NOVEMBER 17, 2022, ABU DHABI, UAE. The Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro Tour (AJP) is hosting its most prestigious event, the Abu Dhabi World Pro, one of the top 5 tournaments in the sport’s international gi circuit. As usual, the World Pro is spread over a few days in length, giving time for Masters, colored belts, and pro-division country qualifiers.
Today we saw the country qualifiers for each of the top nations in the jiu-jitsu world. According to the event’s rulebook, each nation can qualify two athletes per weight class, with the first-ranked of each division being given immediate access to the World Pro finals while all the other, lower-ranked athletes, from the country, compete in a mini-tournament for the second slot. There is an exception made, also, to the current champion who has immediate access to the finals regardless of nationality.
This year, sadly, we did not see Team USA produce big enough numbers of athletes to warrant a Trials tournament, despite the country’s long-standing position as the #2 in the sport of jiu-jitsu from a standpoint of where the nation’s athletes rank, globally.
Brazil, on the other hand, arguably the number 1 country in gi jiu-jitsu did come in very strong for the qualifiers with heavy clashes on offer. This included a tight 85-kilogram division settled between Checkmat’s phenom Jansen “Nenego” and Alliance’s dynamic veteran Fellipe Andrew, a thriving 69-kilo qualifier with names like Diego Sodré, Thiago Macedo, newly promoted ace Ademir Barreto, and more.
Another newly promoted black belt that looked incredible today was Vinicius Liberati of Cicero Costha. in the 94KG division. Vinicius took out veterans Renato Cardoso and Igor Sousa as well as Manuel Marques to steal the BRA qualifiers in this weight class. Another newcomer, Vision’s Diana Teixeira also surprised at the event by taking out the two favorites, Jessica Caroline and Duda Tozoni. A very impressive showing by the young roosterweight talent.
Still on the rookie front, brown belt Brigita Felipe was one of the most impressive performers of the day. A student of Paulo Rezende – the famous coach of stars like Marcelo Garcia, Reinaldo Ribeiro, Matheus Diniz, and more – Felipe competed against seasoned black belts and came out on top with particularly strong showings against veterans Ludmila Fiori (submission) and Vitoria Vieira (points). Another brown belt who advanced through to Day 2 was Dream Art Giovanna Jara.
Qualified for tomorrow’s event are:
BRAZILIAN WORLD PRO QUALIFIERS FINALS
56KG: Welerson Silva X Bruno Borges (1×0 Welerson)
62KG: Meyram Maquiné X Guthiery Melo (7×0 Meyram)
69KG: Diego Sodré X Thiago Macedo (1×0 Diego)
77KG: André Cantanhede X Jackson Bernardo (3×3 André)
85KG: Fellipe Andrew X Jansen Gomes (2×1 Fellipe)
94KG: Vinicius Liberati X Renato Cardoso (2×1 Vinicius)
120KG: Rodrigo Ribeiro X Guilherme Bacha (8×0 Rodrigo)
49KG: Diana Teixeira X Jessica Caroline (2×2 Diana)
55KG: Ariadne Oliveira X Dyna Sena (7×5 Ariadne)
62KG: Brigida Felipe X Vitoria Vieira (1×0 Brigida
70KG: Izadora Cristina X Thalyta Silva (points Izadora)
95KG: Giovanna Jara X Mikaela Barros (armbar Giovanna)
