Check out how he breaks down the move:

Lovato, who heads a school in Oklahoma City, is an avid competitor and at the 2014 World Championship he faced Alexandro Ceconi. Here is how the match went down:

Check out more of Rafael Lovato Jr. and his academy at www.okbjj.com

In his best moment in the final, Bernardo threatened Rodolfo’s back. Photo: Ivan Trindade

A lot of times we remember Jiu-Jitsu athletes in terms of their accomplishments or better yet, their signature moves. For the Mendes brothers it’s the berimbolo. For Romulo Barral it’s the spider guard. For Marcelo Garcia it’s the x-guard and his ADCC fame. In the case of Bernardo Faria, he is the king of deep half guard. We may not remember their names at first but most definitely, Bernardo has been referred to as “that deep half guard guy” more than a few times.

The move will always and forever be a part of this Alliance super-heavyweight’s strategy no matter what others have told him regarding its efficiency. As it turns out, his blue belt days served him well as his blue belt half guard move has survived to this day– after three black belt world titles.

While he just missed the gold at the 2014 World Championship, he gave everything he had and earned some proud moments along the way. Check out how Bernardo Faria describes his journey at worlds, some history in his half guard and some other moments he’s proud of:

GRACIEMAG: What was your  journey like at Worlds?

BERNARDO FARIA: In general it was a very good tournament for me. I had a total of eight matches– four in the open class and four in my weight division. It is the fifth year straight that I got to the finals. I won against many tough guys like Abraham Marte, Yuri Simoes, Igor Silva, Braulio Estima, and two others.

Most of my matches I won by submission or by a large score of points, and I did EVERYTHING I could against Rodolfo Vieira [in the super-heavy final]. In the finals I got a little bit frustrated because I saw the opportunity to beat him, I almost got the sweep, almost got his back, and I felt him getting very tired, but once again he did very well and I was able to defend everything I tried even while tired. He is for sure the toughest opponent I had in all my career.

Unfortunately I didn’t win the Worlds this year but I’m happy about my performance and about the way I fought. I received a bunch of messages from people saying that I inspired them, so this is what really matters for me, to be an example for other people winning or losing.

Besides Rodolfo, who was your toughest match?

He went half way into the sweep. Photo: Ivan Trindade

I think probably against Yuri Simoes. He scored three points from passing the guard. But I was with my chest on the mat and the referee gave him the points. I thought the referee was wrong but later someone told me that currently to be considered passed the guard you just need to get to the guy’s side and hold for three seconds. It doesn’t matter if he has your back or your chest on the mat, it will be three points, so the referee was right and it was my mistake. And at this level to start losing by three points to a guy as tough as Yuri, it is hard to revert, but thank God I kept calm, adjusted my favorite positions and I got two sweeps and one back take. And I won the match by 8 – 5 points.

You mainly play deep half but have incorporated some new moves since training with Marcelo Garcia. What do you think of his game and what type of moves have been effective for you?

Since I was blue belt I have done half guard. I have two types of half guard: the deep half guard, and the one I call “blue belt half guard”. This is the one I started doing when I was a blue belt thats why I call “blue belt half guard” and it is the one I always try to do against Rodolfo–the one where I end up in the single leg.

Since I moved to NY (Marcelo’s school), my half guard hasn’t changed so much. I probably just adjusted it even more, because Marcelo’s way to pass the guard is very good against half guard, so training with him and all his students definitely helps to improve my half guard. But one thing that I improved a lot since I moved to NY, was my back attack. Marcelo taught me how to submit from the back, and I’ve already seen big results in tournaments.

During just the Worlds alone I got four submissions and two were from the back. This is just one example showing what I’ve improved since starting to train with Marcelo, but there are many others. His game is the most effective game I have ever seen and I always try to pick up everything I can that combines with my game. I’m very happy to be around him, training, learning and teaching at his school.

Buchecha said that it is useless to try to play half guard with Rodolfo, for not only you, but anyone because that’s his strongest position to pass from. What do you think of this statement?

I think if he said this he probably means against Rodolfo this year, as a super-heavyweight, because if not then it doesn’t make sense considering most of the times that Buchecha swept Rodolfo in the other matches it was from half guard. So I think he probably means now that Rodolfo went up to super-heavyweight he gave Buchecha a hard time in the half guard at the [Abu Dhabi] World Pro.

But in my case, 90% of my sweeps are from half guard; I’m not a wrestler nor judo player. Rodolfo will never pull guard against me, so I have to do half guard, and one thing that I learned in BJJ that I even use in my general life, is that we have to trust in ourselves It doesn’t matter who we are, what we do, if you have something that you do well, you have to believe and trust that it is going to work against everyone.

Before my first World title as a black belt I heard many people telling me that for me to win the Worlds as a black belt I would need to change my game because having only half guard would not be enough. And I was able to prove to myself that it is possible winning [the Worlds] in 2010, 2012 and 2013. So Im going to keep believing in what I do, and of course always trying to find ways to improve it. For example now I started doing wrestling to see if I can finish my single leg from half guard better.

Do you ever change your strategy based on who your opponent is or do you believe that playing your “A” game is always most effective?

Bernardo pressures his opponent into turtle. Photo: Ivan Trindade

I used to change my game using my game. I have a game plan with different positions. For example, closed guard, or deep half guard, or blue belt half guard, or wait for the opponent to pull guard and play on top– things like that. So depending on my opponent, I try to make the right strategy according to my game. Against some guys I play the deep half guard, against others the blue belt half guard, against others the closed guard, or maybe for wait them to pull guard, so thats how I think. I never change to something that I’m not used to doing, like spider guard for example.

What is your most proud moment so far in 2014?

I think it was probably my fight against Braulio [Estima] at the Worlds, when I scored 26 points. I think in BJJ one way to be unforgettable in the sport is by doing things that no one ever did. Whenever I see someone winning against him it is by a very tight score, so I was very happy to get to fight so well against him. I have a lot of respect for him and he has, in my opinion, one of the best resumes in all of BJJ history: five-time world champion, ADCC division champion, and ADCC open class champion. So earning this win against him like this is a moment I’m sure I will never forget for the rest of my life.

I would like to thank everyone who supported me after the Worlds on my fan page, facebook.com/bernardofariabjj sending me messages; I really appreciate it. I’m going to keep training and competing hard because you guys are my motivation. Thanks a lot.

Vanessa Oliveira vs. Janni Larsson. Photo: Erin Herle

As if winning the 2014 Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship during her first year at black belt wasn’t enough for Swede Janni Larsson, she also earned the 2014 World Championship black belt middleweight title–all while studying as a medical student.

The one thing about Janni that stands out against most black belt competitors is her excitement when she wins. While most would be proud of their accomplishment and celebrate with the idea that a goal was accomplished, Janni allows those in the audience to join in on her excitement. As the clock showed the seconds wind down in her final match against Vanessa Oliveira on Sunday, June 1, she looked at the score as the advantages were in her favor and her eyes grew wide and her smile took over her entire face. It looked like someone had just told her she won the lottery. She was surprised, excited, grateful and in awe that she overcame the top females in the sport to earn her place at the top of the podium. And her jumps for joy (which she doesn’t even remember doing) were true showings of emotion.

Perhaps even more impressive with Janni is that her time in Copenhagen, Denmark, away from her family in the neighboring Sweden, is spent mostly on her studies. The medical student attends the University of Copenhagen and her time spent training at Arte Suave is less of a priority than the training she completed to earn her world title.

Learn more about her impressive wins, the injury she had to overcome during her matches at the Worlds and the real priorities in her life:

GRACIEMAG: Tell me about your run at the worlds, both in open weight and in your weight.

JANNI LARSSON: I was really happy for getting the opportunity to fight in the open weight at black belt. In my first fight I met Vanessa Oliveira. It ended up being a sweep-sweep match that went back and forth. I won on points after full time. In my second fight in the open I met Beatriz Mesquita. I had fought her in Abu Dhabi, so I thought I knew what I was in for, but boy was I surprised. Bea had such sharpness to her techniques at Worlds that I did not stand a chance. She danced past my guard and as I turtled to avoid the passing points she caught my arm.

