Jackson Sousa against AJ Agazarm in the open class final. Photo: Erin Herle
On the day of the 2014 IBJJF Pan No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championship in New York City, the basement gymnasium never ceased action. The mats were full from nine in the morning to nine at night. The most packed divisions besides the many blue belts who always start the day, were the adult black belts.
Each division from light-feather to ultra-heavy held talent from near and far. Here is how the divisions panned out:
Light-feather
Joao Miyao with a triangle armbar. Photo: Erin Herle
The arrival of Joao Miyao into the division brought up the excitement level for this division. With five athletes, the final dwindled down to Mark Ramos of Ricardo “Rey” Diogo BJJ and Joao Miyao of Cicero Costha. Joao submitted his first match with a triangle armbar and Mark finished his with a guillotine. In the final, Joao bested Mark and submitted with an armbar for the gold.
First – João Ricardo Bordignon Miyao – PSLPB Cicero Costha
Second – Mark Daniel Ramos – Ricardo “Rey” Diogo BJJ
Third – Vitor Peres Paschoal – Caio Terra Association
Third – Jorge Elias Bucaram Santistevan – Alliance
Feather
The feather division also had five athletes and two of them were looking to meet at the final: Osvaldo “Queixinho” and Samir Chantre of Caio Terra Association. And this is exactly what happened. Queixinho edged out Gianni Grippo in his first match with one advantage in a final score of 2-2 points, 3-2 advantages and 1-0 penalty. Samir had a bye and in his first match he defeated Joey Taliercio, who won his first match against Daniel Keane. The match went the distance with Samir winning 23-0. In the final, Queixinho took the gold in a close-out since Samir won it last year. This is their third year in a row closing out this tournament.
First – Osvaldo Augusto Honorio Moizinho – Caio Terra Association
Second – Samir José Chantre Dahás – Caio Terra Association
Third – Gianni Paul Grippo – Alliance Marcelo Garcia
Third – Joseph Wallace Taliercio – Renzo Gracie
Light
Rodrigo Freitas against Garry Tonon in the light final. Photo: Erin Herle
The lightweight division accumulated six athletes of high caliber. The final came down to Garry Tonon and Rodrigo Freitas. Garry defeated Edson Oliveira with a rear naked choke and also AJ Agazarm with the same submission in the start of the division and Rodrigo won over Renan Borges with a points lead. In the final Rodrigo defeated Garry by an advantage with the final score as 2-2 points, 3-2 advantages.
First – Rodrigo Lamounier de Freitas – Gracie Barra
Second – Garry Lee Tonon – Renzo Gracie
Third – Renan Borges – New England United BJJ
Third – AJ Agazarm – Gracie Barra
Middle
Vitor Oliveira on the back of Enrique Coco. Photo: Erin Herle
The middle division had the most athletes with some big names. The final came down to Enrique Coco and Vitor Oliveira. Enrique defeated both Nik Ruben Nikolaisen and Francisco Iturralde on his way to the final. Vitor defeated Leonardo Iturralde and his second opponent didn’t show so there was no semi-final on that side. The final was a tough match with Vitor pressuring to pass and Enrique attacking the feet. But in the end Vitor made it to the back and secured the choke for the gold.
First – Vitor Henrique Silva Oliveira – GF Team
Second – Enrico Daniel Cocco – Fight Sports
Third – Leonardo I. Iturralde Aguirre – Alliance Ecuador
Third – Francisco Antonio Iturralde Lara – Alliance
Medium-heavy
Claudio Cardoso celebrates his win. Photo: Erin Herle
In medium-heavy there were five men total. Brian Beaury and Claudio Cardoso made it to the final. Brian defeated Warren Stout in his first match and Claudio defeated his first opponent, Romulo de Souza. In the final the match was rather even with Brian working to sweep and Claudio doing well on top. As soon as Brian came up to sweep, Claudio secured a toehold that ended the match and gave Claudio the gold.
