Brown belts:

Heavyweight Chris Engle of Cascao Jiu-Jitsu in Las Vegas won his final against Brian Kim of Rickson Gracie with a head-and-arm choke in about 1 ½ minutes. Chris, who’s been a brown belt for a little over a year, says he really feels like he’s finally coming into his own now. “I’m ready for anything,” he says, “I love my team. They’re like a family. I work hard in training every day.”

David Reed / Photos: Jerry Roberts

Medium heavyweight David Reed of Fabio Santos in San Diego, California, won his first match with a triangle in 30 seconds and then won the final against Justin McDermott of Checkmat BJJ with an armbar in about 2 ½ minutes. “I have 14 wins in the last 17 matches,” he gushes, “ All submissions!” After waiting so long to eat all day,” he says, “I need a buffet immediately!” Reed, 24, loves the armbar and is always looking for it in all his matches. He loves Jiu-Jitsu and says, “Jiu-Jitsu saved my life. In this world of temptation, it gave me something to be anchored to.”

Lightweight Matthew Hache of Renzo Gracie came all the way from Ottawa, Canada, for the Las Vegas Open with his beloved instructor, Pat Cooligan. The 27-year-old had two matches in his division. He won the first by choke from mount. “I won it Roger-style,” he says. Matthew’s final was a battle against Mathew Darcy of AKA. “He got me in a kneebar and I defended, I got him in an arm triangle and he defended,” he says, “I was finally able to take his back and submit him.” Matthew says he and his teammates loved their time in Las Vegas and offered some words of advice to other Jiu-Jitsu practitioners, “There needs to be more people here next year. Las Vegas is right next to California. There’s no excuse not to be here!”

In the featherweight division, Israel Ceron from Ralph Gracie San Francisco defeated Ryan Heilman of Nova Uniao in the final. His first two matches he submitted his opponents with by armbar in under a minute, but the final was a tough match that went the distance. “It was hard,” Israel says, “Ryan’s flexible and technical. I had to use more force to stabilize my positions.” Israel, who’s been a brown belt for two years, was able to pass Ryan’s guard, and he won via points. “It feels good to win gold,” the 30-year-old says, “All my hard work paid off.”

Purple belts:

Brian Morizi / Photo: Jerry Roberts

Brian Morizi of Atos won the Las Vegas Open middleweight division. He had four matches on the day, winning his first and third by points and his second with an omoplata. In the final, against Jeff Boudreaux of Roberto Travern, he won by one advantage point. “No one scored any points or advantages against me today,” Brian says proudly, “It’s been a good year. I’ve been competing a lot. I just started training with Andre Galvao and he’s been helping me a lot.”

In the featherweight division it was Davin Maxwell of Cassio Werneck Sacramento, California, who shut down all his opponents. He had three matches, winning his first with a bow-and-arrow choke, his second by an advantage, and his final with an Ezekiel (forearm) choke from the back. “I’ve been training since I was eight years old,” Davin says, “I’m 23 now. When I was a kid I competed against Kron Gracie and won.” Davin had a great time in Las Vegas and was thrilled with his gold medal. “It’s been a wonderful experience. Now I’m going to go eat and gain back my weight!”

Jonathan Van Buren / Photo: Jerry Roberts

Jonathan Van Buren of Nova Uniao in Phoenix, Arizona, beat Ty Yung of Gracie Humaita with a submission at light featherweight. Jonathan had three matches for the day. He won his first two via points. “It feels really great to win gold,” he says, “All my hard work paid off.” Jonathan competes as much as he can. He’s been training in Jiu-Jitsu for three years and his favorite move is the omoplata. “I go for it all the time,” he says, “I’m always looking for the arm.” Jonathan has won gold a few times at Gustavo Dantas’s Arizona tournaments and took silver at the 2011 Worlds as a blue belt. “I got my purple belt a week later,” he says. This was Jonthan’s second tournament as a purple belt and he went home a gold medal winner.

Davin Maxwell atop the featherweight podium / Photo: Jerry Roberts

Blue belts:

In the middleweight division, Joel Hadden of Renzo Gracie Ottawa, Canada, won his final match with an armbar in under two minutes. By this time he was on a roll, winning his first match by kimura in one minute and his third with a triangle in under two minutes. His second match was his reality check: “It was my hardest match,” Joel says, “I was hunting for one attack the whole time and got the ref’s decision. I got a talking to from Pat (Cooligan), who told me to go back to the basics. I listened.” Joel earned his gold medal that day, saying, “That’s what happens when you listen to your coach.” He additionally came up with a new motto he learned from Pat while in Las Vegas, “I don’t have a favorite move anymore,” he laughs, “I take what my opponent gives me!” Smart thinking for a 21-year-old.

Andrew, 22, from Gracie Barra Fullerton, California, won all five of his matches at featherweight, even though he came into the tournament with a badly injured shoulder. He won his first match by points and his next four via armbar. His opponent in the final was Tae Um from Gracie Barra Corona. “I fought him before and beat him by points,” Andrew says, “He’s a really tough opponent.” Andrew was able to get to full mount, where, lo and behold, he went for the arm again. “I finished with my favorite submission: the armbar,” he laughs. This was Andrew’s first time competing in the Las Vegas Open. “I’ve never competed outside of California and now with this experience, it will not be my last,” he says, “I will definitely be competing next year, so watch out!”

In the women’s middle weight division, Taylor Leonardi, 18, fought for her team, Ricardo Cavalcanti’s Carlson Gracie Las Vegas. Taylor’s been a blue belt for two years. She loves the De La Riva guard and likes to work her sweeps from there. “I’m very flexible and it’s easy for me to work the moves,” she says, “People tell me it’s hard to pass my guard.” Taylor fought Victoria Trueb from Renato Travern in the finals and it was a major rematch for her. “She won both the Pan and Worlds this year,” she says, “I fought her at the Pan and lost. She’s a very good, strong competitor.” This time, things worked to Taylor’s advantage. “I worked my De La Riva on her, got her off balance, and then shot my legs up for a triangle,” she says, “I had it locked in tight and could feel she was about to tap. I pulled down harder on her head and finally she tapped. The match lasted 30 seconds.” Taylor was very happy with her performance. “The moment when you get your hand raised on the mats is the most accomplished feeling to me.”

Felipe Pena, Brian Morizi, and Elias Ramirez with Fabricio Werdum / Photos: Deb Blyth

Players like Rômulo Barral, Kayron Gracie, Lucas Rocha, Otávio Sousa, Rodrigo Simões, Philipe Della Monica, and Bruno Antunes are well known on the brown and black belt circuit, but it’s the lower belts who are storming the scene. Guys like Brian Morizi, Elias Ramirez, Felipe Carsalade Pena and Aaron Miller are some of the names hoping to get on the podium at the Worlds this weekend at the pyramid in Long Beach.

Brian Morizi is a middleweight purple belt. This 21-year-old competes nonstop, traveling to different venues and tournaments around the state and nation. He came in first in his weight and in the absolute at the 2011 Abu Dhabi trials in San Diego and won the majority of his matches by submission.

At the Abu Dhabi he placed third in the gi in his weight. Although he didn’t come back with the gold, he was still happy with his performance and the trip overall. “They put mats down in the hotel so I got to train with a lot of different people,” he says, “I had a great time.”

At the Samurai Pro Morizi closed out his division with GB teammate Jeff Shulze and closed out the absolute final with his other GB teammate Felipe Carsalade Pena. Morizi won his divisional matches by submission. In the absolute he won his first match by advantages against an ultra heavy opponent and the second he won by submission. “My experience at the Samurai Pro was excellent,” he says, “It was a great warm-up for the Worlds. Competing at the same place as the Worlds gave me a feeling of comfort.”

Over the course of the last two years in his purple belt, Morizi has amassed over 50 medals. He trains three to four times a day. He says the jump in level of competition from blue belt to purple belt was big, but he feels he adjusted to it well. “I use a lot of technique and not much strength, so I’ve been able to adapt pretty easily,” he says. Morizi’s biggest accomplishments at purple belt include winning the 2011 Abu Dhabi Trials, the 2010 US Open, the 2009 No-Gi Worlds, and the 2009 No-Gi Nationals.

For the first time, he’s going to fight at the Worlds at middleweight instead of at light. “This is the first time in a long time I’m going into a tournament with no injuries,” he says, “The last few weeks I’ve focused only on training. I haven’t been teaching; just training for the Worlds.”

Morizi trains at GB America with the plethora of world class black belts there and for conditioning he trains at Juggernaut with a number of the other GB greats. “I’ve been gaining a lot of strength,” he says, “Chad (Smith, owner of Juggernaut) is really knowledgeable in power lifting and he’s been helping me get a lot stronger. I feel like I’m finally at the same strength as other middleweights. I feel really confident and relaxed. More than ever before.”

Elias Ramirez

Elias Ramirez is another GB purple belt who is training hard for the Worlds and hopes to have a good showing. He closed out his medium heavy division at the Samurai Pro with GB teammate Felipe Carsalade Pena. Pena gave Ramirez the gold. In the open, Ramirez won two fights, but because there were so many Gracie Barra guys competing and winning, Ramirez let Pena pass. Pena ended up closing out the finals with Brian Morizi. Gracie Barra closed out the entire open with Morizi taking first, Pena taking second and Ramirez taking third.

Ramirez is focused on growing Gracie Barra Anaheim Hills, so he doesn’t get to train and focus on competing as much as he would like, but he is training hard for the Worlds. “I want to get the gold, which is what I want every time I walk on the mats,” he says. Although Ramirez’s current dream is to open his own academy, he loves to compete. “I look forward to competing all this year and continuing to compete for as long as my body lets me,” he says, “I love competition and have a great desire to become the best I can be. I haven’t hit that point yet.”

Felipe Carsalade Pena recently moved to the Los Angeles area from Brazil to train with Rômulo Barral. At the Samurai Pro he had four fights in his medium heavy division and closed out the bracket with Ramirez. In the open he had two more fights and ended up closing out the bracket with Morizi. Pena felt really good about his performance. “I had hard fights,” he says, “It was a good warm-up for the Worlds.”

At the 2011 Pan, Pena had six fights and won the medium heavy division. He also won the medium heavyweight and open weight divisions at the Phoenix Open. It’s been a good year for Pena and he’s looking forward to showcasing his talent at the upcoming Worlds. “I’m training really hard,” he says, “I’m well prepared to fight for the gold at the Worlds.”

Pena began his training in Brazil with the help of his professors, Marcelo Uirapuru, Sergio Benini, and Augusto “Tio Chico”. “They’re always supporting me and encouraging me to train hard at Gracie Barra BH,” he says. In the last few months, Pena moved to California and has been training with his friend Rômulo Barral. “He’s helped me improve my Jiu-Jitsu a lot,” Pena says, “I am really thankful.”

Aaron Miller is a GB lightweight blue belt from GB Fullerton who recently won his division at the Samurai Pro. He won both his matches by submission. Miller is an MMA fighter who took a break from fighting to focus on training in Jiu-Jitsu. He was submitted in his last three MMA fights and it didn’t sit well with him. “I decided to take a year and focus on Jiu-Jitsu,” he says, “I’ve been working on defense from the back and attacks from the top.”

Miller has been working with Professor Maycon Carvalho and says he’s taught him patience. “I see things coming now instead of forcing them to happen,” he says. His Jiu-Jitsu training is paying off, as he recently also won his weight and the open class at the Phoenix Open.

As for the Worlds, Miller is looking forward to getting there and hopes to compete against the guys who have beaten him in the past. “Training for the Worlds is like training for a title shot in MMA,” he says, “You train hours and hours, day after day, only making time to sleep and to eat. My mind is focused only on the Worlds.”

Miller says he does not train to lose and he hopes those he competes against feel the same way. “I watch my old matches over and over again so I can see what I can do better next time and how I can improve my game. When I train at Gracie Barra I go against the best and I imagine it is for first place at the Worlds.”

Miller says he only sees gold on the horizon at the Worlds. “My first match is always the hardest because you go in cold nervous and amped up all at the same time,” he says, “But when I find my center, there is no stopping me.”