Mansher and Dillon close out the brown belt male absolute. Photo: Erin Herle

The brown belts at the 2014 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship fought their matches on Sunday, Oct. 5 inside the Felix Event Center in Azusa, CA.

The divisions began the day and ran all the way through until the very end, only taking a break for the black belt finals in the middle. The brown belt male absolute title was shared among two students of Marcelo Garcia Academy in NYC. A week prior, the team swept the divisions from feather to heavyweight winning gold in each with one close-out in middleweight. Those middleweights, Dillon Danis and Jonathan Satava repeated the same feat in Azusa. Matheus Diniz went up a weight class at the Pan and won the heavyweight division there but went back down to his medium-heavy division at the Worlds and earned another gold there. Featherweight Joel Burgess conquered the Pan and earned a bronze in the Worlds.

Mansher in the lightweight final. Photo: Erin Herle

Mansher Singh Khera won the lightweight division after three matches and entered the absolute alongside Dillon. The two met in the finals and the title was given to Dillon, who had three matches of his own in middleweight before meeting Jon in the finals.

Dillon wins the semi-final with a kneebar. Photo: Erin Herle

Mansher defeated an ultra-heavyweight, a heavyweight and a super-heavyweight in the absolute using his single-leg x-guard. Dillon faced an ultra-heavyweight, and two other middleweights on his way to the gold. The podium was shared with super-heavyweight silver medalist Pedro Araujo of Gracie Barra and middleweight William Durkee of Fight Sports.

Jaqueline after she won the absolute. Photo: Erin Herle

The female absolute was conquered by featherweight Jaqueline Amorim of Checkmat, who was able to redeem herself from losing her one match in her weight division. The new brown belt, who won both 2013 and 2014 purple belt featherweight at gi worlds, faced two lightweights in the first and second rounds to get to the finals. Her opponent in the finals, Alexis Du Frense of Checkmat as well, attempted to pass Jaqueline’s guard but it was a referee decision that ended the match. In a cathartic moment, Jaqueline’s hand was raised and she collapsed as she realized the gold was hers.

See the full results here: http://static.ibjjfdb.com/Campeonato/000313/en-US/Results.pdf 

Check out full photos of the brown belt divisions:

Gutemberg after his win in the absolute. Photo: Erin Herle

The blue and purple belt male adult divisions at the 2014 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship were no joke on Saturday, Oct. 5 in Azusa, CA. Both absolute brackets held multiple fights each for whichever athlete made it to the final.

In the blue belt absolute, Devhonte Johnson was able to earn the gold that he missed in his heavyweight division. The Carvalho BJJ Academy student was not able to capture the win in his final match against Johan Romming and received the silver medal due to a 4-0 points loss. But he was motivated to do well in the open weight and to repeat his achievement at the Pan No-Gi by winning gold in the absolute.

Devhonte submits with an armbar. Photo: Erin Herle

Devhonte had three matches in the open and the toughest were the finals and the semi-final. In the semi-final, Josh Valles’ guard was tough to pass. “Josh has an impassable guard. I tried to take his back and failed and he tried to take my back at the end. It was a back and forth battle,” he says of the semis. In the finals, Australian Tobias Green gave Devhonte a tough match as well. He also went against him in the No-Gi Pans one week prior in weight and absolute. At the Worlds they met twice again. “This was my fourth time fighting him. I swept him twice in the match to win. He’s very strong and resilient and when I fought him in the semis of the weight division luck was on my side when I got out of the darce choke.”

In the purple belt absolute, the Pan No-Gi double gold champion conquered the same feat in Azusa. Gutemberg Pereira of GFTeam won four matches in the super-heavyweight division and also four in the absolute. He had five submissions during the day. His toughest match was the first match of the absolute because of his opponents’ flexibility and he only won by two advantages.

Gutemberg in the absolute. Photo: Erin Herle

The accomplishment meant a lot to him and his path. “When I win it’s gratification for all the obstacles I have to pass day to day–my daily struggles. My biggest inspiration is my mom,” says the 20-year-old.

Raquel going for the choke. Photo: Erin Herle

The females had their own exciting matches going on opposite the males. The blue belt open dwindled down to two medium-heavyweights, a rematch from the medium-heavy final. Raquel Paaluhi of Maui Jiu-Jitsu earned the win in the open weight over Ambar Villagran of Checkmat. Ambar, from Sweden, earned the gold in the division. The podium was shared with Lauren Murphy, the middleweight gold medalist and Crystal Demopoulos a light featherweight who earned silver earlier in the day.

The final of the purple belt female absolute. Photo: Erin Herle

Purple belt females had a war with multiple girls in different weight classes. The final came down to Jessica da Silva Oliveira of Gracie Barra and Heather Raftery of Fight Sports. Jessica took the win and Judith Gomes shared third with Ana Talita de Oliveira Alencar, both featherweights.

See full results here: http://static.ibjjfdb.com/Campeonato/000313/en-US/Results.pdf

And a full photo gallery of the divisions:

Gabi secures an americana on Mackenzie. Photo: Erin Herle

While there weren’t too many female black belts signed up for the 2014 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship in Azusa, CA, the Felix Event Center brought matches between high level athletes.

On Sunday, Oct. 5, the matches came down to three divisions: feather, middle, and heavy. Here is how the divisions went:

Feather

Mackenzie submits with a toehold. Photo: Erin Herle

Mackenzie Dern of Gracie Humaita faced new black belt Karen Antunes of Checkmat. Karen succeeded in completing a takedown but Mackenzie was on the move swiftly after. Mackenzie attacked the feet of Karen and vice versa but Mackenzie’s toehold was enough to make Karen tap. This is Mackenzie’s first black belt world title.

Middle

Luiza submits with a kneebar. Photo: Erin Herle

The middle division was a round robin between Nyjah Easton of Team Lloyd Irvin, Leanna Dittrich of Fight Sports and Luiza Monteiro of PSLPB Cicero Costha. The first match was between Nyjah and Leanna and started with a pull from Leanna. Nyjah closed in and worked a pass and went to mount. Leanne turned and Nyjah almost took the back but Leanna recovered. Nyjah passed once again and this time gained the back. The matched ended 11-0 in favor of Nyjah.

The second match was between Leanna and Luiza. Leanna pulled guard, Luiza worked a pass, went into 50/50 and Leanna swept. Not long after, Luiza earned a kneebar for a spot in the final.

The final began with a pull and a quick back take attempt from Luiza. Nyjah then worked a pass but Luiza attacked the foot and submitted with a toehold. The gold went to Luiza.

Heavy

Andresa attempts a back take. Photo: Erin Herle

The only match in the heavy division was between Andresa Correa of Alliance and new black belt Sijara Eubanks of Team Lloyd Irvin. The match stayed on the feet for a bit as Sijara attempted a takedown. Andresa pulled guard and Sijara tried to pressure a pass. Andresa stood for a sweep and tried to take Sijara down but she defended. Sijara shot in for a takedown but Andresa defended this time. Andresa moved to the back and attempted a choke and to get the hooks in but neither happened. Sijara came back, attempted to take Andresa down again but it was Andresa who earned the takedown. The match ended as Andresa secured a kneebar submission and the gold.

Open Class

Gabi wins yet another world title. Photo: Erin Herle

Gabi Garcia earned her spot alongside Mackenzie Dern in the final of the open class. The previous matches were determined on Saturday, Oct. 4. The match began as Gabi pulled guard. Before long she stood, grabbed Mackenzie’s legs and took her down for a sweep. Mackenzie quickly tried a guillotine but Gabi defended only to be put in a triangle by Mackenzie. Gabi stood up to defend and let Mackenzie down as she came out of the triangle hold. Gabi passed the guard, Mackenzie recovered to try and attack the leg or feet of Gabi but Gabi defended those well. Gabi pushed to top half position and secured a quick americana submission for a total match time of under three minutes.

See the full results here:

Check out a full photo gallery of the matches from Sunday: