The first edition of the IBJJF Rio Winter Open (July 23rd, 24th, 25th & 26th, 2015) gathered some of the best competitors the birthplace of Brazilian jiu jitsu has to offer. Exceptions to a few of the top names such as Victor Silverio, Rodolfo Vieira and Joao Gabriel Rocha, who are going through their respective ADCC 2015 camps, the cream of the crop of the “carioca” community attended the event.
The venue chosen for the tournament was the Club Municipal, a small space that filled out to the seams. Though it was great to see a jiu jitsu event “jam packed” with spectators and over 1000 athletes, the size of the venue is a clear sign that Rio’s jiu jitsu is in need of a serious lift-up, and that what was once the “Mecca of Jiu Jitsu” is now losing out big time to cities such as Sao Paulo or San Diego.
The competition itself had many exciting moments, showing that even though promoters have lost interest in the city, competitors are still training hard and fighting sharp.
In the brown belt divisions Nathiely de Jesus of Cicero Costha won the absolute division with some great performances, while Max dos Santos of GF Team was on point in the men’s brown belt absolute, placing 3rd in his weight class. Two names to keep in mind for the future.
In the black belt divisions, although there was an avalanche of Sao Paulo competitors, the carioca’s defended their borders bravely holding most of the opposition back, strongly supported by GFT’s and Checkmat – Fightzone. Only two warriors managed to break the barrier in the men’s divisions: Erberth Santos and Pedro Pimenta.
ABSOLUTE – OPEN WEIGHT
Champion: Erberth Santos
The brave and highly technical middleweight Jaime Canuto did his best in a very tough division, being stopped only by Erberth in the final. Canuto was the only competitor to successfully fend off Santos’ submission attempts last weekend, finishing the final with an 8 point deficit after 7 hard fought battles.
PESO GALO – 57kg
Champion: Raul Marcello
The Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu representative was on fire, winning a tough division. In the final he surpassed Guilherme Hideki of Nova União.
PESO PLUMA – 64kg
Champion: Philipe Freitas
Philipe Freitas of the Equipe PH academy was one of the big surprises of the tournament, winning a tough division that included big names such as Douglas “Trator” Rufino (Checkmat-Fightzone), Gabriel Willcox or Thomas Lisboa.
PESO PENA – 70kg
Champion: Isaque Paiva
There are not many featherweights out there that can match Isaque’s skill at the moment. Training from a small association (Saikoo Jiu-Jitsu) Paiva has consistently reached podium after podium. Yesterday, after 3 tough battles, Paiva met Gilson Nunes. A match won on advantages.
PESO LEVE – 76kg
Champion: Sandro Vieira
Huge win for Sandrinho of Checkmat-Fightzone, in a division that had big names in the sport such as Fabio Caloi and Brazilian national champion Luan Carvalho.
Though Luan had a good tournament, he suffered an injury in the ¼ final against Herbert Maeda. He fought the semi final, but was too cautious with his knee and ended up disqualified for stalling, as was his opponent Lucas Vale. The other semi final between Vieira and Caloi ended up deciding the division with Sandro taking the win on points.
PESO MÉDIO – 82kg
Champion: Vinícius Marinho > Jaime Canuto > Jake Mackenzie
Great day for the GF Team trio who went through their opposition like a hot knife through butter. Marinho submitted everyone on his way to the semi final, which he closed with Mackenzie, while Canuto did the same on his side, submitting a very tough Caio Almeida with a triangle in the semi after 3 submissions and 1 fight won on points. In the end the three training partners close out the division.
PESO MEIO PESADO – 88kg
Champion: Pedro Pimenta
Sao Paulo’s Pimenta of Ryan Gracie/Gracie Morumbi came to hostile territory and snatched the win in one of the tournament’s most stacked divisions! Impressive work by Pedro Pimenta.
PESO PESADO – 94kg
Champion: Marcus Vinicius
GF Team’s “Morcego” (bat) had a tremendou performance taking gold, defeating Felipe Bueno (who had submitted the inimitable Helvecio Penna in the previous round) and Marcus Aurélio in the final.
SUPER PESADO – 100kg
Champion: Erberth Santos
Time and time again Erberth has proven that he is the top talent in Brazil’s super heavyweight division. With less than a year at black belt, Santos has been eager to prove himself, showing superior movement for such a big athlete. This athleticism has been a decisive factor in most of his wins. At the Rio Winter Open Erberth’s movement earned him back to back submission wins at super heavy.
PESADÍSSIMO – over 100kg
Champion: Kauê Damasceno
One of the top representatives of Nova União – Bangú, Kauê keeps making waves as he progresses in the black belt division. One serious ultra heavyweight with a ton of talent.
In a week in which women’s jiu jitsu has been debated to exhaustion in social media, it would’ve been good to watch women support their own struggle for equal pay in the sport. Unfortunately the women’s black belt division was a desert of competitors with only 2 categories stacking more than 2 athletes(!), one of these being the open weight.
Below are the results of the women’s divisions:
PLUMA:
Champion: Alliny Karen Silva Santos – Nova União
Runner up: Carla Franco – Pedra 90
Third Place: only two athletes
PENA:
Champion: Andressa Lídia de Souza – Barbosa JJ
Runner up: Kenia da Silva Lopes – PRM Team
Third Place: only two athletes
LEVE:
Champion: Líbia Christal Alves Gonçalves – Braziliam Power Team
Runner up: only one athlete
MÉDIO:
Champion: Leanna M Dittrich – Fight Sports
Runner up: Barbara Gomes dos Santos – Universidade Católica de Brasília
Third Place: only two athletes
MEIO PESADO:
Champion: Bruna Marques Oliveira Meneses – Barbosa Jiu Jitsu
Runner up: only one athlete
PESADO:
Champion Fabiana Pereira Santos – Zenith BJJ
Runner up: only one athletes
SUPER PESADO:
Champion: Samela Shoham Lopes Leite – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu
Runner up: Luana Beatriz Gomes Fiquene – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu
Third Place: Marcelle Cantanhede de Almeida – Luciano Mendes
Third Place: Anna Carolina Luz Tavares – Soul Fighters
ABSOLUTE – OPEN WEIGHT
Champion: Barbara Gomes dos Santos – Universidade Católica de Brasília
Runner up: Fabiana Pereira Santos – Zenith BJJ
Third Place: Samela Shoham Lopes Leite – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu
Third Place: Luana Beatriz Gomes Fiquene – Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu
