With the 7th edition of Gustavo Dantas’ Arizona International Open offering up a total of $3000 dollars in prizes for its black belt absolute division, it was bound to attract some formidable athletes from all different areas. Amongst these competitors were names such as Clark Gracie, Marcel Fortuna, Ryan Beauregard, Augusto Moizinho, Carlos Farias, Michael Westbrook, and of course the big winner of the day, Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa.

"Formiga" with his big check / Photo: Many Weapons

“Formiga” had quite the journey to face 2011 Southwest Classic champion, Marcel Fortuna, in the finals. Flying in all the way from Boston, the Soul Fighters athlete had to face the largest opponent in the division, first round, Carlos Farias. “Formiga” had a very tough time trying to work with the much larger Farias. In the end Barbosa narrowly pulled off the win, with Farias losing points for stalling. The next round brought about another challenge in last year’s middle weight Worlds bronze medalist, Clark Gracie. “Formiga” accepted the challenge and passed with flying colors; defeating Gracie with an overwhelming score of 10-2.

On the opposite end of the bracket Marcel Fortuna began his march to the finals with a first-round bye, leaving him to face the winner of Augusto Moizinho and Ryan Beauregard in the semifinals. The lighter Moizinho managed to pull off the upset, defeating Beauregard on points. Once the next round came up, the much smaller Augusto put in a great effort against the esteemed Fortuna, but size seemed to be too much of a factor, with Fortuna eventually catching an armbar.

With the finals set, the entire Phoenix College gym sat on edge to await and see the winner of the coveted absolute division. Knowing he had to overcome a large size advantage, “Formiga” came in tough against Fortuna, bringing the action, not only managing to secure a sweep, but also following through on the back to beat the favorite 6-0.

Although losing, Fortuna did not go home empty handed; second place collecting $500. Not to forget the grand champion, “Formiga” seemed very grateful and is sure to put his $2500 prize to good use after leaving the fast growing Arizona Jiu-Jitsu scene.

Click here for the complete results.

In the team contest, Gustavo Dantas Jiu-Jitsu (GDJJ) took the first-place trophy, with BJJ Revolution winning the one for second, John Crouch JJ for third, Lopez JJ for fourth, and Gracie Humaita bringing in fifth.

And UFC lightweight contender Ben Henderson was also there to put in an appearance in the gi, winning double gold as a brown belt.

For complete results, click here.

Check out the highlights from the Jiu-Jitsu fest:

Ben with his JJ coach, John Crouch / Photos: Deb Blyth

However, the talk lately is that there is another player in town who could throw a wrench into that scenario. Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez, the current Strikeforce 155-pound champ is set to fight Jorge Masvidal for the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship on December 17 in San Diego. If he wins the belt, it’ll be a “wait and see” about just who’s getting that shot at Frankie.

With all this brewing, it was a surprise to see the former WEC champion at the 3rd Southwest Classic Jiu-Jitsu tournament in Arizona last weekend, but Ben just smiles. He can’t stay away from any kind of competition. A self-confessed competition addict, he will compete at anything: jacks, tic-tac-toe, ping pong… it really doesn’t matter what it is. If someone can play it and win at it, he’s in.

Ben strategizes while in Jesus's guard.

So, Ben didn’t think twice about showing up and competing in both his division and the absolute at the 3rd Southwest Classic. He won both, making him a double gold medal winner for the day. He submitted his opponent with a straight ankle lock in his first divisional match. In his two open class matches, he submitted Jesus Artesi of Siege MMA/Lotus Club with a collar choke while having him up off the ground (which brought the crowd to its feet cheering), and in the finals he submitted Andrew Gardineer also of Siege MAA/Lotus Club with another straight ankle lock.

“I love competition,” he laughs, “I wish I had more time to compete at tournaments. I love Jiu-Jitsu. I love the chess aspect of it. I love fighting for grips. I love learning all the details of it. John Crouch is the best at teaching how just a ¼ inch turn of the wrist in a certain situation can make all the difference. I love that. All the technique I use, the sub escapes I use… they are all by him.”

Ben chokes Jesus out ob his feet.

There’s always talk in Jiu-Jitsu circles that some MMA fighters’ Jiu-Jitsu is not at the same level as Jiu-Jitsu purists, but Ben has been tried and tested in this regard. His Jiu-Jitsu is legit. At the 2011 Gi Worlds he came in third in his division and showed that he can compete and hold his own against the best Jiu-Jitsu artists in the world. His Jiu-Jitsu is a threat to anyone in the cage and on the mats.

