DECEMBER 15, 2018 at Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim – California was day one for the adult black belt division of the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, with the first day overall having happened yesterday for the lower belts and Master 1 black belt categories.
Saturday 15 decided the ¼ and semi-finalists are of the adult black belt divisions, with all eyes being centered on the male, ultra-heavyweight division. A category that caught the attention of mainstream media as well as Gordon Ryan fans thanks to the inclusion of the popular 88-kilogram ADCC champ to the tournament.
As much as there was a buzz about today’s event, the biggest story of the tournament was the absence of some of its former champions. Men such as Luiz Panza, Felipe Preguiça, Marcus Buchecha, Lucas Barbosa and co. who – for some reason or another, failed to show up with their rashguards. Be that as it may, the No-Gi Worlds did deliver a number of high-level players to each division, particularly the light, middle and medium-heavy weight divisions who shared a good range of real title contenders on all corners of the brackets.
Another big element in the tournament’s storyline was the inclusion of a tremendous amount of talented newcomers. Athletes such as Ffion Davis, Mayssa Bastos, Livio Ribeiro, Kenedy Maciel, Matheus Guilherme, Jeremy Jackson, Michael Trasso, Dan Borovic, Gabriel Almeida, Mauricio Oliveira, Devhonte Johnson, and so many more. Below we will do a run-down of each division and how they went on the first day, a day that defined the semifinals for the men’s divisions and the finals for the females – the reason for this being the immense size of the male brackets.
ROOSTER // MALE
Total: 5 athletes
Only one match was outlined for today, that would have been between Livio and Perez Figueroa. Unfortunately, Mr. Figueroa missed weight, and so, the semifinals are set in the No-Gi Worlds smallest black belt male division.
Semifinals
Livio Ribeiro vs Kristian Woodmansee
Nobuhiro Sawada vs Ronald Henderson
LIGHT FEATHER // MALE
Total: 13 athletes
No big surprises in the pluma division. The biggest riddle here was to see who would come out on top at the ¼ finals between Hashimoto and Lucas Pinheiro. In that hard-fought battle, the Japanese, Carpe Diem representative took the win by decision, after a 0x0 stalemate.
Semifinals
Tomoyuki Hashimoto vs Hiago George
João Miyao vs Cleber Sousa
FEATHER // MALE
Total: 25 athletes
This division was absolutely stacked, and there were no easy matches taking place here. The big surprise of the pena weight class was Ian Sanders of the Rodrigo Freitas Association. Sanders had a brilliant performance at the No-Gi Pans this year and has continued in great form, coming out o top of a bracket that included names such as Thiago Macedo, Jake Ferrara, and Adam Benayoun. Kenedy Maciel was equally impressive, taking out two of the divisions toughest athletes in Matheus Gabriel and Gabriel Marangoni. Expect fireworks tomorrow from these semifinals.
Semifinals
Ian Sanders vs Gilson Nunes
Pablo Mantovani vs Kennedy Maciel
LIGHT // MALE
Total: 22 athletes
The unusual shape of the lightweight brackets brought forward some epic early rounds matches such as Sinistro Iturralde vs Marcio Andre, Johnny Tama vs Marcio Andre, Gianni Grippo vs Masahiro Iwasaki, and more battles, worthy of a professional grappling main event. Arguably another consequence of this was seeing a few unusual names to the semifinals in an event of this magnitude, all of which worked very hard to get to the Sunday event.
Semifinals
Gianni Grippo vs Rodrigo Freitas
Márcio André vs Frederico Silva
MIDDLE // MALE
Total: 35 athletes
The biggest and arguably toughest division of the tournament had a few heroes today, namely Hugo Marques, Manuel Ribamar and Dante Leon, all of whom looked unstoppable. Hugo did not have one single point scored against him, or (dare we say) an advantage. Ribamar used his flashy scrambles to take the back and submit Michael Liera Junior, who was seen as one of the favorites. Leon, on the other hand, was also on fire with his powerful submission game, while Jaime Canuto – who doesn’t often venture out of the gi circuit, proved experience and composure can go a long way as he squeezed past two big names to reach the semi-final.
