OCTOBER 17, 2022, GARLAND, TX, USA, saw another edition of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Pan American No-Gi Championships. This tournament is one of the biggest in the organization’s Winter season, a time traditionally allocated for the no-gi (submission grappling) aspect of the league’s players.
Despite being just a few weeks after the biggest tournament of the year, the ADCC (check results here), the No-Gi Pans did captivate the interest of a few big names of the sport including more than a handful of ADCC veterans such as Keenan Cornelius, Oliver Taza, Gianni Grippo, Elder Cruz, Haisam Rida, Henrique Cardoso, Mike Perez, Elisabeth Clay, to mention a few.
From a match-spectacle standpoint, the IBJJF Pan American No-Gi Championships was an outright success with many exciting bouts to follow, and a healthy 39% submission ratio in the adult black belt division (the professionals), and a string of upsets.
One of the most significant upsets this weekend was that of Cicero Costha‘s new star, Francisco Lo. The Sao Paulo based athlete broke through to the semi-finals submitting one of the division’s favorites – Oliver Taza – and former medalist Rodrigo “Tatu” Lopes before being stopped by the masterful strategist that is Manuel Ribamar (who became the medium-heavy champion this year).
A surprise to many was also the rise of Standard Jiu-Jitsu (Rockville, MD) as a big player in the tournament, a team that gathered 3 gold medals in the adult black belt division. We’ve been praising the incredible talent that is Deandre Corbe in this sport for quite some time, despite the young Canadian being somewhat lesser known to a mainstream jiu-jitsu audience, but this weekend he proved once and for all why he should be regarded as one of the big players of the featherweight division. Deandre’s arrival was not a solo trip as he brought with him teammates Gavin Corbe and My Bao “Alex” Nguyen, two athletes recently promoted to black belt who are already picking up shiny gold medals in big tournaments like the Pans. The sky is the limit for this dynamic trio of leg-lockers, with a proven record in sub-only and a points system such as the IBJJF and the ADCC.
Another leglocker that had a big day this Sunday was Ares’s Elisabeth Clay who took double gold in the adult, black belt division. Although well-known for her leg attacks, Clay came out of the event with a 100% submission ratio, but none from lower limb submissions. All chokes.
On the newsworthy front, we saw an array of different cultures making the podium of the No-Gi Pans this year, which included the first Yemenite adult black belt champion in Osa Almarwai of Atos HQ, an incredible achievement for the Middle Eastern grappling community.
We also saw the first Argentinian adult black belt No-Gi Pan champion. Francisco Cuneo of Unity Jiu-Jitsu, the man from the Pampas region was on fire this weekend, applying his extensive Judo background on the mats to win gold at middleweight and a bronze medal in the open weight. To this wide range of nationalities on the podium, we can also add an All-Canadian final at lightweight (Deandre Corbe vs Kieran Kichuk), one African silver medal (Haisam Rida at ultra-heavyweight), a gold medal for Philippino-born Alex Enriquez, and a silver medal for the UK’s Thomas Bracher.
There was also a poorer side to the IBJJF No-Gi Pans. One of those was just how many athletes registered and did not bother to show up, messing up many of the brackets and leaving some athletes with no matches all the way up to the semi-finals or finals and others with many. This is not uncommon in IBJJF tournaments, but, from a fan and athlete standpoint, measures should be taken to avoid this issue. The lack of atmosphere for a tournament of this importance was also a big drawback this weekend. As we keep seeing improved productions in events promoted by the AJP and ADCC, it does feel as though the IBJJF is getting left behind on the spectacle front. These issues aside, good marks for match quality and competitiveness of the event. Check more results below.