Janni against Sophia Drysdale. Photo: Erin Herle

In my weight class I won my first fight with a foot lock after a few minutes. My second match was against Sophia Drysdale. I pulled guard and swept her. My arm was hurting after the armbar, so I didn’t feel safe in Sophia’s guard, especially not when she was gripping my bad arm. When I backed away from Sophia’s guard she stood up, and I could pull again. I managed to do this throughout the fight and won with three sweeps and a few advantages from sweep attempts that ended outside the mat area. In the final I fought Vanessa Oliveira again. This fight was less exciting than our fight in the open, because I was playing it very safe. We double-guard pulled and she came up for the advantage. I worked my x-guard and got advantages for a foot lock and a sweep attempt. When I was ahead on advantages, I tried keeping Vanessa out of balance until time ran out.

What’s the scoop on your arm and how did it affect your performance mentally and physically?

I didn’t want my run at the open class to end as early as it did, so I ended up tapping too late to Bea’s armbar. I have had an operation on the arm Bea caught before and when I heard “CRACK CRACK CRACK”! I knew it was a bad decision not to tap earlier. My elbow grew to twice its original size and the swelling resulted in that I couldn’t bend or straighten the elbow. I had the elbow taped in a 90-degree angle in my fights in the weight class. During the fights up to the final I couldn’t use the arm, so I was very happy that I got an early submission in the first match and that the second girl stood up between sweeps, so I didn’t have to work from the top.

I personally feel that the final would have been much more exciting to watch if I hadn’t hurt my elbow. I was scared of standing up in Vanessa’s spider guard with one unusable arm, so there were situations were I most likely could have swept, but ended up staying on the bottom.

The injury had quite an effect on me mentally. Before I stepped on the mat, I had already lost the fight in my head. When I made it to the final I was sure that I was going to lose. Vanessa and I had a close fight in the open, so I knew my odds weren’t good when I had to fight her with an injured arm. I was happy for making it to the final and was already imagining a silver medal as I stepped onto the mat.

What went through your mind when you realized that you were going to win a black belt world title?

Disbelief. I did not think that I had it in me to win that fight. When there was ten seconds left of the fight I realized that I would win. It was an amazing feeling. A few months ago I never would have dreamed of this. It would have felt like an unreachable fantasy.

What other priorities takes up your time off the mat?

I am studying medicine at the University of Copenhagen, so BJJ is something I only do in my spare time. When I got home after Worlds this year I had less than two weeks to prepare for my exam, so after I landed in Denmark I forgot everything about Jiu-Jitsu and I locked myself in my apartment to study. I am done with my exam now, so I have summer holidays.

How will this world title change your training moving forward?

Janni reacts to winning the world title. Photo: Erin Herle

I don’t think it will have much impact on my training. There are many factors to life that will affect me more than this title. Next semester at university I will start working in the clinic, so I will have less time to train than I have had before. I have come to terms with the fact that Jiu-Jitsu is something I do in my spare time and that there are many things that must be prioritized higher. I will enjoy it for now and in the future winning a world championship will be a good story to tell.

Any new opportunities arisen since the worlds?

I have been offered a few seminars in Europe, which is a great opportunity for me to travel and see new countries.

In New York City Marcos is a student of GMA Marcelo Garcia Academy. Along with Marcelo is world champion Bernardo Faria, who has accompanied him in this video to teach the cartwheel armbar that Marcos completed in his quarterfinal match.

Check out the submission as it happened and then the tutorial below:

Ram Ananda of Cobrinha BJJ is proof that age is just a number. At 36 years young, he won the brown belt light-featherweight division at the 2014 World Championship–his second adult world title.

Ram has been training for five and a half years and has been training full-time under Rubens Charles Cobrinha for three and a half years. In that time he won the 2012 Worlds at blue belt, the 2012 Master and Seniors Worlds at purple belt, the 2013 Masters and Seniors Worlds at brown belt and now the 2014 Worlds at brown belt. His ability to toggle back and forth between adult and master and produce the same results shows that the right mentality is what produces results.

I spoke with Ram about his journey in Jiu-Jitsu and the mindset it takes to win as much as he has in such a short amount of time:

GRACIEMAG: How did you get into Jiu-Jitsu?

RAM ANANDA: I got into BJJ cause there was an open mat in San Francisco at a junior college. I rolled with a portly Filipino guy, this turtle of a man about 5’4″ and probably 190 pounds– not strong at all. He was a blue belt. He just laid on me and beat me up in turtle subbing me a bunch. I’m highly competitive, so since then to see a man non-athletic at all kick my ass so badly, I was hooked on BJJ.

I moved to the Philippines for nursing school so I was doing that full time but I still wanted to train BJJ, so I found a club taught by a blue belt. There was one other blue belt there as well. I trained when I could but it wasn’t much. After a year I had a break from school for a month. I went home to LA during that time and I found a place next to my house called Hollywood BJJ. I trained there every day on my vacation. Sean Williams was the black belt there at the time. On my last day there he promoted me! I wasn’t his student but I guess he saw I loved BJJ and worked hard.

What is your approach to training?

Training is effortless, I love it. As long as my diet is right then it’s easy to train. In terms of “success”, I set goals like no one else. I make sure I’m more mentally prepared than anyone else as well. Physically, I played soccer and I’ve always had good cardio.

Are there any differences between adult and master divisions?

I’ve only done the masters division three times. Honestly I’ll only do masters if it has the title “Worlds” in it. It’s a good way to do tournaments. There isn’t a big difference between the two age divisions. I was expecting a dropoff, but the guys at masters are freaking strong. Most guys over 30 have that serious old man strength.

The most common complaint I always hear older guys say is, “I wish I started BJJ when I was younger!” I am proof that it’s just a self imposed limiting belief.

How was your run this year at the 2014 Worlds? Toughest match?

I had five matches with one submission. In my toughest match I was losing 0-6 in my quarterfinal, 36 seconds to go and the guy knew he was winning so he was just running away. Time never runs so fast when you’re losing. He pulled closed guard, somehow I got out, went for a footlock, couple ankle pops with 13 seconds to go and I had won that match.

Receiving her black belt. Photo: Personal Archive

One of Atos and Andre Galvao’s newest black belts is Chelsea Bainbridge-Donner. After three matches at the 2014 World Championship in the brown belt featherweight division, she earned the world title and her black belt. Her journey is an unusual one having trained in Hong Kong and taken time away from the gentle art. But we’re glad she came back because her tenacious attitude has given us a new black belt for the women’s divisions in the future!

Learn more about Chelsea, her experience at the Worlds and what it’s like training at Atos in San Diego, CA:

GRACIEMAG: Tell me about your journey to black belt.

I was a brown belt for a really long time. I started training when I was pretty young, around 11 years old, but I was never competitive. When I started training, there wasn’t even a competition circuit for kids, so I just trained with the adults for the love of training. When I went away to college at 17, I stopped training for the most part– I spent my time playing rugby, swimming, and diving for my college. I figured Jiu-Jitsu would come back into my life at some point, probably as a hobby.

When I graduated in 2009, I knew I would have a hard time finding a job, so I decided to go to Asia to have adventures; my travels left me in Hong Kong, where I started training again. I fell back in love with the sport, and started competing a little bit in Asia; I figured I should try to compete at a high level if I could, and it was almost time for me to leave Hong Kong anyway. In 2011, I decided to move back to the United States to work and to train in San Diego with Professor Galvao.

What are some accomplishments you had before this world title win?

My favorite tournament ever was the submission-only tournament I did with Dream back in late 2013. I feel like winning that tournament changed my mindset on Jiu-Jitsu and competing as a whole, which is something I really needed to do. Having no time limit was amazing for me; it let me work on my Jiu-Jitsu against people the same size and skill level as me, which, as a woman, is something I definitely don’t get very often.

Were there any tough spots or issues competing in the Worlds this year?