Ben recently discovered that the No-Gi Worlds are one week before his fight with Clay Guida and he couldn’t believe it. “I was like, ‘Whyyyy?’” he laughs, “I would have liked to have gone to that tournament.”

Ben at the top of the podium

As for his upcoming fight against Clay, Ben doesn’t get caught up in his own hype… or anyone else’s. He says he is looking forward to the event and understands what the results of it may mean for him. “It’s a big opportunity,” he says airily, “It’s a big chance. There will be 20 million viewers watching it on FOX!” This is coming from a guy who says he doesn’t even have cable at home. But then his competitive self surges back up and you know he’s dead serious when he looks up and says, “I’m ready to fight.”

Vaughn atop the winners podium / Photo: Deb Blyth

Gustavo Dantas’s 3rd Southwest Classic Jiu-Jitsu tournament in Arizona last weekend really drew in some great competitors, and brown belt André Vaughan of Gracie Humaitá Las Vegas was one of them. André  had two matches in the lightweight division: the first he won by submitting his opponent with a kimura from the guard; and in the second, the final, it took him a little over a minute to sink the gold medal-winning armbar on Ryan Heilman of GDBJJ, who won double gold as a brown belt at the 2011 American Nationals in Las Vegas last August.

Vaughn hasn’t been competing much lately, but he did compete in the same tournament last year as a purple belt. “I fought (UFC fighter) Ben Henderson in the final and won,” he says. André , who’s 18-years-old, has been out of competition lately because of school commitments and the fact that he only just graduated high school last June.

André’s been training in Jiu-Jitsu for nine years. He started out taking boxing lessons but ended up in Jiu-Jitsu because his dad’s friends recommended it to him. Once he started training, he was hooked.

Although he hasn’t seen much tournament action as of late, he did do well on the competition circuit as a juvenile blue belt, taking first in his division and second in the absolute at the 2009 Pan and then coming in second at the No-Gi Worlds.

André says he loves the people he meets through Jiu-Jitsu. “They’re people you keep for a lifetime,” he says, “my professor, Mica Cipili, is like a second father to me; my training partners are my family.”

Vaughn got his brown belt in the middle of the year and says he’s been adjusting to his new belt quickly. He’s going to compete at the No-Gi Worlds in November. Beyond that, he looks forward to a lifetime of Jiu-Jitsu. “I want to be the best in the world using all the submissions,” he says, “I want to win by subbing everyone. I want to have my own academy one day. I will go wherever Jiu-Jitsu takes me. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without Jiu-Jitsu.”

Friends Marcel Fortuna and Diego Herzog / Photos: Deb Blyth

The black belts were divided into two divisions, the light absolute and the heavy absolute. Gustavo did this to allow more black belts the opportunity to win. This year the theme was “Take me to Portugal.” So what the black belts were competing for was a chance to win a paid trip to Portugal for the Europeans. In the light absolute, Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes of Soul Fighter was the big winner. And in the heavy, Marcel Fortuna of Ralph Gracie snapped up the other ticket.

Marcel, who received his black belt in 2007, won the Gi Worlds as a super heavyweight brown belt. These days he’s not competing too much but he has been present at the last three of Gustavo’s tournaments. Samir Chantre, Director of Refereeing for GDJJ events, contacted Marcel and asked him if he would come and ref at Gustavo’s tournaments. Marcel agreed. At the February tournament, Marcel didn’tt compete, but at the summer tournament he did and won $1,500. At the 3rd Southwest Classic Jiu-Jitsu tournament, Marcel won again, picking up a plane ticket to Portugal.

Marcel says he was surprised more black belts didn’t show up for the tournament. “I expected to have at least three matches to get the ticket,” he says, “but I ended up fighting Ryan Beauregard (BJJ Rev) twice.”

In their first match Marcel says he fought loose because he expected to get into the finals with his friend Diego Herzog. He beat Ryan 6-2. Then Diego took on Ryan. Marcel says that Diego didn’t realize he was behind by 2 points, and he ended up losing the match, so Marcel faced Ryan a second time.

Fortuna plays guard against Ryan Beauregard.

The second match brought about some excitement for the crowd. The first four minutes of the match the two were standing up trying to get takedowns on each other. “He was tough,” Marcel says, “He kept blocking my takedowns, so I eventually pulled guard. I tried to sweep, and ended up in a straight foot lock, but I couldn’t close. I tried to sweep again and we ended up in a 50/50. We kind of got stuck there. I decided to push him out of the position. I got him set up in an omoplata sweep, but I didn’t have time to finish it.” Marcel walked away with the win.