IBJJF 2022 NO-GI PAN CHAMPIONS:
Adult, Black Belt Division
55.5KG: Osamah Almarwai (Atos)
61.5KG: Bebeto Oliveira (GFT)
67.5KG: Gavin Corbe (Standard JJ)
73.5KG:Deandre Corbe (Standard JJ)
79.5KG: Francisco Cuneo (Unity)
85.5KG: Manuel Ribamar (R. Pinheiro)
91.5KG: Pedro Rocha (Alliance)
97.5KG: Fellipe Trovo (Atos)
+97.5KG: Davi Cabral (GFT)
OPEN M: Henrique Cardoso (Ceconi KMKZ)
46.5KG: Jhenifer Aquino (Atos)
51.5KG: Alex Nguyen (Standard JJ)
56.5KG: Alex Enriquez (Atos)
61.5KG: Anna Rodrigues (Dream Art)
66.5KG: Elisabeth Clay (Ares)
71.5KG: Thalyta Silva (Dream Art)
76.5KG: No-Matches
+76.5KG: No-Matches
OPEN F: Elisabeth Clay (Ares)
55.5KG – Rooster:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Osamah Almarwai def. Chris Tra via 2×0
– Henrique Rossi def. Antonio Villator via 6×0
– Osamah Almarwai def. Henrique Rossi via 10×0
61.5KG – Light Feather:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Hiago George def. Pedro Serrano via 20×0
– Bebeto Oliveira def. David Terrao via Advantages
– Bebeto Oliveira def. Hiago George via 2×0
67.5KG – Feather:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Adam Benayoun def. Gianni Grippo via Advantages
– Gavin Corbe def. Richar Nogueira via Shoulder lock
– Gavin Corbe def. Adam Benayoun via Advantages
73.5KG – Light:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Kieran Kichuk def. Jonata Gomes via Inside heel hook
– Deandre Corbe def. Danilo Moreira via Inside heel hook
– Deandre Corbe def. Kieran Kichuk via 2×0
79.5KG – Middle:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Jeferson Guaresi def. Breno Maciel via Advantages
– Francisco Cuneo def. Matheus Galvao via Decision
– Francisco Cuneo def. Jeferson Guaresi via Gentlemen’s Agreement
85.5KG – Medium Heavy:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Manuel Ribamar def. Francisco Lo via 6×4
– Felipe Cesar def. Jaime Canuto via 6×0
– Manuel Ribamar def. Felipe Cesar via Advantages
91.5KG – Heavy:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Thiago Saldanha def. Charles McGuire via Outside heel hook
– Pedro Rocha def. Alejandro Tolmos via Guillotine
– Pedro Rocha def. Thiago Saldanha via Guillotine
97.5KG – Super-Heavy:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Thomas Bracher def. Daniel McGuire via 2×0
– Fellipe Trovo def. Felipe Costa via 2×0
– Fellipe Trovo def. Thomas Bracher via Inside heel hook
+97.5KG – Ultra-Heavy:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Davi Cabral def. Robert Edwin via Penalty
– Rida Haisam def. Salenco Coutinho via Decision
– Davi Cabral def. Rida Haisam via 4×2
Open Weight:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Henrique Cardoso def. Francisco Cuneo via 4×0
– Helton Jose def. Hunter Colvin via 8×0
– Henrique Cardoso def. Helton Jose via Advantages
46.5KG – Rooster:
(Round-Robin)
– Jhenifer Aquino def. Lavinia Barbosa via Advantages
– Amber Freitas def. Lavinia Barbosa via Decision
– Jhenifer Aquino def. Amber Freitas via 7×2
51.5KG – Light Feather:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Thamires Aquino def. Jessica Crane N/A
– Alex Nguyen def. Brittany Way via RNC
– Alex Nguyen def. Thamires Aquino via RNC
56.5KG – Feather:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Alex Enriquez def. Haley Zahnow via Kneebar
– Patricia Magalhaes def. Juliana Gassaway via 2×0
– Alex Enriquez def. Patricia Magalhaes via RNC
61.5KG – Light:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Anna Rodrigues def. Jasmine Rocha via 3×0
– Claire North via Thamires Monteiro via Decision
– Anna Rodrigues def. Claire North via 4×0
66.5KG – Middle:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Elisabeth Clay via Isa Reiber via RNC
– Vannessa Griffin def. Isa Reiber via 14×0
– Elisabeth Clay via Vannessa Griffin via Short choke
71.5KG – Medium Heavy:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Thalyta Silva def. Vedha Toscano N/A
– Bridget McEliec def. Jordan Patrick via 15×2
– Thalyta Silva def. Bridget McEliece via 2×0
76.5KG – Heavy: No-Matches
+76.5KG – Super Heavy: No-Matches
Open Weight:
(Semi-Finals & Final)
– Vedha Toscano def. Bridget McEliece via Points
– Elisabeth Clay via Janine Mutto via Gogoplata
– Elisabeth Clay wins def. Vedha Toscano via forefeit.
