Sérgio Moraes and Claudio Calasans face off in the open weight final of the 2011 European Open (Photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG).

Sergio Moraes and Claudio Calasans are two of the most respected Jiu-Jitsu champions coming out of the Brazilian city of São Paulo.

Sergio is today part of the UFC roster. Calasans carries on firmly in his career in the gi—and is one of the highlights of GRACIEMAG issue 190.

This Sunday, GRACIEMAG revisits a striking encounter between the two aces, a classic battle between powerhouse teams Alliance and Atos Jiu-Jitsu in the 2011 European Open final.

Sergio Moraes lost the final of his weight class to Bráulio Estima, and any hang-ups over it would have cost him dearly at open weight.

To witness and take part in European Championship history, you’d better rush. Sign-ups end on the 16th. Click here to register for the tournament on the IBJJF website.

Tanquinho in photo by Luca Atalla

Augusto Mendes, better known as Tanquinho, was the big name at the South American Jiu-Jitsu Open that took place this weekend at the Multiuso Arena in São José, Santa Catarina. The Soul Fighters black belt got the best of his weight division and the absolute, earning him a ticket to the European Open in Lisbon that kicks off the IBJJF season.

At lightweight, Tanquinho submitted Allan Andrade (Gracie Barra) with a choke and then went on to win hs semifinal match against Davi Ramos (Top Brother), who was disqualified during a kneebar. In the final he beat Mario Reis (Gracie Barra) by three advantages.

In the absolute Tanquinho had four matches, with a sequel of the lightweight final in the decider. Again facing Mario Reis, leading by three advantages, but Reis was disqualified for gripping the inside of the pant leg four times.

Frazatto in photo by Regis Chen.

Among the standouts at the event was Bruno Frazatto (Atos), who won the featherweight division.

Check back with GRACIEMAG.com later for complete results.

The Jiu-Jitsu tournament will offer kids, juveniles, adults (male and female), master and senior divisions, as well as two black belt open classes: the Open Light (167.5 lbs and under) and the Open Heavy (Over 167.5 lbs). The winner of each open weight division will receive a ticket to the 2011 European Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Lisbon, Portugal.

It is important to note that registration for the kids division will cut off at 200 competitors. Registration for the juvenile, adult, master, senior, and female divisions will stop at 450 competitors.

GD Jiu-Jitsu Events will reward all competitors to sign up by the pre-registrations deadline of 11:59 pm on October 8 with free tournament T-shirts. Anyone to register thereafter will not receive a T-shirt.

GRACIEMAG will be in Mesa to cover the event.

The Jiu-Jitsu competition features kids, juveniles, adult (Male and Female), masters and senior divisions, plus two black belt open classes: open light (167.5 lbs and under) and open heavy (Over 167.5 lbs). The winner of each open division will receive a ticket to the 2011 European BJJ Championship in Lisbon, Portugal*.

IMPORTANT: Registration will be closed for the kids division once two hundred competitors has been reached. Registration for juveniles, adults, masters, seniors, and women will be closed after 450 competitors.
GD Jiu-Jitsu Events will be offering FREE tournament T-Shirts to ALL competitors who Pre-Register for the tournament by the PRE-REGISTRATION DEADLINE of October 8th at 11:59 PM. Competitors registered AFTER this time will NOT receive a T-Shirt.

Vitor Henrique wins weight and absolute. Photo: Carlos Ozório

Broadcast live over the internet, the Taça Rio de Jiu-Jitsu tournament this Sunday in Rio de Janeiro was a smashing success. Besides the great matches, a ticket to the IBJJF’s European Championship was raffled off among the champions, and featherweight brown belt champion Rafael Porto (Mestre Wilson) was the lucky winner.

Queixinho won the no-gi contest. Photo: Rogério Gomes

The event kicked off with the kids, but after the opening ceremony the International No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu challenge was underway, revealing some new talent in the gentle art scene. Oswaldo Augusto “Queixinho” (Soul Fighters) was one of them, as he submitted Ângelo Panoussis (Behring Canada) with a straight kneebar. Marcos Vinicius (DDR) got the takedown and mounted Mat Jack Magee (Gordo-Evolve England). The match was interrupted by Magee’s disqualification, as he tried for a heel hook, an illegal maneuver. Pan 2010 champion João Gabriel (Soul Fighters) beat Tor Troenge (Gordo-Evolve Sweden) by 4 to 2, with two sweeps from the half-guard. And last but not least, Mike Yackulic (Behring Canada) overcame the surprise Eduardo Portela (Check Mat) after falling behind by 6 to 0. He managed a sweep, knee on belly and guard pass all in the very last minute to rally back and win by 7 to 6.

João Gabriel on top of Tor Troenge. Photo: Rogério Gomes

Black belt standouts

There was no lack of action in the gi contest either. Vitor Henrique (GFTeam) was the big standout, winning the middleweight and absolute divisions. In his weight group Vitor beat Antonio Mendes (Nova União) twice, in a bracket of three, with two chokes, one being a clock choke in the decider. In the Open weight division Vitor submitted Nilson Ricardo “Capoeira” (Nova União) with a triangle choke and overcame Cassio Lisboa (BJJ) by 6 to 2, all on takedowns.

The best of the featherweight division was Helio Jr (HBT), who submitted João Alfredo (GFTeam) with a choke. Nilson Ricardo “Capoeira” (Nova União) won the medium heavyweight division. First he beat Bruno Ramos (HBT) by 7 to 0, with a guard pass and a mount. Then he overcame Anderson Oliveira (Soul Fighters) by 5 to 4 in a lively match. He managed a sweep and guard pass to his opponent’s two sweeps. In the heavyweight division Renan Vidal (Gordo-Evolve) overcame Ricardo Evangelista (GFTeam) by referee decision after a 2-2 draw (sweeps). In the final Renan beat Cassio Lisboa (BJJ) by 10 to 0, with two sweeps and three takedowns.

(Collaborator: Rogério Gomes)