Marcel hasn’t been seen on the Jiu-Jitsu tournament circuit lately, but there’s a good reason for that. Like many Jiu-Jitsu athletes, Marcel is trying his hand at MMA. He’s been training Thai boxing and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu. “I just had my second pro fight two weeks ago,” he says, “My first fight I submitted the guy in two and a half minutes in the first round. My second fight was in Sacramento, at Uriah Faber’s academy. I beat that guy in two minutes with a rear-naked choke.”

Marcel says he’s been training his stand up and Thai boxing at World USA Team and keeping up with his Jiu-Jitsu at Ralph Gracie in San Ramon, California. He says MMA is his first priority now. “I still love Jiu-Jitsu and I still teach and train in it but now I do muay Thai and wrestling to become more well-balanced in MMA.”

Heavy absolute winners podium

Marcel says on the one hand he feels it’s his duty to represent Jiu-Jitsu, his main background, in the cage. “It’s my first martial art,” he says, “I started training when I was 16. I feel I need to represent Jiu-Jitsu in MMA.”

But on the other hand, he says there’s not enough money in Jiu-Jitsu to sustain him, so he’s going down the MMA path in hopes of getting into the UFC and making some real money. “I definitely want to test the art, but at the same time, I want to make money, and there’s a lot more in MMA,” he says.

As for the 3rd Southwest Classic Jiu-Jitsu tournament, Marcel says he had a great time. And he had reason to celebrate more than just the ticket to Portugal. “I just turned 26 on Saturday,” he says, “This ticket is my birthday gift to myself.”

Gustavo at the 3rd SW Classic with his student John Owning / photos: Deb Blyth

This year the turnout was unusually low. Last year there were 620 competitors, and this year there were 570, but he chalks it up to the fact that there are so many tournaments around these days. This doesn’t bother him, though, because he gears his tournaments towards the Jiu-Jitsu folks in Arizona. “About 90% of the competitors are from Arizona,” he says, “We got a big group from New Mexico this year, though. They said there was a tournament in Albuquerque, but they came to my tournament instead, so that was good to hear.”

Gustavo says he thinks about Jiu-Jitsu “24/7.” He’s a big fan of the IBJJF and always has been, so when he first got into the tournament business, he used them as a mirror. “I wanted to get my students ready for the big events and so I wanted to run mine in the same format as the IBJJF’s,” he says, “I think if my tournaments are at this level today, it’s because of what they’ve been doing over the years. People don’t realize the IBJJF came here in ’95 and threw a Pan for 150 people in Irvine. Today, they have over 2,000 competitors. Someone had to plant the seed, and they did. I’m trying to grow with them and learn from them.”

One thing about Gustavo’s tournaments that mirrors the IBJJF’s is the fact that they are organized and on time. He says it’s because his “team” makes it happen. “My fiancé, Kristina (Barlaan), and I… that’s my team,” he smiles, “I’m a perfectionist. When I first started this venture, I made a list of everything I liked when I went to a tournament and then tried to create that in mine. I like a nice shirt, I like it to be on time, I like to get a nice medal, have fair refs, I like an organized event… not a zoo trying to walk around… everything you like, I try to provide. Is it perfect? No, but I strive for perfection.”

Gustavo knows that mistakes are going to happen, but he wants to minimize them as much as he can. “Over the years I’ve compiled a high level of referees,” he says, “(Gracie Fighter black belt) Samir Chantre is the director of refereeing. He knows what’s going on. I need to have 12 refs, two for each area. There’s not enough qualified refs in Arizona, and I make sure all my refs are IBJJF certified, so I fly them in. I gotta do it. I want to have a legitimate tournament. Mistakes are always gonna happen, but having more experienced refs minimizes those mistakes.”

Gustavo with winning pro division black belts, Tanquinho and Marcel Fortuna

To add to his already highly respected tournaments, Gustavo started paying money rewards to the winners in his black belt pro division in 2006. This year the theme of the 3rd Southwest Classic Black Belt pro division was “take us to Portugal,” and he gave out two plane tickets to Portugal so the winning black belts could attend the Europeans on him. He divided the classes into a lightweight and heavyweight open so a couple of different black belts had the opportunity to win. This year, Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes of Soul Fighters won the lightweight absolute and Marcel Fortuna of Ralph Gracie won the heavyweight division.

“It’s always fairly small,” he says of the group of black belts who come to his events, “Last spring we had 16 black belts, but this time we only had five. I was a little disappointed, but I’m always learning with every event.”

Gustavo says, ultimately the most important thing to him is getting the local community to participate in his tournaments. “They always support my events and they keep coming,” he says, “The tournaments keep growing. People get excited to compete and those who don’t compete come to support their teammates and friends.”

