Caio Terra against Queixinho / Photo: Andrew Koeller

Tempe, Arizona, saw its fair share of action last weekend, when Gustavo Dantas’s Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu State Championship rolled into town. Three thousand dollars was up for grabs between the winners of the two black belt divisions, further upping the already scalding hot temperature in the region.

Among the big standouts was 2011 Pan-American champion Caio Terra (Gracie Fighter), who took the decision over Osvaldo Augusto “Queixinho” (Soul Fighters) in the light absolute decider. Now number one in the heavy absolute was Marcel Fortuna (Ralph Gracie), who overcame Brazilian champion Daniel Garcia (Nova União) in the grand finale.

But there was a host of other gentle art aces putting on shows. At brown belt, Daniel Madrid (Gracie Fighting Systems) took the medium heavyweight division and the absolute.

At purple, Gustavo Dantas disciples Issa Able and Christian Broadnax did well in their respective weight classes and then closed out the absolute.

At blue, Alex Centner (Lopez Jiu-Jitsu) took top spot on the super heavyweight and absolute podiums for the double gold.

Check out all the action in the photos by Andrew Koeller below:

[flickr set= 72157627070636796]

The coming 26th and 27th of June is a big day for Jiu-Jitsu in Arizona: The 2010 Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu State Championship will take place in Mesa, Arizona, and there’s a $1,000 prize for the winner of the men’s black belt open weight division, not to mention other prizes like Nintendo DS’, Camcorder, LCD screens and more for the winners of other brackets.

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Now anyone interested in testing themselves against Arizona’s fierce competition had better make haste. June 18 is as registration will close as soon as the 650-competitor ceiling is reached.

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Click here to register.

For further information, visit the Arizona Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation website here.

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Check out the event’s advertisement video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nArSClEyghs