This time, when I got on the mat, everything clicked. Nothing seemed hard, and nothing stressed me out. I just knew what I had to do. In my first match, I made a mistake and almost lost on points, so I knew I had to finish the fight. My leg attacks are good, so I had to risk sitting down for a leg attack from the top because I was down on points and time was running out.

Otherwise, I’m usually worried about my weight, but now I’ve stopped cutting to light feather and I feel so much stronger. I should have stopped cutting a long time ago!

What is it like training at Atos under Andre Galvao?

I could go on forever about what it’s like to train at Atos in San Diego. It’s definitely an amazing, unreal experience to train every day with the best in the world, and Professor Galvao is a fantastic coach. It’s also a humbling experience: the competition team at Atos is definitely an all-star team, and we train hard every day. The learning curve is incredibly steep. Things that work in morning training won’t work by the evening, because someone has already figured your game out. It forced me to learn how to adapt much faster than I have in any other training environment. Competition training at Atos is definitely a trial by fire every day. Having Angelica [Galvao] as a training partner is also something that I could never replace– we push each other in every training session.

How was preparation for the Worlds?

For this camp, I had to balance working 25-40 hour weeks with training two to three times per day. It was exhausting on a level I’ve never experienced before but in the end, it was worth it. I would wake up around 7 a.m. every morning, run, then go to competition class. After competition class I would work for anywhere from 4-6 hours, then go back for night class. Like I said, completely exhausting, and I couldn’t have kept it up for another month.

It must have been a great experience receiving your black belt at the Worlds!

I figured if I won, Professor Galvao would promote me to black belt. I didn’t think he’d do it at Worlds, though, especially since he hadn’t promoted anyone else on the podium. After Angelica finished her finals match, he texted me to come down to the podium and take a picture with them, and he promoted me there. I wasn’t even in my gi anymore! Being one of Andre Galvao’s first female black belts is an honor, and getting my black belt at Worlds just made an amazing day that much better.

Beatriz Mesquita earns open weight gold. Photo: Dan Rod

The female black belts at the 2014 World Championship completed their matches on Sunday, June 3. The finals came with some calm moments and some completely insane moments.

Rooster

Shiho Yaginuma vs. Marcelo Lawton. Photo: Erin Herle

The roosterweight final came between Marcela Lawton of New England United BJJ and Shiho Yaginuma of Nexusense. Both came out of a round robin as there were three in the division. Marcela pulled guard and as Shiho attempted to pass, there were no advantages or points made. The referee decision went to Shiho Yaginuma.

Light-feather

Ariadne de Oliveira vs. Gezary Bandeira. Photo: Erin Herle

The light-featherweight division came down to Gezary Bandeira of American Top Team and new black belt Ariadne de Oliveira Mestre Wilson. The match was one of the most aggressive of the day as both females were dynamic and as competitors are submission-oriented. Ariadne earned two points for a takedown and Gezary worked her spider guard. Gezary swept and passed and then was able to get another two points for knee-on-belly ending the match at 7-2 in Gezary’s favor making her the world champion.

Feather

Michelle Nicolini vs. Tammi Musumeci. Photo: Erin Herle

The featherweight category ended with Michelle Nicolini of Checkmat and new black belt Tammi Musumeci of Atos. As Tammi worked the berimbolo position, she neared the backtake but Michelle recovered two times and attempted to attack Tammi’s feet and knees in the meantime. On the third attempt, Michelle recovered again but Tammi went for the omoplata. Michelle defended, sat back as Tammi swept and Michelle was able to go to her guard and attacked the arm of Tammi with a spider guard hook on the far side. Michelle pulled the far arm of Tammi who remained in a seated position and defended the armbar instead, leaving her left arm extended over her back which then dislocated the shoulder and elbow. Michelle let go and Tammi continued fighting in the match and Michelle swept, went into mount and as Tammi reversed back into Michelle’s guard, the time ran out. Michelle won 13-6 in points and the crowd stood in a standing ovation for Tammi’s heart and perseverance.

Light

Beatriz Mesquita vs. Luiza Monteiro. Photo: Erin Herle

The lightweight division came down to Luiza Monteiro of Cicero Costha and Beatriz Mesquita of Gracie Humaita. Bia earned a sweep to earn her two points and the match mostly stayed in this position. Near the end of the match Luiza was able to earn a sweep however Bia bounced back and Luiza only earned the advantage. Time ran out and Bia earned another world title with a 2-0 point lead.

Middle

Vanessa Oliveira vs. Janni Larsson. Photo: Erin Herle

The middleweight final was between Vanessa Oliveira of GFTeam and new black belt Janni Larsson of Checkmat. They both pulled guard and Vanessa came up for an advantage and the majority of the match stayed in this position. Janni was able to threaten a sweep and try for a footlock to earn the 2-0 advantage lead that gave her the first world title of her career.

Medium-heavy

Hannette Staack vs. Ana Laura Cordeiro. Photo: Erin Herle

The middleweight category was between veteran Hannette Staack of Brazil-021 and Ana Laura Cordeiro of Gracie Barra who was out of competition for years due to a serious back injury. Hannette jumped guard and Ana Laura pushed to half guard. Hannette waited patiently and was able sweep but Ana Laura reacted quickly and recovered to her feet. She then pulled and swept adn went back into top half to work the pass. Hannette swept and went into Ana Laura’s closed guard but was unable to earn the points or advantages for the win. Ana Laura remained undefeated in her career winning with a 2-2 point and 2-1 advantage lead.

Heavy

Andresa Correa vs Fernanda Mazzelli. Photo: Erin Herle

The heavyweight final was between Fernanda Mazzelli of Striker JJ and Andresa Correa of Alliance. Andresa pulled guard and was able to sweep to earn two. While she attempted a pass Fernanda Mazzelli recovered but Andresa pushed to half earning another advantage. At the end, Fernanda was able to sweep but it wasn’t enough and the final score was 2-2 points, 5-2 advantages with 2-0 penalty giving Andresa the world title.

Super-heavy

Andrea McComb Pereira vs. Venla Luukkonen. Photo: Erin Herle

The super-heavyweight final was between Andrea McComb Pereira of Gracie Humaita and Venla Luukkonen of Hilti BJJ Jykaskyla. Venla took Andrea down, passed her guard and mounted. She was able to secure the armbar for the world title.

Open weight

The open weight division was between two gold medalists, Beatriz Mesquita and Michelle Nicolini. The two pulled at the same time and stayed in double guard position for enough time to earn two penalties each. Michelle came up to get an advantage and Bia swept Michelle for two points. Michelle attempted a quick triangle and went straight for the arm but Bia recovered and worked a pass until the end of the match as Michelle worked constant sweep attempts. In the last thirty seconds Bia passed Michelle’s guard and almost took her back as time ended. The final score was 5-0 points, 3-2 advantages and 2-2 penalties. Bia earned her double gold.

See the full results here: http://static.ibjjfdb.com/Campeonato/000272/en-US/Results.pdf

See a full photo album here.

Ana Laura Cordeiro is still undefeated and she’s in the finals. Photo: Erin Herle

The last day of the 2014 World Championship will unfold on Sunday, June 1 and the female black belts will determine their champions. On Saturday the open class division and the weight divisions went down to the finals, which will happen on Sunday.

With four new black belts in the finals, the females will show their new and old school moves on the big day. Marcela Lawton from Maine, Janni Larsson from Denmark, Ariadne de Oliveira of Brazil and Tammi Musumeci of Florida were all promoted between the 2013 Worlds and now with some of them finding success even during that time.

Here are the finals for Sunday:

Rooster – Marcela Lawton vs. Shiho Yaginums
Light-feather: Ariadne Oliveira vs. Gezary Bandeira
Feather: Tammi Musumeci vs. Michelle Nicolini
Light: Beatriz Mesquita vs. Luiza Monteiro
Middle: Vanessa Oliveira vs. Janni Larsson
Medium-heavy: Hannette Staack vs. Ana Laura Cordeiro
Heavy: Andresa Correa vs. Fernanda Mazzelli
Super-heavy: Andrea Pereira vs. Venla Luukkonen

Check out a full photo gallery here.