Semifinals
Dante Leon vs Hugo Marques
Jaime Canuto vs Manuel Ribamar
MEDIUM-HEAVY // MALE
Total: 25 athletes
Another division that was stacked to the brim with high-level talent. Lots of exciting matches, but also very even ones where submissions did not run high in numbers. In stark contrast with the equally stacked featherweight division, experience ruled at MH, with 3 of the 4 semifinalists being eligible for the Masters division. Luckily for us, they chose to show their worth here, and what a show they put on. A special mention to Marcos Tinoco of Alliance, who put on a takedown clinic against Kalil da Silva, and then avenged his Pan Americans loss to Gabriel Arges. A hard fought battle conquered with a 2 point lead.
Semifinals
Josh Hinger vs Matheus Diniz
Murilo Santana vs Marcos Tinoco
HEAVY // MALE
Total: 14 athletes
No surprises in this division, with all the favorites coming through, with the exception being Arnaldo Maidana – last year’s champ, who was stopped by Unity JJ newly promoted black belt Devhonte Johnson.
Semifinals
Devhonte Johnson vs Jackson Sousa
Tim Spriggs vs Thiago Sá
SUPER-HEAVY // MALE
Total: 11 athletes
A weight class that showed a lot of promise on the brackets, but did not deliver. Two of the favorites, Lucas Barbosa and Luiz Panza failed to show-up, leaving the road open for the current semi-finalists.
Semifinals
Kaynan Duarte vs Patrick Gaudio
Eliot Kelly vs James Puopolo
ULTRA-HEAVY // MALE
Total: 15 athletes
The talent dense ultra-heavyweight division escaped Gordon Ryan on the first day. The story narrated by the press of a real challenge to Ryan’s potential ended up in one single match versus Evangelos Moumtzis of Gracie Barra Greece, which Ryan ended with ease. Much of the disappointment – from the fans perspective, was down to Mahamed Aly’s injury during his very first match, which deemed him unable to proceed and face Ryan. On the other side of the bracket, Cyborg struggled to go past the veteran Gustavo Elias, while Yuri Simões decimated 2x ADCC medal placer Jared Dopp with a decisive 19×0. GFTeam’s Gimenis was also in good form, defeating his 2 opponents with relative ease.
Semifinals
Gordon Ryan vs Yuri Simões
Roberto Abreu vs Max Gimenis
ABSOLUTE // MALE
Total: 18 athletes
Very interesting matches in this division, which unfortunately did lack representation from Atos and Team Lloyd Irvin, two regular podium placers in these IBJJF events. Dominant performances by Yuri and Gordon, who proved to be in a fabulous moment, physically and mentally. One of the “cliffhanger” moments of the open-weight were the last 5 seconds of the Gordon Ryan vs Patrick Gaudio. Ryan was losing by 1 advantage and managed to bounce back at the very end, with a near sweep and a near back take. 2 advantaged that saw him take the lead and the match.
Semifinals
Gordon Ryan vs Jackson Sousa (RNC Ryan)
Yuri Simões vs Thiago Sá (4×2 Simões)
Final
Gordon Ryan vs Yuri Simões
LIGHT FEATHER // FEMALE
Total: 5 athletes
With one match each, the two favorites to win the event moved forward towards the final.
Final
Mayssa Bastos vs Patricia Fotes
FEATHER // FEMALE
Total: 5 athletes
Promoted less than a month ago, Ffion Davies is in the final, a historic event for Welsh jiu-jitsu, who now has its first IBJJF World NoGi finalist in the black belt division.
Final
Ffion Davies vs Amanda Monteiro
LIGHT // FEMALE
Total: 7 athletes
A small but very evenly matched division and an excellent style clash ahead between Musumeci and Perret. Guard player vs Guard Passer.
Final
Tammi Musumeci vs Catherine Perret
MIDDLE // FEMALE
Total: 4 athletes
Two athletes known for their gi work will be battling for the no-gi world title, in another big style clash between a traditional guard player and a powerful passer. Both athletes like to submit, so expect fireworks here.
Final
Beatriz Mesquita vs Ana Carolina Vieira
MEDIUM-HEAVY // FEMALE
Total: 5 athletes
Both Claudia and Luanna were heavy favorites to meet in the final of the World Championship, and indeed they did.
Final
Claudia Doval vs Luanna Alzuguir
HEAVY // FEMALE
Total: 3 athletes
Final
Maria Malyjasiak vs Nathiely de Jesus
SUPER-HEAVY // FEMALE
Total: 3 athletes
Final
Jessica Flowers vs Nivia de Souza
