2016 IBJJF awards ceremony

The IBJJF held a award ceremony in Irvine this evening. The event paid homage to some of Jiu-Jitsu’s greatest names from the past and the present.

“I look at this room and I remember how we started doing tournaments in Brazil in the 90s. Twenty years later we are here and we can make a living off Jiu-Jitsu. I tell all of you to never stop dreaming. This today is the realization of the dream we had 20 years ago,” said Master Carlos Gracie Jr. opening the ceremony.

Grandmaster Carlson Gracie, Masters Romero Cavalcanti and Carlos Gracie Jr, and Jiu-Jitsu legend Rolls Gracie were inducted to the Hall of Fame for their contribution to the gentle art throughout the years.

“My goal has always been to contribute to then growth of Jiu-Jitsu and to make possible to all of us to make a living through the art we love,” said Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

“I learned a lot from Rolls and I always wanted to be a Jiu-Jitsu Professor. Sometimes I can’t believe we have gone so far,” said Master Romero Cavalcanti.

“Grandmaster Carlson Gracie was a special person indeed and he inspired all of us. He would be very happy to see his work being recognized,” said Professor Rodrigo Medeiros after receiving the award in behalf of the Grandmaster who passed away in 2006.

“Maybe you guys don’t understand why we say Rolls was ahead of his time. Rolls was a pioneer and a innovator. He was the guy who introduced the concept of having a Jiu-Jitsu game on the offensive and mixing elements of other sports,” said Master Carlos Gracie Jr. after receiving the award in behalf of Rolls Gracie, who passed away in 1982.

Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

The evening also awarded the best teams and athletes of the 2015/2016 season.

Mackenzie Dern and Paulo Miyao got the $15,000 check for topping the adult black belt ranking. Click here to see who else were in the top ten both in the male and female divisions.

Alliance got two awards, as best team of the season and also the best team of the Jiu-Jitsu Grand Slam, which includes the Worlds, Pan, European and Brazilian Nationals.

“I want to thank all Alliance Professors out there for helping us to put up such a strong team. I would also like to thank all the teams that compete with us. I admire a lot of you guys as we all work for the growth of the art. I also like to say thanks for such clean and tough competition,” said Fabio Gurgel.

The complete standings for the best academies of the season was: Alliance 1^st, Gracie Barra 2nd, Nova União 3rd, Checkmat 4th, Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu and Atos 5th, Impacto Japan 7th, GF Team 8th, Cicero Costha 9th, Gracie Humaita 10th.|

The night also reserved a moment for Beatriz Mesquita, Andre Galvão, Romulo Barral and Renato Cardoso to receive the medals they earned after doping violations by the original holders.

Bia got the 2013 open class gold medal, Galvão got the 2014 heavyweight gold medal, Barral got the 2014 medium-heavy gold medal.

Other than that, Master Julio Cesar Pereira, leader of GF Team, got the certificate for his 7th degree red and black belt.

Click here for the full coverage on Instagram.

Here’s a photo gallery with the best images of the evening.

IBJJF Awards ceremony in 2014

The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation will be hosting an Awards Ceremony this Tuesday evening, in Irvine, California.

The event will celebrate the best competitors of the 2015/2016 season and also induct four of the most important names in Jiu-Jitsu history to the IBJJF hall of fame.

The top ten athletes in the adult male and female black belt rankings will receive awards.

The event will also feature a dinner for the athletes and its guests.

The Awards ceremony will be streamed live on Flo Grappling.

Click here for more info.

Women first competed in the World Jiu-Jitsu championship in 1998.

First they all competed in the same division, without any separation of belts.

In 2007, the first open class division took place and Michelle Nicolini grabbed the gold medal.

Only in 2012, black belt women had a division exclusive to them, without the presence of brown belts.

In 2014, the IBJJF inducted its first ever Hall of Fame class and six ladies received the highest honor in Jiu-Jitsu: Gabrielle Garcia, Kyra Gracie, Michelle Nicolini, Bianca Andrade, Leticia Ribeiro and Hannette Staack.

The IBJJF prepared a video to honor them and now you remember that.

Don’t forget to register for the 20th edition of the Worlds, next May 27-31, in Long Beach, California.

Click here to register.

New Jersey does it again – The state responsible for creating the de facto standard set of rules for professional mixed martial arts across North America, sanctioning bouts back when mainstream America didn’t think of Martial Arts as a sport, just pioneered an MMA and Muay Thai Hall of Fame inducting the state’s most important contributors to these sports.