You can watch the finals on the livestream at www.ibjjftv.com

The final of the female brown belt open weight division. Photo: Erin Herle

The brown belts at the 2014 World Championship finalized their divisions on Saturday, May 31. In the open weight divisions, the Alliance members took home the gold and silver for the females and the two of the males took home the gold and bronze for Team Lloyd Irvin.

Here are the final champions of the weight divisions for each:

Brown belt male

Rooster: Huendel Dinelly Osaki – Ogawa Jiu-Jitsu
Light-feather: Ram Ananda – Alliance
Feather: Marcio Andre – Nova Uniao
Light: Michael Liera Jr. – Atos
Middle: Marcos Silva – Alliance
Medium-heavy: Patrick Gaudio – GFTeam
Heavy: Tim Spriggs – Team Lloyd Irvin
Super-heavy: Erberth Santos – Team Lloyd Irvin
Ultra-heavy: Victor Honorio – GFTeam

In the open weight division, it came down to the semi-final between Tim Spriggs and Felipe Silva. The match went to the 50/50 position and Felipe earned a sweep and the match went to Felipe with 2-0 points. Erberth Santos defeated Michael Liera Jr. on the other side of the bracket in the semi-final. He kneebarred Liera while time was running out. The final between Felipe and Erberth was a points battle with Erberth taking the gold after a 10-8 lead.

In response to his win he says, “I’m very happy because I came here from a leg injury. Thank God I did well since I was just doing cardio for the last two weeks and not training Jiu-Jitsu. I just have to say thank you to the guys at Team Lloyd Irvin; they helped me a lot with training and helped me achieve my dream of becoming open class and weight division world champion.”

Brown belt female

Light-feather: Rikako Yuasa – Paraestra Shinagawa
Feather: Chelsea Bainbridge-Donner – Atos
Light: Angelica Galvao – Atos
Middle: Monique Elias – Alliance
Medium-heavy: Sijara Eubanks – Team Lloyd Irvin
Heavy: Dominyka Obelenyte – Alliance
Super-heavy: Alison Tremblay – BTT

In the open weight division, the two Alliance champions came together for yet another final. Monique Elias under husband Mario Reis in Brazil defeated Alison Tremblay in the semi-final with an armbar submission. On the other side of the bracket Dominyka Obelenyte under Marcelo Garcia defeated her opponent Samella Shohamy Lopes Leite of Riberio Jiu-Jitsu with her version of a mounted gogoplata of sorts. In the final, Monique pulled guard and Dominyka pressured to pass but no points or advantages were awarded to either. The referee decision was given to Monique Elias.

She says there were three things that contributed to what made this accomplishment special: “First thing is that Mario gave me a job to win everything this year and I did it. Another thing is that I hurt my foot two weeks ago and I thought about not fighting but my support from Alliance made me feel better to train and get ready. And the third thing is that I fight against Dominyka all the time and it’s so exciting because I know she’s really tough and good at killing my positions and I never know how it will end. I’m also happy since she’s from Alliance too and that both of us are fighting together.”

Monique Elias promoted to black belt. Photo: Erin Herle

Monique was promoted to black belt on the podium after the open weight division by Mario Reis. Angelica Galvao was awarded her black belt on the podium from husband Andre Galvao after she won her brown belt lightweight division and Galvao also promoted Chelsea Bainbridge-Donner for her gold medal in the featherweight category.

Beatriz Mesquita secures her place in the final of the black belt absolute. Photo: Erin Herle

The third day of the 2014 World Championship has brought the black belts to the competition mats inside the Long Beach Walter Pyramid. The female black belts started their rounds in the open weight division with 18 women present in two sheets of brackets. Their matches ensued and the final was determined: Beatriz Mesquita vs. Michelle Nicolini.

Here are the full results of the matches:

Venla Luukkonen of Hilti BJJ Jyvaskyla defeats Leanna Dittrich of Fight Sports via 4-0 points.
Miriam Cardoso of Elite BJJ Redmond defeats Yasmine Wilson of Gracie Elite Team via armbar.
Tammy Griego of Gracie Barra defeats Rachel Demara of Big Brothers via 4-0 points.
Fernanda Mazzelli of Striker JJ defeats Polyana Lago of Alliance via 11-0 points.
Mackenzie Dern of Gracie Humaita defeats Adriadne de Oliveira of Mestre Wilson via 4-4 points, 4-1 advantages.
Janni Larsson of Checkmat defeats Vanessa Nascimento of GFTeam via 4-2 points.
Fabiana Borges of Gracie Barra defeats Andresa Correa of Alliance via toehold.
Luiza Monteiro of Cicero Costha defeats Megan Nevill of Gracie Elite Team via kimura.
Michelle Nicolini of Checkmat defeats Miriam Cardoso straight armbar.
Beatriz Mesquita of Gracie Humaita defeats Venla Luukkonen via choke from the back.

Michelle Nicolini defeats Tammy Griego via armbar.
Fernanda Mazzelli defeats Mackenzie Dern via 8-0 points.
Luiza Monteiro defeats Fabiana Borges via toehold.

Semi-finals

Michelle Nicolini defeats Fernanda Mazzelli via 11-0 points.
Beatriz Mesquita defeats Luiza Monteiro via armbar from the 50/50.

The final will be Beatriz Mesquita vs. Michelle Nicolini set for tomorrow, Sunday June 1.

See a full photo album here.

Michelle Nicolini secured her place in the final. Photo: Erin Herle

Outi Jarvilehto with the gold. Photo: Erin Herle

For the first time in the history of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, the females had a roosterweight category. On the second day of the 2014 World Championship in Long Beach, CA, the blue and purple belt females of the new division entered the mat.

The purple belts had 11 while the blue belts had 20 in the roosterweight category, the fifth and fourth most populated divisions respectively. This proves that there have been many females often too light to be in the light-featherweight division, the lowest division prior to now. Don’t let the baggi gis fool you because many of these women struggled until now, where the two champions of the second day at the Worlds have earned their gold in their own division.

Blue belt

Katie Yamashita with the win. Photo: Erin Herle

Katie Yamashita of Alliance at Cobrinha BJJ was able to earn the gold in the blue belt category after previous attempts to bulk up to a stronger weight as a light-featherweight. Katie had five matches with one submission. Her toughest match came when she was put in closed guard because “I train a lot of open guard but not a lot of closed guard defense”.

She began training in Jiu-Jitsu three years ago in her boyfriend’s garage where she trained for a year before moving to Cobrinha’s where her boyfriend trains. Now she trains five times a week while working full-time and works out three times a week. Last year she lost at the Pans and the Worlds because she her spider guard was “smashed” in the light-featherweight category.

Triangle set-up in the final. Photo: Erin Herle

“I feel like having the roosterweight division is more fair. It’s supposed to be about technique and when I was in light-feather I struggled because I was smaller,: she explains. The difference in opponents came in loud and clear. In the future she plans to continue her strength and conditioning to keep training hard and keep getting stronger.

Purple belt

Outi in the final. Photo: Erin Herle

The purple belt roosterweight gold was claimed by Brasa CTA athlete Outi Järvilehto from Finland. The 27-year-old veterinarian had three matches with two submissions in the form of a choke from the back and an armbar. Her toughest match against Maria Henderson was decided in literally the last two seconds as she secured an armbar submission while down by two points.

As a full-time veterinarian she works both the morning shift and the night shift but still tries to train twice a day with strength and conditioning as well. “I don’t always get to do all the training that I plan” she says, but she makes it in as often as she can.

She has been training a total of seven years in Finland but for the last three years she and her boyfriend, Tuomas Tammelehto, have traveled to the camp under Caio Terra that is held one week prior to the Worlds tournament. Her academy, Oulun Kamppailuklubi is under Brasa and Demian Maia and led by her professor, Tomi Kaaerela and Tuomas.

You can check out the partial results so far of the 2014 World Championship here. And albums of photos on the Graciemag Facebook page here.