Many people involved in Jiu-Jitsu have families, and they can’t travel all the time, so Gustavo likes providing them with family-friendly, quality events. “Having good quality tournaments in Arizona means they only have to travel if they want to,” Gustavo says, “They don’t have to travel anymore. It’s perfect. They can get a good experience here, at home in Arizona.”

Gustavo thinks competing is important because it provides a learning experience and a challenge for people. It’s really easy for people to deal with a win, but the bigger challenge is to deal with a loss, to deal with failure. “Competing allows you to prove to yourself that you can get it done. You can go back, train more and try again. You test yourself, your limits and your character. You learn not to quit in tough moments. It’s a horrible feeling to lose. You feel like you could have done better and some people don’t ever want to feel that way again, so they decide never to compete again. Others think, ‘I know I can do better, so I want to try again.’ When people say ‘you learn the most when you lose,’ they are absolutely right.”

As for kids competing, Gustavo thinks along the same lines but with a little bit of a twist. “I think competing shows them that life isn’t perfect and that it’s not always going to be wonderful and go your way. You’re going to have some difficulties. You’re gonna lose sometimes, but if you just try your best and it doesn’t work out this time, it will work another time. And it’s ok to lose, too. I always tell my son stories about how I lost and messed up so he knows we all have good and bad times. I say, ‘Daddy lost, too. It’s fine.’”

Gustavo wants to eventually organize an in-house Nova União tournament, but most importantly, he just wants to have the most respected tournaments in the world. “I want to make sure people are happy with them,” he says, “I want them to know that there’s gonna be tough competition at my events and that we’re going to keep growing. Very often people are surprised at the high level of competition they can get here. Many people think there’s no Jiu-Jitsu in Arizona, but they are sadly mistaken. They think they’re going to run over everybody here, but they can’t.”

The kids division was an exciting one, with GD Jiu-Jitsu winning it by racking up 131 points in the team standing. BJJ Revolution took second with 88 points, and MMA Lab took third with 66 points.

Araya Garcia of Relson Gracie strategizes / Photos: Deb Blyth

Araya Garcia is an 11-year-old yellow belt from Relson Gracie in Arizona who competes in the medium heavyweight division. She’s been training for three years and had two matches on the day, both against Mikaila Gonzales, who also hails from Relson Gracie. Her first match didn’t end the way she would have liked but she was happy for the win. “I tried to armbar and choke her, but I couldn’t,” Araya says, “I ended up winning by advantages.” In her second match, she tried for the choke, but once again it eluded her. “She pulled guard, and I got in mount for four points,” Araya says, “That’s how I won.”

Araya trained extra hard for this tournament. She likes to compete and says she likes to fight new people who have techniques and games she hasn’t seen before. Her favorite move is the triangle or the forearm choke, and although she went for them today and wasn’t able to close with them, she is still really excited about her gold medal win. “I feel awesome,” she says. Araya loves Jiu-Jitsu for a variety of reasons and says it’s changed her life for the better. “I feel stronger, and I have more confidence now,” she says.

Araya and her supportive father, Ron

Araya’s dad, Ron, is her biggest fan. He says she does all of Gustavo’s tournaments, so she’s competing every three months. “I’m here to support her,” he says, “She knows more than I do. I try to coach her and she’s like, ‘No, I don’t want to do that!’ I love watching her. She makes me so proud. She loves it and has a great time. And even though she doesn’t win all the time, she still has determination to come back and compete again. She’s really grown in the last six months. Her Jiu-Jitsu’s getting really good.”

Damian Hosokawa goes for a takedown.

Nine-year-old yellow belt Damian Hosokawa of BJJ Revolution comes from a Jiu-Jitsu family. His dad, Gerson Atoigue, is a brown belt; his mom, Nana Hosokawa, is a blue belt. They fully support Damian in his efforts on the mats, and it shows. He trains everyday with his dad, to his delight.

At the 3rd Southwest Classic, Damian had two matches in his featherweight division. He won the first by armbar and the second by a sweep. “It’s been a good day,” Damian says, “I won today, and I’ve won all year. I’ve been in all four of Gustavo’s (Dantas) tournaments and I’ve won them all.” Damian, who has been training for three years, says winning gold feels great.

Like the sweep he won his final with, Damian says the half-guard sweep is his favorite move. “It’s easy,” he says, “If they’re already on top of you, it’s easy to ‘timber them over.’”

Damian says he loves Jiu-Jitsu because “if anything goes wrong, I know self defense.” Asked if he’s been picked on at school, he says, “Yes, but I didn’t do anything but tell my teacher. I didn’t feel like I needed to do anything. I feel really confident.”

Damian and his family all partake in Jiu-Jitsu.

