The 2nd edition of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour took place today (October 23, 2016) in Tokyo – Japan, gathering some of the top figures in our sport today for a chance of UAEJJF’s hefty prize money.
Among the many high level competitors who made the trip across the globe to the Land of the Rising Sun was Mackenzie Dern. Having recently competed in mixed martial arts (MMA), where she plans to follow a long and prosperous career, Dern could not resist the urge to put the gi back on winning a 3 woman division with ease.
Other stars that did extremely well were the Brazilian Roberto Satoshi, who resides in Japan. As well as Gracie Barra‘s stars Gabriel Arges and Felipe Pena, who won their respective divisions.
62KG DIVISION
1ST Tomoyuki Hashimoto
2ND Kazuhiro Miyachi
3RD Kei Ito
A small division with an all Japanese cast, won by the talented ‘Passport’ Hashimoto. One of the strongest rooster weight competitors in the world, who beat Miyachi by 2×0 in the final.
69KG DIVISION
1ST Tiago Bravo
2ND Daisuke Shiraki
3RD Charles Gaspar
A very even division won by the veteran Tiago Bravo, who beat Shiraki in the final on a referee decision.
77KG DIVISION
1ST Roberto Satoshi
2ND Robson Tano
3RD Kleber Koike
An easy day for the mega talented Roberto Satoshi, who oozed talent throughout the tournament. In the final match against Tano, the Bonsai athlete finished with a Darce choke.
85KG DIVISION
1ST Gabriel Arges
2ND Faisal Al Kitbe
3RD Youngam Noh
One of the best middleweights in the world today, Arges had a little more trouble defeating the very crafty Youngam Noh (semi finals), than most would have anticipated. Noh proved to be resilient while playing a safe game that frustrated Arges. In the end Romulo Barral’s star pupil got the job done, winning by one advantage near the end. Gabriel faced Al Kitbe in the final, Faisal came in lighter than usual, and proved to be strong in this weight class. Arges fought and intelligent game, winning by 2×0 (pts).
94KG DIVISION
1ST Felipe Pena
2ND Alexandre Ribeiro
3RD Alan Fidelis
Both Pena and Ribeiro cruised their way to the final, submitting all their opponents before the final. in a very exciting match, the Gracie Barra standout stole the gold medal by 2 points.
110KG DIVISION
1ST Jose Junior
2ND André Campos
3RD Choi Dongwa
A division dominated by the two Brazilians residing in the Emirates (Junior/Campos). In the final the crafty José Junior beat Campos by 2×0 pts.
55KG FEMALE DIV.
1ST Rikako Yuasa
2ND Mei Yamagushi
3RD Yuxing Xiong
The biggest female division in the tournament was ruled by Paraestra’s Yuasa. It is worth noticing Yuxing Xiong’s achievement, as her 3rd place in the competition is a first at the brown/black belt level for a Chinese athlete.
70KG FEMALE DIV.
1ST Mackenzie Dern
2ND Megan Green
A two person division won with ease by Mackenzie, who beat Megan twice on the same day, with the same MO – kneebar.
90KG FEMALE DIV.
1ST Nathiely de Jesus
No opponents for Nathiely, who made the trip to collect the necessary points for the end of the year score.