First – Claudio de Mattos Cardoso – Gracie Barra
Second – Brian J Beaury II – Abusado Team
Third – Vinicius Agudo Silva – Team Link
Third – Romulo de Souza Azevedo – Welton Ribeiro
Heavy
Lucas Rocha on the back. Photo: Erin Herle
There were four athletes in the heavy division making it an even bracket. Lucas Rocha and Mauro Santiago made it to the final. Lucas defeated his first match against Gabriel Toribio. Mauro defeated his first match against Jackson Souza with a guard pass ending the match 3-0 points. The final came down to Lucas and Mauro closing out with Mauro taking the gold.
First – Mauro Celso Santiago – Gracie Barra
Second – Lucas Rocha de Freitas – Gracie Barra
Third – Jackson Sousa dos Santos – CheckMat
Third – Gabriel Toribio – Renzo Gracie
Super-heavy
Nelson and Thiago. Photo: Erin Herle
Super-heavy had three guys for a round-robin division. The first match against Nelson Puentes and Thiago Ribeiro ended with a submission for Thiago. Nelson went on to defeat Nicholas Liaskos to earn a spot in the final against Thiago for another attempt at victory. In this match, Thiago reaffirmed himself with an armbar finish for the gold.
First – Tiago Ribeiro do Valle Giussani – Fabricio International Team – FIT
Second – Nelson Horacio Puentes Zuniga – Alliance NYC
Third – Nicholas A Liaskos – RABJJ
Ultra-heavy
Abraham and Gabriel. Photo: Erin Herle
This was another round-robin division. Gabriel Lucas defeated Bruno Bastos and then Abraham stepped in to go against Bruno. Abraham secured a triangle choke for that match and the final was down to Gabriel versus Abraham. The triangle attempts were not enough this time and Gabriel passed to earn a win of 3-0 over Abraham and the gold as well.
First – Gabriel Lyrio Lucas – CheckMat
Second – Abraham J. Marte Messina – Yamasaki Academy
Third – Bruno Bastos Cruz – Bruno Bastos Association
Female
Luiza versus Megan in one of three matches during the day. Photo: Erin Herle
The only weight division with enough girls to have a match in the black belt division came in the middle category. Luiza Monteiro and Megan Nevill faced off. Luiza secured a 16-4 lead in points for the gold.
First – Luiza Monteiro Moura da Costa – PSLPB Cicero Costha
Second – Megan Ann Nevill – Renzo Gracie
Bibiana Silva secured the gold by default in the feather division.
Open Class
MALE
Here is how each match in the open class for the black belt male adults panned out:
Abraham Marte defeated Gabriel Toribio by DQ knee reap.
Gianni Grippo defeated Garry Tonon by 6-4 points.
Mauro Santiago defeated Nicholas Liaskos by 20-0 points.
Romulo de Souza defeated Vinicius Agudo by armbar.
Enrique Coco defeated Thiago Ribeiro by 8-2 points.
Gianni Grippo defeated Mauro Santiago by 2-1 advantages.
AJ Agazarm defeated Jorge Elias by darce.
Jackson Sousa defeated Romulo de Souza by 4-0 points.
Abraham Marte defeated Enrique Coco by 4-0 points.
AJ Agazarm defeated Nik Nikolaisen by 4-0 points.
Jackson Sousa defeated Gianni Grippo 2-0 points.
AJ Agazarm defeated Abraham Marte by 4-2 points.
Jackson Sousa defeated AJ Agazarm by armbar.
First – Jackson Sousa dos Santos – CheckMat
Second – AJ Agazarm – Gracie Barra
Third – Abraham J. Marte Messina – Yamasaki Academy
Third – Gianni Paul Grippo – Alliance Marcelo Garcia
FEMALE
Here are the results for the female adult black belt open class with a round-robin division:
Luiza Monteiro defeated Megan Nevill by kneebar.
Megan Nevill defeated Bibiana Silva by rear naked choke.
Luiza Monteiro defeated Megan Nevill by ankle lock.
First – Luiza Monteiro Moura da Costa – PSLPB Cicero Costha
Second – Megan Ann Nevill – Renzo Gracie
Third – Bibiana Dios Tan Pacini S. Silva – UFC Gym Stamford / BDT BJJ
Check out the gallery of all the black belt matches here:
