The morning of the Zadar International Open on Sept. 20, Croatia’s first IBJJF championship event, was marked by a rainstorm and flooding that had apparently not been seen in years. The rain subsided as the day went on, but things remained furious within the venue, with competitors both international and domestic putting on some fantastic fights.

For the black belt adult divisions, the results were as follows:

The only black belt match-up at weight came in the lightweight division, with Samuel Hertzog of UAE Jiu-Jitsu taking on Roger Gracie student Oliver Geddes. Samuel took the victory and the gold medal after ten minutes with a strong and pressuring top game, winning by one advantage for a near guard pass.

The absolute division, a little later in the day, gave the other black belts present the opportunity to fight that they had been waiting for, and they wasted no time in putting on some exciting and competitive matches.

Samuel Hertzog defeated Switzerland’s Thomas Oyarzun in a hard-fought contest, much of which took place in the 50/50 guard. In the end the score was 4-4, and Samuel secured the win by two advantages. In turn, Samuel was defeated by Antonio Henrique Junior of Roger Gracie London with a straight footlock after a back and forth match, granting Antonio his place in the open weight final. His opponent, local fighter Damir Salina, defeated Antonio’s teammate Oliver Geddes by 10-2 in a dominant performance in the semi-final to advance to the final.

Like the rest of the matches of the day, the final was highly competitive, with Damir sweeping Antonio twice and being swept back in return, before Antonio was able to secure a tight kneebar from the half guard which forced Damir to tap out. This marked “Juniao”‘s first IBJJF black belt open weight title, and one he earned with style.

In the teams division, results were:

1 – CheckMat – 91
2 – Gracie Barra – 62
3 – Alliance International – 37
4 – Nova Uniao NYC – 30
5 – Roger Gracie – 16
6 – Roger Gracie Vienna – 15
7 – Clube de Jiu-jitsu Pitbull Europe – 14
8 – Carlson Gracie International – 13
9 – Carlos Maia Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy – 13
10 – Alliance – 13

For full results, go to ibjjf.com

To see full results go here: http://static.ibjjfdb.com/Campeonato/000298/en-US/Results.pdf

To see a full photo album go here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.959776630704336.1073742056.192240324124641

Zadar, Croatia

For the first time ever, an official IBJJF event is coming to Eastern Europe.

On September 20, the Zadar International Open takes place in that beautiful Croatian port city.

Sitting by the Adriatic Sea, Zadar has thousands of years of history with the influence of many different cultures, such as Greek and Roman.

The Zadar Open will be a Gi event for all divisions from juvenile to master.

For more info, go to ibjjf.com

The promotion at Team Redzovic in Chicago, IL. Photo: Personal Archive

Our GMA members Adem, Eddie and Idriz Redzovic from Chicago, IL have promoted three of their students. This promotion was earned by long time students James Allen, Chris Pinto and UFC veteran Goran Reljic, who will be representing the Jiu-Jitsu family in Croatia.

The Redzovic brothers are thrilled for this giant milestone for their team. Congratulations to these GMA members, their students, and the new Jiu-Jitsu black belts around town.

For more information regarding this Chicago Jiu-Jitsu team go to www.chicagojiujitsu.com

“I’m very grateful to the UFC. I regret not having achieved my objectives in the promotion, and I know I didn’t meet expectations. They paid me very well. I’m really sorry about it; I tried my best, I was professional, and I did my best in preparing for the fight. But to be honest, after the Pride Grand Prix I didn’t have the motivation to continue,” says Cro Cop in the video below.

“I have a few offers to fight, but first I need to get completely healthy. Unfortunately, I can’t move my arm until December 20, but my plan is to fight in 2012 at Zagreb Arena on March 10, facing a top K-1 fighter. That will be the best cure for Croatia’s fight fans. I want to put on a show for my fans in Zagreb,” he added in the interview on Canal Fight website.

What about you, do you think it will be merely a farewell fight for Cro Cop, or could he be planning to keep going afterwards? Let us know what you think in the comments section below:

Last September 26 the children of Hungary donned their gis for a little Jiu-Jitsu action at the Hungarian Kids and Juniors BJJ Open.

More than ninety participants from Hungary and Croatia between the ages of seven and sixteen were there on the mats set up in Tamasi. The event is organized by the black belt responsible for Gracie Barra Hungary, Max Carvalho, and blue belt Gabor Szots.

In the photos below you can see just what Europe has in store for the gentle art’s future. Keep your eyes on these kids!

[flickr set=72157625121156602]

One of the top-flight competitors to guarantee his spot in the tournament by registering was Tarsis Humphreys. The Alliance black belt made the most of the days preceding the competition to drop by Zagreb, Croatia to hold some seminars. The first of the series took place this Saturday the 16^th. The next will be held on the 23^rd, but in the city of Zadar, on the East Coast of the Adriatic Sea.

Taris Humphreys told GRACIEMAG.com how his preparations for the European have been going and what his trip through Croatia has been like so far, just weeks before the championship in Portugal.

“I’m training really hard every day. Croatia is a great place to concentrate and train hard. The folks with whom I have been training are of a really good high level. They have superhuman strength. I train with some lightweights who are so strong it’s unbelievable,” said Tarsis.

“My physical preparation remains the same. My physical conditioning coach is Edmilson Danats, of LPO System. He tells me what to do and keeps up with my progress in weight lifting. This is a continuation of the work we’ve been doing since last year. I’m feeling great.”

“Truth is that I’m not sure whether I’ll go in as a medium heavyweight, as I need to lose some weight, or as a heavyweight. I do know, though, that in both divisions there are lots of tough opponents. I’m confident in my training. Victory is a consequence of several factors that should be in harmony. Whoever has those factors in unison on the day of the European will be champion,” he said in finishing.