With a strong tradition in MMA, New Jersey houses quite a few martial arts VIPs, many of them recognized during the awards ceremony. Some names are quite well known in the Jiu-Jitsu community as well, since their contributions started with a gi on the tatami. Such is the case of Legend Award recipient Renzo Gracie and MMA Judge of the Year Ricardo Almeida.

We caught up with Renzo during the festivities to get his thoughts on being officially declared a legend but he is not ready to rest on his laurels just yet – he is getting ready for a fight! Check out the interview below.

The event was a dinner gala that took place at the Crowne Plaza Meadowlands Hotel ballroom on Friday December 7, 2012 and was organized by Dead Serious Promotions and the Fighting Perez Family. After the dinner and awards the guests took the time to do a little dancing, this time without throwing punches at each other.

Here is the full list of inductees:

2012 Inaugural Class Inductee Awards

Legend Award – Renzo Gracie

Lifetime Achievement Award – Louis Neglia

MMA Fighter of the Year – Frankie Edgar

MMA Female Fighter of the Year – Munah Holland

Muay Thai Fighter of the Year – Ognjen Topic

Muay Thai female fighter of the Year – Prairie Rugilo

MMA Trainer of the Year – Mike Constantino

Muay Thai Trainer(s) of the Year – Ray Cruz and Joe Bumanlag

MMA Promoter of the Year – Rob Haydak

Muay Thai Promoter of the Year – Warriors Cup

MMA Matchmaker of the Year – Sam Caplan

Muay Thai Matchmaker of the Year – Chris Tran

Muay Thai Referee of the Year – Coban

MMA Referee of the Year – Dan Miragliotta

MMA Judge of the Year – Ricardo Almeida

Muay Thai Judge of the Year – Vladimir Borodine

Ringside Physician of the Year – Dr. Sherry Wulkan

Announcer of the Year – Kevin Garvey

Media Personality of the Year – Jim Genia

Pioneer MMA Fighter Award – Dave Tirelli

Outstanding Achievement in MMA – Kurt Pellegrino

The event was video taped and it should be available on demand here

A full gallery of photos of the whole event can be seen here

 

Renzo Gracie, on
becoming a legend:

Renzo, how do you feel after winning the legend award for the first ever N.J. MMA Hall of Fame?

Initially I thought this was an award they gave to old people. And it’s funny because Nick Lembo [N.J. State Athletic Control Board Legal Counsel] began his speech with “This started this way and I didn’t know where it was gonna end up. He said [some more words] and now it’s gonna end up here giving you this award” and the first thing that came to my mind was “I know where it began – I was five years old when I had my first experience training Jiu-Jitsu in the gym and I know that is not over yet. It’s not gonna end it yet.” This next year I am fighting again, you know? So they are giving a legend award, that they are supposed to give to old people, to a young boy who’s gonna be banging again next year!

So, when is your fight next year?

I hope soon. I am already in shape and ready to go, man. I can’t wait! I can’t wait to setup a date! Soon it will be announced.

You didn’t get this award for nothing. You came here to the United States and almost every single guy that was there on the podium today mentioned your contribution to MMA not only in N.J., but in the whole country of the United States. So, how do you feel yourself about this contribution and how hard was the road to get here?

Oleg Taktarov, Pedro Valente and Pavel Bure in Florida / Publicity photo

A purple belt passionate about Jiu-Jitsu, Pavel Bure is a student of the Valente brothers’ in Miami, as well as a hockey ace on the ice. This Monday, the talented right winger joined the Hockey Hall of Fame. “I feel it’s the greatest achievement you can have in hockey,” said Bure. “The selection committee evaluates everything you’ve done in world hockey. That’s why it’s such a great honor to me,” added the Russian, who stopped playing prematurely, due to knee problems.

No injury could keep him from falling in love with Jiu-Jitsu, though.

Nicknamed “The Russian Rocket” for his speed, Bure played for 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), where he served on the teams Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers. Bure was the NHL’s top scorer in 1999 and has scored 437 goals in 702 games, with 342 assists and 779 career points.

Bure also holds a Jiu-Jitsu medal that is dear to him: bronze at the Helio Gracie Challenge, in 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktbhTbc1pAo

Randy Couture / Photo by Josh Hedges

Back on the big screen, UFC Hall of Fame member Randy Couture is one of the stars of The Expendables 2, to premiere in the United States this August. Accustomed to the camera, the former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion will also be starring in the full-length feature film Hijacked.

In the action flick, Couture plays a policeman who tries patching things up with his ex-fiancee. But she embarks on a plane that—you guessed it—becomes the target of bloodthirsty hijackers. Watch good guy Couture in action: