF) European Open and day one for the adult black belt division. Like in previous years the Euros marks the opening of BJJ’s gi season, bringing with it plenty of fresh blood on to the main belt category of the sport and although not all came out to play for the open weight, the few that did, certainly made themselves noticed.
VIKING POWER
Although the male division was dominated by the two Atos representatives, namely Keenan Cornelius (3 matches, 3 subs) and Lucas ‘Hulk’ (3 matches, 2 subs), one other athlete made big news in the absolute. That was Tommy Langaker of Norway who put away 3 of the top black belts in the world today by way of submission before being stopped by Hulk in the semi final match. On his submission run middleweight Langaker submitted none other than super-heavyweight world champion Erberth Santos, undoubtedly the biggest upset of the tournament, as well as Renato Canuto and the always tough Ricardo ‘Pingo’ of Barbosa JJ.
Another new name carrying a lot of steam in the black belt division was Samantha Cook. The Fightzone-Checkmat London athlete showed her good form after winning the UAEJJF Grand Slam last week and steamrolled through her opposition before being faced with multiple time world champion Bia Mesquita. Composed and technical, Sam has a bright future ahead in her division.