His dad, Gerson, really enjoys watching his son grow and develop through Jiu-Jitsu. “He’s awesome,” he says, “He’s gonna be better than I ever was. It’s a pleasure to watch him.” His mom, Nana, concurs, “He just enjoys doing Jiu-Jitsu so much,” she says, “I support him 110%. He’d rather be on the mats than anything else. He’ll turn down other really fun things for it.”

Robert Maloney gets his hand raised.

Robert Maloney of Siege MMA/Lotus Club is a 15-year-old green belt with some strong grips! This ultra heavyweight had two matches in his division and closed them both out with a one-handed lapel choke, earning him a gold medal for the day.

It’s no surprise the lapel choke is Robert’s favorite move, but the way he sets it up is. “People always think I’m going for an Ezekiel,” he says, “but then I hold myself up with one arm – I have really good balance – and choke with the other.”

Robert competes every couple of months. He does all of Gustavo Dantas’ tournaments and says he usually comes in first or second. He recently learned the flying armbar and it’s quickly become his favorite move, although he’s a little nervous to use it in a tournament, so he hasn’t tried it yet. “I know that I just need to exhale as I hit the floor so I don’t knock the wind out of myself,” he laughs.

Robert Maloney and his BJJ crew

Robert loves everything about Jiu-Jitsu and it’s changed his life in the process. “I used to get in trouble in school,” he says, “Jiu-Jitsu kept me out of it. I train every day. It keeps me out of bad stuff.”

Jiu-Jitsu has given Robert a sense of confidence he didn’t have before. He’s a sophomore in high school, so he sees a lot of bullying and intimidation going on around him, but he is unfazed by it. “I see kids fighting at school for nothing,” he says, “I stay away from them. I don’t have to prove myself.” He does his “proving” on the mats.

Derek Wheeler and his proud coach, Michael Westbrook

Derek Wheeler of MWBJJ is a 14-year-old yellow belt under ex-NFL great and now Jiu-Jitsu black belt Michael Westbrook. Derek had two matches for the day and won both by points. “I compete a lot,” he says, “I’ve been to all four of Gustavo’s tournaments. I win about half the time.” Although that record would discourage some, Derek is motivated by it and trains harder. “When I lose, it means to me that I need to train harder,” he says.

Hard work is no stranger to Derek, Michael Westbrook says. “He’s been working his butt off – five times a week! He’s advancing at a pace he’s supposed to be at, and I’m very proud of him.” Michael says that Derek is a great listener. “That’s hard to get kids to do sometimes,” he says, “Derek makes coaching easy.”

Derek’s goal is to win as many tournaments as he can and to do Jiu-Jitsu for the rest of his life. “I want to be a black belt,” he says, “Jiu-Jitsu has changed me. It’s made me stronger, bigger, and more relaxed. I feel confident in the world… at school and anywhere.”

JT Torres, Gustavo Dantas and Bruno Bastos at last year's Southwest Classic / Publicity photo

The big additions to the open light (167.5 lbs and under) division are 2011 Abu Dhabi World Pro champion Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes and 2011 American National champion Osvaldo “Queixinho” Moizinho. The open heavy (over 167.5 lbs) division boasts the 2011 Arizona state open class champion, Marcel Fortuna, and 2011 American Cup winner Diego Herzog.

The winners of both divisions will receive a plane ticket to Lisbon, Portugal, to compete at the 2012 IBJJF European Championship. Black belts interested in vying for their chance at the plane tickets should visit http://strongvon.com/southwestbjj3 to register before the deadline.

UFC star Ben Henderson and slick purple belt twins Christian and Christopher Broadnax are regulars at Gi Jiu-Jitsu competitions in Arizona. Photo: Many Weapons

Though there’s still 20 days to go till the official October 17 sign-up deadline, there’s a competitor cap of 280 participants for the kids tournament and 500 for the adults, juveniles, masters and seniors; so best register early to assure your participation. It would also behoove anyone on a budget to make the most of the 10-dollar early registration discount ending October 10.

The Southwest Classic has showcased a number of world-class gentle art champs in the past, the likes of JT Torres, Caio Terra, Bruno Bastos and Guybson Sá, not to mention UFC lightweight contender Ben Henderson; so the 10-dollar spectator fee is well worth it, as there’s no telling who may be making the rounds come the October 22 and 23 in Phoenix.

Stay tuned to GRACIEMAG.com for more on the Southwest Classic lineup as it materializes, and click here for further details and to sign up.

Check out a video of last year’s action:

The tournament will be held on October 22 and 23 at Phoenix College in the city of Phoenix, Arizona.

For further information, visit at http://www.strongvon.com/southwestbjj3.